Category: Issue
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USDA Accepting Comments on Organic Rule Amendments
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting comments on the Agricultural Marketing Service’s proposed amendments to organic regulations concerning oversight and enforcement of the production, handling and sale of organic agricultural products. The proposed rule would require the use of National Organic Program Import Certificates for all organic products entering the United States and…
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FDA Announces Voluntary Agreements to Phase Out PFAS
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that several manufacturers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have agreed to phase out the use of the material on food packaging, such as fast-food wrappers, to-go boxes and pizza boxes. The phase-out will begin in January 2021 and will occur over three years, with an…
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FDA Issues Guidance on Arsenic in Infant Rice Cereals
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued final guidance on inorganic arsenic in rice cereals for infants that sets the action level at 100 micrograms per kilogram, or 100 parts per billion. “FDA has made the determination that this level is achievable based on sampling and testing results,” the guidance states. “This guidance…
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WHO Issues Call for Food Safety Experts
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a call for experts to join the Technical Advisory Group on Food Safety: Safer Food for Better Health, which “will serve as an advisory body to WHO through providing technical guidance and inputs to support WHO’s efforts and work in food safety by analyzing the current and future…
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Grocers File Lawsuit Over BE Standard
The Center for Food Safety and several food retailers have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleging that the agency “fell far short of fulfilling the promise of meaningful labeling” of bioengineered (BE) foods with its 2019 labeling rules. Natural Grocers v. Perdue, No. 20-5151 (N.D. Cal., filed July 27, 2020).…
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Court Dismisses Mondelez Alkalized Cocoa Lawsuit
A New York federal court has dismissed a putative class action alleging that Mondelez misled consumers by labeling Oreos as “always made with real cocoa” despite containing cocoa refined through an alkalizing process. Harris v. Mondelez Global LLC, No. 19-2249 (E.D.N.Y., entered July 28, 2020). The plaintiffs argued that the “representation ‘real cocoa’ is false,…
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Union Targets FSIS Poultry Processing Waivers in Lawsuit
Several labor unions and their affiliated international union, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), have filed a lawsuit urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) to “set aside a waiver program” for exceeding maximum line speeds on the grounds that FSIS adopted the program without adhering to…
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Plaintiff Alleges Kroger Underfills Coffee Cans
A plaintiff has filed a putative class action asserting that The Kroger Co.’s ground coffee packaging and labeling mislead consumers as to the amount of cups of coffee they can produce. Lorentzen v. Kroger Co., No. 20-6754 (C.D. Cal., filed July 28, 2020). “The scheme is straightforward,” the complaint alleges. “Defendant sells the Products with…