Category: Department of Agriculture
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Codex Meeting Agenda Targets Pesticide Residues in Food, Feed
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have announced a February 14, 2012, public meeting in Arlington, Virginia, to provide information and receive public comments on draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the 44th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) on April 23-28 in…
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USDA Revises School Lunch Standards
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a final rule updating the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs “to align them with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” Effective March 26, 2012, the rule seeks to reduce childhood obesity by requiring schools to (i) “increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free…
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Claims Rejected: Deregulation of GE Alfalfa, Lead in Fruit Juice, MDL Transfer of “All Natural” Skinnygirl Margarita® Actions, U.S. Supreme Court Review of $97.4-Million Nicaraguan Judgment in Banana Worker Exposure to Pesticides
According to news sources, the Center for Food Safety, which lost its challenge to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) decision to deregulate without restriction genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa, plans to appeal the matter to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A federal court in California determined on January 5, 2012, that the law does…
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APHIS Reopens Comment Period for Proposed Amendments to Bioterrorism Protection Act
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has reopened the comment period until January 17, 2012, on a proposed rule that would amend and republish the Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act’s “list of selected agents and toxins that have the potential to pose a severe threat to animal or plant health, or…
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USDA Proposes Process for Generic Labeling Approval
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a proposed rule to “expand the circumstances under which FSIS will generically approve the labels of meat and poultry products.” Under the proposal, which would also combine regulations into a new CFR part, FSIS would reportedly allow establishments “to label a…
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Congress Blocks USDA’s Proposed School Lunch Rules, Boosts FDA Food Safety Budget
Congress has approved and President Barack Obama (D) has signed a bipartisan agricultural spending bill (H.R. 2112) that will block or delay regulations aimed at making school lunches healthier. Signed into law on November 18, 2011, the bill will, among other things, prohibit the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from limiting starchy vegetables, such as…
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FSIS Schedules Codex Meeting on Animal Feed Contaminants
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced a January 18, 2012, public meeting in Washington, D.C., to consider draft U.S. positions to be presented during the 6th session of the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Animal Feeding of the Codex Alimentarius Commission on February 20-24 in Berne, Switzerland.…
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$1.6 Million Awarded to Plaintiffs in GE Alfalfa Litigation
A federal court in California has entered an order granting the motion of conventional alfalfa farmers and environmental groups for an award of attorney’s fees and costs in litigation that successfully challenged a U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) decision to de-regulate genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa without conducting an environmental…