Category: Issue 537
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Dutch Agency Issues First BPA Report
The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has released the first part of its bisphenol A (BPA) report, which provides an overview of regulatory and scientific developments through March 2014. Slated for publication in 2015, the second part of the report will assess the European Food Safety Authority’s final opinion on the…
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“30% Less Fat” Claim Censured by Ad Watchdog
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints against a TV commercial claiming that Kellogg’s “Special K Multi Grain Porridge” contained “30% less fat than other porridges.” According to ASA, which received complaints from PepsiCo Inc. and 14 other competitors, Kellogg Marketing and Sales Co. (UK) Ltd. argued that the advertisement’s reduced-fat comparative claim…
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UK to Create Food Crime Unit in Response to Final Report Analyzing Food Supply Networks
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Food Standards Agency on September 4, 2014, issued a final report evaluating U.K. food supply networks and containing recommendations for government action to address any weaknesses. The government commissioned the report from University of Belfast Professor Chris Elliott following a 2013 incident known as “Horsegate”…
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FDA to Improve Internal Processes for Evaluating Chemical Risks in Food
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly taking measures to bolster intra-agency program processes based on a comprehensive review of the scientific capacity and management of the Chemical Safety Program across the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) and Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). FDA plans to address improvements in the principal…
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NOSB to Consider BPA Ban for Organic Food Packaging
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program has announced a public meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) on October 28-30, 2014, in Louisville, Kentucky. The meeting will include recommendations from the board’s six subcommittees on a wide range of topics, including “substances petitioned to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances…
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Codex Meeting to Focus on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration have scheduled an October 28, 2014, public meeting in Washington, D.C., to solicit comments about draft positions to be considered at the 36th Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in Bali, Indonesia,…
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EPA to Discuss Diisononyl Phthalate at Upcoming ISIS Meeting
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published preliminary materials for the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) toxicological review of diisononyl phthalate (DINP), a plasticizer used in food-contact materials.Slated for discussion at the IRIS Bimonthly Public Science Meeting to be held October 29-30, 2014, in Arlington, Virginia, the preliminary materials include (i) “a planning and…
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Children Consume More Salt Than Recommended, Says CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published a September 2014 Vital Signs report claiming that nine in 10 U.S. children “eat more sodium than recommended.” Noting that children ages 6-18 years consume an average of 3,300 mg sodium per day, CDC estimates that 43 percent of children’s daily sodium intake “comes from…