Category: Issue 473
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TTB Issues Final Rule Designating Cachaça as Type of Rum
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has issued a final rule designating “Cachaça” as a type of rum and a distinctive product of Brazil. Effective April 11, 2013, the final rule recognizes Cachaça as a distinctive distilled spirit made from sugar cane “in compliance with the laws of Brazil regulating the manufacture of…
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USDA to Revise Regulations on GE Organisms
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a proposed rule that would update regulations regarding genetically engineered (GE) organisms “by adding provisions for sharing certain business information with state and tribal government agencies.” According to USDA, the proposed provisions would govern the sharing of certain information contained in permit applications and notifications for importations, interstate…
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FDA Debars Importer After Guilty Plea for Seafood Mislabeling
The Food and Drug Administration has debarred seafood importer Richard Stowell from importing food into the United States for three years based on his felony conviction for instructing his company’s employees to mislabel shrimp from Thailand and Malaysia as shrimp from Ecuador and Honduras and then selling it to a supermarket chain. Stowell pleaded guilty…
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FDA Publishes International Food Safety Plan
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its “International Food Safety Capacity-Building Plan,” which aims to enhance “the food safety capacity of countries that export food to the United States.” As directed by the Food Safety Modernization Act, the plan provides direction on how FDA can (i) “expand the technical, scientific, and regulatory capacity…
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Legislation Seeks Data on Antimicrobial Use in Livestock
U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) recently introduced legislation (H.R. 820) that would require drug manufacturers “to provide better information on the amount and use of antibiotics and other antimicrobials given to animals raised for human consumption,” according to a February 26, 2013, press release. The Delivering Antimicrobial Transparency in Animals (DATA)…
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Population Study Examines Role of Sugar Availability in Diabetes Prevalence
A recent study has purportedly linked increased sugar availability to the prevalence of type 2 diabetes among overall populations. Sanjay Basu, et al., “The Relationship of Sugar to Population-Level Diabetes Prevalence: An Econometric Analysis of Repeated Cross-Sectional Data,” PLOS One, February 2013. Researchers with Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, San…
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Researchers Claim BPA Suppresses Gene Vital to Cortical Neurons
Duke University researchers have identified the mechanism by which bisphenol A (BPA) allegedly affects nervous system development by suppressing a gene “vital to nerve cell function,” according to a February 25, 2013, press release. Michele Yeo, et al., “Bisphenol A delays the perinatal chloride shift in cortical neurons by epigenetic effects on the Kcc2 promoter,”…
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German Farms Caught Up in Alleged Organic Egg Fraud
According to media sources, German officials have apparently launched an investigation into more than 160 farms accused of flouting the standards governing organic and free-range egg production. Lower Saxony and two other states have apparently announced an ongoing probe into poultry establishments, including 40 organic farms, that allegedly marketed their eggs as organic or free-range…