Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: U.S. Government and Regulatory Agencies

  • NOP Releases National List Petition Guidelines

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has published revised National List Petition Guidelines for requesting amendments to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List). According to NOP, the National List not only identifies “the synthetic substances that may be used and the non-synthetic (natural) substances that may not be…

  • U.S. Codex Delegates to Address Food Labeling Issues

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are holding an April 13, 2016, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to discuss U.S. draft positions for consideration at the 43rd Session of the Codex Committee on Labeling in Foods (CCFL) in Ottawa, Canada,…

  • Senators Urge Action on GAO Bee Health Report

    U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have written a March 14, 2016, letter requesting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) act on recommendations contained in a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on bee health. Summarizing federal initiatives designed to improve bee health…

  • Founder of Halal Co. Sentenced to Two Years in Federal Prison

    The founder of Midamar, an export company charged with fraud for sending “halal” meat to Malaysia that failed to meet halal slaughtering standards, has reportedly been sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to pay $60,000 in fines and $184,983 in disgorgement. Midamar was fined $20,000 and ordered to forfeit $600,000. A U.S.…

  • Cheese Cos. Plead Guilty to Adulterating Parmesan

    Two cheese companies and an executive from a third company have pleaded guilty to charges relating to the manufacture and sale of adulterated and misbranded Parmesan cheese products. The companies, Universal Cheese & Drying, Inc. and International Packing, LLC, were charged with conspiracy to introduce misbranded cheese products into interstate commerce and to commit money…

  • DOJ Closes Maine Seafood Company for Unsanitary Conditions

    A Maine federal court has granted the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) a permanent injunction against Mill Stream Corp., a seafood company that allegedly failed to take measures preventing the formation and growth of Clostridium botulinum, the cause of botulism, or Listeria monocytogenes, the cause of listeriosis. U.S. v. Mill Stream Corp., No. 16-0080 (D. Me.,…

  • USDA Renews Approvals for Seven Substances Used in Organic Production and Handling

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agricultural Marketing Service has completed the 2016 sunset process for five synthetic and two non-synthetic (natural) substances on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances that governs the use of synthetic and nonsynthetic substances in organic production, processing and handling. Per the National Organic Standards Board’s recommendations, AMS…

  • U.S. Codex Delegates Schedule Food Contaminants Meeting

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety and U.S. Food and Drug Administration are convening a March 7, 2016, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to evaluate draft positions for consideration at the 10th Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food slated for April 4-8 in Rotterdam,…