Category: Issue 379
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UK Issues Foresight Report on Global Farming Future
The U.K. Department for Business Innovation and Skills has released the results of a Foresight project titled “The Future of Food and Farming: Challenges and choices for global sustainability,” which examines “the increasing pressures on the global food system between now and 2050.” Sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the…
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ISO Nanotech Standard Addresses Inhalation Toxicity Testing
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has finalized a new standard that apparently establishes parameters for monitoring the concentration, size and size-distribution of nanoscale particles in an inhalation chamber as part of an effort to assess their potential toxicity. ISO 10808-2010, titled “Nanotechnologies—Characterization of nanoparticles in inhalation exposure chambers for inhalation toxicity testing,” reportedly establishes…
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WHO to Consider Restrictions on Marketing Food to Youth in 2011
According to a press report, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that heads of state convening at the United Nations (U.N.), September 19-20, 2011, will use the U.N. General Assembly meeting to discuss restrictions on advertising foods of poor nutritional quality to children. WHO estimates that 43 million preschool children worldwide are overweight or…
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OSHA Adds Diacetyl Substitutes to National Emphasis Program Document
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has revised its “National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Microwave Popcorn Processing Plants,” to add several diacetyl substitutes to its policies and procedures for minimizing or eliminating worker exposures “to the hazards associated with microwave popcorn manufacturing.” Effective January 18, 2011, the NEP now includes 2,3-pentanedione, 2,3-hexanedione, 2,3-heptanedione, and…
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FDA Issues Strategic Plan for National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a strategic plan that outlines the 2011-2015 goals and objectives of the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS), which aims to protect “the health of Americans through safer food.” Calling the plan “a dynamic roadmap which outlines the program’s commitment to sustained food safety through monitoring and…
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APHIS Updates Avian Influenza Rules
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued an interim rule updating its highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) requirements for importing birds, poultry and hatching eggs. Because APHIS’s previous restrictions applied only to the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza, the new rule extends its purview to include any HPAI…
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USDA Announces Deregulation of Roundup Ready® Alfalfa
In a decision that prompted the promise of an immediate legal challenge, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that it will grant nonregulated status to genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa. According to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, “After conducting a thorough and transparent examination of alfalfa through a multi-alternative environmental impact statement (EIS) and several…