Category: Issue 424
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SCOTUS Invalidates California Slaughterhouse Law on Preemption Grounds
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court has determined that the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and its regulations preempt a California law that required swine slaughterhouses to humanely euthanize nonambulatory animals and prohibited them from processing, butchering or selling the meat or products of nonambulatory animals for human consumption. Nat’l Meat Ass’n v. Harris, No. 10-224…
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California Adopts No Significant Risk Level for 4-MEI
California’s Office of Administrative Law has approved a no significant risk level for the chemical 4-Methylimidazole (4-MEI) proposed by California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). Beginning February 8, 2012, no Proposition 65 warning will be required for exposures to 4-MEI at or below 29 micrograms per day. The action follows a December…
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European Commission to Reform Data Protection Framework
The European Commission (EC) has proposed a new data protection framework seeking to streamline existing directives and strengthen individuals’ online privacy rights. Titled “Safeguarding Privacy in a Connected World: A European Data Protection Framework for the 21st Century,” the proposed regulations would provide “a single set of rules” within the European Union (EU) and also…
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Codex Meeting Agenda Targets Pesticide Residues in Food, Feed
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have announced a February 14, 2012, public meeting in Arlington, Virginia, to provide information and receive public comments on draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the 44th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) on April 23-28 in…
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USDA Revises School Lunch Standards
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a final rule updating the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs “to align them with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” Effective March 26, 2012, the rule seeks to reduce childhood obesity by requiring schools to (i) “increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free…
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House Proposal Would Establish Standard for Housing, Treatment of Egg-Laying Hens
Four members of the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced bipartisan legislation (H.R. 3798) that would provide “a uniform national standard for the housing and treatment of egg-laying hens.” According to the bill’s lead author, Representative Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012 would also bring sustainability to the egg industry…