Category: Issue 514
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FDA Enters Consent Decree on FSMA Rulemaking Timeline
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has entered a consent decree with the Center for Food Safety, which sued the agency over its alleged failure to comply with implementation rulemaking deadlines in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Ctr. for Food Safety v. Hamburg, No. 12-4529 (N.D. Cal., decree filed February 20, 2014). Under…
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ECJ and “All Natural” Claims Against Chobani Dismissed
A federal court in California has dismissed with prejudice the third amended complaint filed by named plaintiffs on behalf of a putative class of purchasers of Chobani Greek Yogurt products, alleging violations of state consumer protection laws because the products were mislabeled under federal law by listing evaporated cane juice (ECJ), instead of sugar, as…
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Prop. 65 60-Day Notices Cite Arsenic in Rice
The Consumer Advocacy Group, Inc. has filed a series of Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) 60-day notices since December 2013 against supermarkets and rice companies in California, Texas and Taiwan, alleging violations of the law for failure to warn consumers that their rice products contain arsenic (inorganic arsenic compounds), known to the state to “cause both…
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California Introduces Warning Label Legislation for Soft Drinks
California State Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel) has introduced legislation (SB 1000) that would require all sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) containing more than 75 calories per 12-ounce serving to carry safety warnings. Co-sponsored by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Safety Warning Act would direct manufacturers, distributors and retailers to place the following…
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ASA Deems Lactose-Free Product Claims “Sufficiently Clear”
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that an advertisement for a range of lactose-free products made “sufficiently clear that the Lactofree products were not suitable for dairy allergy sufferers but were suitable for those intolerant to lactose.” Responding to a complaint alleging that the ad failed to adequately differentiate between lactose intolerance and…
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FSA Seeks Comments on Two Novel Food Ingredients
The U.K. Food Standards Agency (FSA) has requested public comments on a novel foods application submitted by a Swiss company seeking permission to use algal oil in its food products. The company suggests in its application that the oil, extracted from a newly isolated strain of microalgae, is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acid…
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EFSA Rejects Caffeine and Sterol Claims
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) has issued an opinion reiterating a previous conclusion that products with less than 75 mg of caffeine may not bear an increased alertness claim, because most studies found “no effect of caffeine doses of less than 75 mg on various cognitive tasks (simple…
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EFSA Issues Opinion on Formaldehyde in Animal Feed
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) has issued an opinion on formaldehyde, currently used as a feed additive and a preservative for skimmed milk intended for pigs. Concluding that “although there is no health risk for consumers exposed to the substance through the…