Category: Legislation, Regulations and Standards
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FDA Closes Production Facility After Violations
A U.S. federal court entered a consent decree of permanent injunction prohibiting Home Style Foods, Inc., and its owner and quality manager from selling food products until the company complies with federal regulations. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspections reportedly found Listeria monocytogenes in the company’s food preparation area and documented violations of seafood…
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Codex Meetings Announced on General Principles, Pesticides
The U.S. Codex Office has announced public meetings that will be held on February 21 and February 27, 2020, to discuss and receive comments on U.S. positions for upcoming Codex Alimentarius meetings. The February 21 meeting will focus on general principles, while the February 27 meeting will include discussions on pesticide residues.
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CBD Explodes in Popularity But Hits Regulatory Wall
Following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized the cultivation of hemp, cannabidiol (CBD) became the star ingredient of 2019, featured on its own as an oil or in food and beverages. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) struggled to keep up with the hype; while CBD stayed in legal limbo, U.S.…
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Governments Question Food Packaging Safety
Consumers and regulators have long expressed concerns about the safety of plastic and other materials in packaging for food, and in 2019, concern turned towards perfluorinated compounds (PFAS). Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) introduced legislation in May that would ban PFAS in food containers and cookware, and a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) presentation was…
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No Agreement on Definitions of “Meat” and “Dairy”
The dispute over the meaning of meat- and dairy-related terms continued in 2019, with more states passing bans on the use of terms implying animal-derived products, such as “burger” or “milk,” to describe plant-based products. Nebraska, Arizona and Washington considered bans, and Arkansas’ ban was targeted with a challenge from Tofurky that has resulted in…
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Sesame Allergen Labeling Expands in UK, US
Allergen labeling grabbed headlines in the United Kingdom in 2019 as the country faced pressure from consumers concerned that prepackaged foods lacked mandated ingredient disclosures. Following the 2016 death of a teenager who consumed a premade sandwich packaged without notification of potential exposure to sesame, the U.K. Food Standards Agency launched a public consultation that…
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Senate Confirms FDA Commissioner
The U.S. Senate has voted to confirm Stephen Hahn as the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Hahn, an expert in radiation oncology, reportedly promised to prioritize science, data and public health over political interests when directing the agency’s policy.
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NAD Declines RXBAR Label Challenge
The National Advertising Division (NAD) has found that Insurgent Brands LLC’s RXBAR labels, which feature a brief list of ingredients on the front, communicate a substantiated claim about the main ingredients in the product and do not “convey misleading implied claims about weight and proportions of the protein bar inside.” Kind Inc. challenged the labels,…