Category: Department of Agriculture
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EFSA Responds to “Urgent Request” for Avian Flu Advice
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a risk assessment in response to the European Commission’s urgent request for scientific advice on the H5N8 avian influenza A virus detected in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Focusing on the role of wild birds as vectors, EFSA plans to release a December 2014 report…
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HHS and USDA Schedule Meeting of 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) have scheduled a meeting of the 14 member committee charged with developing the federal government’s “2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans” for December 15, 2014, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST. The meeting is accessible to the public by webcast only…
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U.S. Codex Delegates Schedule Meeting to Discuss Standards for Fats and Oils
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety and the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition have announced a January 13, 2015, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to discuss draft U.S. positions for consideration during the 24th Session of the Codex Committee on Fats…
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APHIS Rules GE Alfalfa Not a Plant Pest Risk
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has determined that KK179 alfalfa, a genetically engineered (GE) crop that was created “to express reduced levels of guaiacyl lignin, a major subunit component of total lignin that slows the digestion of cellulose in livestock, as compared to conventional alfalfa at the same…
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USDA Approves GE Potato for Market
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has approved for commercial planting a new variety of potato genetically engineered (GE) for low acrylamide and reduced black spot bruise. The potatoes in question use a technique known as RNA interference to silence genes involved in bruising and the production of…
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D.C. Circuit Refuses to Hear COOL Regulation Challenge Again
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the requests of meat-producer interests to rehear arguments in a case challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules as a violation of First Amendment rights. Am. Meat Inst. v. USDA, No. 13-5281 (D.C. Cir., order entered October 31, 2014). Under the regulations, amended…
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GAO Report Advocates Bolstered Federal Monitoring of Pesticide Residues in Food
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has issued a report related to its review of the federal government’s oversight of pesticide residues in food. More specifically, the report discusses the congressional watchdog’s analysis of Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service and USDA Agricultural Marketing Service pesticide residue…
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Restaurant Chain Settles Kobe Beef Putative Class Action
A California state court has approved the settlement of a putative class action alleging that Barney’s Worldwide Inc., owner of the Barney’s Beanery restaurant chain, falsely advertised its beef as Kobe beef when a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ban on the import of beef from Kobe, Japan, was in effect. Nalbantian v. Barney’s Worldwide Inc.,…