Last June, the United States Supreme Court issued four landmark decisions that curbed executive agency powers. Those decisions are changing the way agencies, including FDA, exercise their rulemaking and enforcement authorities. Regardless of your position on the correctness of the holdings or the reasoning behind …
That’s a play on an old acronym, in service of a point. A few weeks ago, HHS released a press release stating that FDA had been directed “to explore potential rulemaking to revise its Substances Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) Final Rule and related guidance …
Trade and national press have reported that recent changes in FDA staffing levels have already led to slower responses to calls and emails. According to reports, which were published before the most recent reports of HHS staff level reductions and tumultuous changes in leadership, FDA …
On March 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a significant initiative called Operation Stork Speed to bolster the availability and safety of infant formula in the United States (link, link). This initiative …
Our good friends Virginia and West Virginia have become the first states in the nation to restrict the availability of foods containing certain synthetic colors (or in FDA parlance, certain colors subject to certification). You can read more about the particulars here and here. Although …
The American Conference Institute’s popular “FDA Boot Camp” – now in its 43rd iteration – is scheduled to take place from March 19-20, 2025, at the NY Bar Association in New York, NY . The conference is billed as the premier event to provide folks …
The government is currently funded through March 14th, 2025. Come Monday March 17th, if Congress does not pass a budget or continuing resolution, the FDA will enter a shutdown and shutter many offices and programs while Congress works out their inter-party squabbles on national priorities. …
Readers of this blog likely are familiar with the ongoing, often contentious battle over the labeling of plant-based foods (see, e.g., here, here, and here). Nearly two years after FDA issued draft guidance on Labeling of Plant-Based Milk Alternatives and Voluntary Nutrient Statements, on January 6, …
On January 6, 2025, FDA released two final guidance documents on food allergens: Questions and Answers Regarding Food Allergens, Including the Food Allergen Labeling Requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (Edition 5), and Evaluating the Public Health Importance of Food Allergens Other …
This is the first in a series of blog posts on tips for successfully handling an FDA inspection. Using publicly available examples, these “lessons” will illustrate potential pitfalls and strategies for interacting with FDA during and after an inspection. Although FDA has long taken the …
As we previously reported in 2022, FDA published a proposed rule defining the nutrient content claim “healthy.” The proposed revised rule constituted a radical change from the original definition of healthy, which focused on the presence of individual (beneficial) nutrients. In contrast, the 2022 proposed …
The word unprecedented has been used a lot in the past two weeks. Perhaps appropriately. Below is some precedent that’s been on this blogger’s mind recently and that may be relevant in the coming days, weeks, and months: Tummino v. Hamburg. Why? The HHS Secretary …
The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo has done away with Chevron deference to federal agencies’ interpretation of ambiguous statutes, including the FDA. The decision commands that federal judges must make their own decisions in suits against FDA, considering—but not deferring to—the …
As readers of this blog know, there is a lot of contention about the naming of alternative protein products (APPs), including both plant-based and cell-cultured alternatives for (traditional) animal products. The animal product industry, particularly the beef industry and the dairy industry, has challenged naming …
For any of our readers seeking recommendations on which drinks pair well with turkey this Thanksgiving, certain fruit-flavored beverages may be off the table. Earlier this month, FDA issued a proposed rule that would revoke 21 C.F.R. § 180.30, its interim authorization of the use of …
