Category: Issue 383
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UK Nutrition Committee Recommends Reducing Red Meat Intake
The U.K. Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) has issued a February 25, 2011, Health and Iron Report recommending that the general population eat no more than 500 grams of red and processed meat per week, or 70 grams per day. At the request of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy,…
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UK’s FSA Welcomes Applications for Meat Research Program
The United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced that it is commissioning research aimed at modernizing official controls on meat. Noting that “the driving force” behind the Future Meat Controls Research Programme is to “improve public health by adopting a more risk- and evidence-based approach to meat production,” FSA said four areas of research…
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EU Considers Changing “Zero-Tolerance” GM Policy for Animal Feed
European Union (EU) member states have reportedly endorsed a draft regulation aiming to “harmonize the implementation of the zero tolerance policy on non-authorized genetically modified (GM) material in feed.” According to a February 23, 2011, Europa press release, the proposal put forth by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) would…
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FDA Relies on Genome Sequencing to Trace Salmonella Outbreak Source
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that agency analysts turned to next-generation sequencing to test samples collected during a Salmonella outbreak that purportedly sickened nearly 300 people from 44 states and the District of Columbia. The 2009 2010 outbreak was linked to the spice rub used on certain salamis and was ultimately traced to…
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Meeting Slated for Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, the Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition have announced a March 16, 2011, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to provide information and receive public comments on draft U.S. positions to be discussed at…
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FSIS Proposes Catfish Inspection Rules
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a proposed rule that would address a 2008 Farm Bill mandate making catfish an amenable species under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and therefore requiring all domestic and imported catfish to undergo FSIS inspection. According to a February 18, 2011, press…
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Senate Judiciary Chair Wants Answers About Peanut Corp. Investigation
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has requested that Attorney General Eric Holder provide an update on the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the 2009 Salmonella outbreak involving contaminated peanuts from Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) facilities. As Leahy reminds Holder in his February 22, 2011, letter, the outbreak was linked to the deaths of nine people…