Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Canada

  • FDA Solicits Scientific Data on Acrylamide in Food

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a request for “comments and scientific data and information on acrylamide in food,” noting that the agency is considering industry guidance on this issue. Describing acrylamide as “a chemical that can form in some foods during certain types of high-temperature cooking,” the agency is seeking information from manufacturers…

  • Canadian Food Safety Agency Warns Public About Maple Leaf Foods Frankfurters

    The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a warning and reported the voluntary recall of frankfurters and wieners manufactured by Maple Leaf Foods, the company whose Listeria-tainted meat products in 2008 purportedly sickened thousands across Canada and were apparently ruled a “contributing cause” in the deaths of 22. According to the agency, the processed meat…

  • Canadian Study Reveals Higher Levels of Folic Acid in Foods Than Claimed on Labels

    According to a news source, the Canadian Journal of Public Health has published research showing that folic-acid fortified foods often contain, on average, 50 percent more of the vitamin than listed on product labels. Some foods apparently contain 377 percent of the folic acid declared. The federal government reportedly adopted a folic-acid fortification program in…

  • Fraser Institute Report Urges Reform of Canadian Food Labeling Policy

    A new report from the independent research organization Fraser Institute claims that Canada’s rigid advertising standards leave consumers in the dark about the potential health benefits of certain food products. “Canadian consumers are being denied,” Brett Skinner, the Fraser Institute’s director of bio-pharma and health policy, was quoted as saying. “They don’t know about the…

  • Independent Investigator Disparages Canada’s Response to 2008 Listeria Outbreak

    A new report by an independent investigator is harshly critical of Canada’s food safety system with respect to the 2008 Listeria outbreak linked to the deaths of 22 people. Sheila Weatherill, a nurse and health executive who led the federally appointed investigation, said the system was caught unprepared and acted without urgency, citing a void…

  • OEHHA Advisory Board Votes Against Adding Bisphenol A to Prop. 65 List; Health Canada Clears BPA in Baby Food Packaging as Safe

    According to news sources, the scientific advisory committee considering whether to place bisphenol A (BPA) on California’s Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) list of chemicals known to the state to cause reproductive effects has voted against the action, calling research on human health effects unclear. During the committee’s July 15, 2009, meeting, dozens of mothers, environmentalists…

  • United States and Canada Reach Agreement on Organic Equivalency

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have agreed to recognize each other’s organic certifications. As of June 30, 2009, Canada will have national organic standards in place that have been determined to be the equivalent of U.S. National Organic Program requirements. Thus, products meeting U.S. standards can be sold…

  • Canada Renews COOL Dispute Before World Trade Organization

    Concerned that the United States does not plan to make any changes to its country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules for meats, fresh produce and nuts, Canada has apparently decided to move forward with a complaint it originally filed in December 2008 with the World Trade Organization (WTO). According to Canada’s trade minister, “Recent instructions from the…