Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: food safety

  • FSIS to Hold Meat and Poultry Pending Test Results

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has proposed a procedural change that would allow inspectors to keep meat and poultry products from commerce “until FSIS test results for harmful substances are received.” FSIS currently recommends that processors and official import establishments hold sampled products pending test results, but has evidently…

  • Agencies Seek Data on Listeria in Ready-to-Eat Foods

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) have announced that they are seeking comments and scientific data to update a risk assessment on the relationship between foodborne Listeria in selected ready-to-eat (RTE) foods and human health. According to the agencies, the effort is designed to evaluate reduction or prevention…

  • U.S. Senate to Consider Food Safety Crime Bill

    The Senate Judiciary Committee has sent to the Senate a food safety crime bill (S. 216). Designed to “strengthen criminal penalties for companies that knowingly violate food safety standards and place tainted food products on the market,” the legislation would increase offenses from a misdemeanor to a felony, establish fines and give law enforcement the…

  • Canada Publishes Names of Companies in Violation of Food Safety Regs

    Canada has begun publishing the names of companies in violation of the country’s food, animal and plant-supply regulations. Reportedly aimed at improving accountability and transparency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA’s) website initiative now publishes such information as the (i) “food imports that have been refused entry into Canada”; (ii) “federally registered food establishments whose licenses…

  • GAO Reviews Presidential Food Safety Working Group

    The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report reviewing the activities of the Food Safety Working Group (FSWG), an advisory panel established by President Barack Obama (D) to recommend improvements to the U.S. food safety system. According to GAO, the working group has spurred the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture and…

  • NIAA Conference to Focus on Consumer Role in Food Production, Food Supply and Food Safety

    The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) has scheduled its annual conference for April 11-14, 2011, in San Antonio, Texas. Titled “Consumers’ Stake in Today’s Food Production: Meeting Growing Demands with Integrity,” the event will include presentations on food supply and food safety issues. Shook, Hardy & Bacon Agribusiness & Food Safety Co-Chair Mark Anstoetter…

  • FSIS Proposes Catfish Inspection Rules

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a proposed rule that would address a 2008 Farm Bill mandate making catfish an amenable species under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and therefore requiring all domestic and imported catfish to undergo FSIS inspection. According to a February 18, 2011, press…

  • GAO Continues to Include Food Safety in High-Risk Series Report

    The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued an update to its “High-Risk Series” report in which it attempts to “focus attention on government operations that it identifies as high risk due to their greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement or the need for transformation to address economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges.” Among other…