Category: Legislation, Regulations and Standards
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Beer Institute Alleges Aluminum Sellers Overcharge Beverage Canners
The Beer Institute has alleged that aluminum companies have been charging tariff prices to beverage companies that can their products despite the tariff only applying to a portion of the aluminum in their cans. The tariff is imposed on imported aluminum scrap, which accounts for about 30 percent of the aluminum used to create beverage…
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Codex Meeting on Food Labeling Scheduled
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced an April 9, 2019, public meeting to receive comments on the United States’ positions for the Codex Committee on Food Labelling meeting to be held in Canada in May 2019. Among the announced topics are (i) “Proposed draft Guidance for the Labelling of Non-Retail Containers”; (ii) “Proposed draft…
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French Authorities Challenge Source of Kiwis in “Kiwigate”
French fraud investigators have reportedly accused seven kiwi suppliers of stamping kiwis imported from Italy as “French origin.” French authorities apparently noticed an influx of French kiwis on the market during the off-season for the fruit, leading them to investigate where the kiwis were sourced. According to The Guardian, investigators found that 12 percent of…
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FDA Announces Webinar on Genome Editing in Animals
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced an April 25, 2019, public webinar about “genome editing in animals, an innovative and rapidly evolving technology that offers significant public health benefits.” The webinar will focus on “current scientific evidence, promising uses of this technology in animals, and the potential risks.” FDA intends the webinar to…
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WHO Report Again Recommends Limits on Marketing “Unhealthy Products” to Children
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a report calling for “greater monitoring” of “unhealthy food products, especially those high in salt, sugar and fat.” The report asserts that “exposure of children to the online marketing of unhealthy food products” remains “commonplace”—despite the organization’s 2010 recommendations on limiting such exposure—and “urgently calls for developing and…
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NOSB Issues Call for Nominations
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that it will accept nominations for five vacancies on the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). Each position on the board is categorized under the Organic Foods Production Act. USDA will accept nominations for: “One individual with expertise in areas of environmental protection and resource conservation”; “one individual…
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FDA Lifts Import Alert on GE Salmon
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has deactivated an import alert that prevented the introduction of genetically engineered (GE) salmon into interstate commerce. The agency’s statement indicates that it placed the ban in 2016 with the intention of lifting it when standards for labeling GE food were finalized. With the implementation of the National…
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Kind Petitions FDA to Revise Nutrient Content Claims
Kind LLC has submitted a citizen petition urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require disclosure of added sugar and trans fat on food packaging and remove the required disclosures for total fat and cholesterol. In addition, the petition recommends that FDA “[r]evise its nutrient content claim regulations to only allow a food…