Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: animal/pet meds

  • FDA Claims No Obligation to Ban Use of Antibiotics in Animal Feed

    During oral argument before a Second Circuit Court of Appeals panel, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reportedly argued that it had “no obligation” to complete proceedings that the agency initiated to withdraw approval from certain uses of antibiotic drugs in livestock. Natural Res. Def. Council v. FDA, No. 12-2106 (2d Cir., argued February 8, 2013). Assistant…

  • GAP Lawsuit Seeks FDA Data on Use of Animal Antibiotics

    The Government Accountability Project (GAP) has filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), alleging that the agency has wrongfully withheld information requested about the use of anti-microbial drugs in food-producing animals. GAP v. FDA, No. 12-1954 (D.D.C., filed December 5, 2012). GAP requests an order…

  • Consumer Reports Identifies Bacteria, Drug Residue in Pork

    Consumer Reports magazine has allegedly identified bacterial contamination as well as antibiotic-resistant bacteria and veterinary drug residues in pork chop and ground-pork samples purchased from U.S. grocery stores. According to an analysis in the January 2013 edition of the magazine, 69 percent of the 198 pork samples in question purportedly contained Yersinia enterocolitica; 11 percent…

  • Denmark Tracks Decline in Animal Antibiotic Use

    The Statens Serum Institut and National Food Institute at the Technical University of Denmark recently released a report charting a decline in overall antibiotic use in the country’s food animals. Funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Ministry of the Health, the Danish…

  • FTC Conducts Workshop on Competition and Safety in Pet Meds Industry

    The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conducted a day-long workshop, October 2, 2012, “to examine competition and consumer protection issues in the pet medications industry.” Currently pending before the House Subcommittee on Health, a bill (H.R. 1406) introduced in April 2011 by Representative Jim Matheson (D-Utah) would require FTC to issue rules mandating pet medication…

  • FTC to Accept Public Comments on Competition in Pet Medications Industry Through Nov. 1

    The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reopened the comment period for its October 2, 2012, workshop on competition and consumer protection issues in the pet medications industry. The commission is “seeking the views of consumers, veterinarians, pharmacists, manufacturers, business representatives, economists, lawyers, academics, and other interested parties” submitted by November 1, 2012. FTC’s workshop agenda…

  • FDA Issues Draft Compliance Guide for Marketing Pet Food Intended to Treat or Prevent Disease

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a draft compliance policy guide (CPG) concerning the “Labeling and Marketing of Nutritional Products Intended for Use to Diagnose, Cure, Mitigate, Treat, or Prevent Disease in Dogs and Cats.” According to the September 10, 2012, Federal Register notice, the draft CPG explains how FDA plans “to use…

  • FDA Amends Rule on Compounds of Carcinogenic Concern Used in Food-Producing Animals

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule that amends regulations about concentrations of compounds of carcinogenic concern in the diet of food-producing animals and residues of carcinogenic concern in specific edible tissues. The changes clarify certain definitions “to enable the Center for Veterinary Medicine to consider allowing the use of alternative…