By Cassandra A. Soltis – The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 (the 2010 Dietary Guidelines), released by the federal government last week, were clearly drafted with the U.S. obesity epidemic in mind. In addition to encouraging consumers to exercise more and reduce calorie consumption, the guidelines …
By Peter M. Jaensch – In what appears to be yet another example of a consumer fraud class action that cites alleged violations of the FDC Act and its implementing regulations, on February 1, 2011, Athena Hohenberg filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court …
By Ricardo Carvajal – Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) reintroduced legislation to strengthen criminal penalties for food safety violators in the form of the Food Safety Accountability Act of 2011. As with the version of the bill introduced last year, the current version would amend Title 18 …
By Susan J. Matthees – FDA is withdrawing its draft guidance titled “Draft Guidance for Industry: Questions and Answers Regarding Implementation of the Menu Labeling Provisions of Section 4205 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010,” which was published in August 2010. As …
By Ricardo Carvajal – When FDA issued a report on the Reportable Food Registry ("RFR") 7 months after the RFR’s implementation, the agency cautioned that it was “too early to draw inferences concerning patterns of food and feed adulteration.” Not so in the agency’s first annual …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The Government Accountability Office ("GAO") issued a report recommending in part that FDA “identify and request from Congress the authorities needed to access evidence from food companies regarding potentially false or misleading structure/function or other claims on food that would allow the …
By Ricardo Carvajal & Wes Siegner – As we would wager is true of all major pieces of legislation, the Food Safety Modernization Act (“FSMA”) can be expected to have significant unanticipated consequences. By way of background, the FSMA requires all food facilities subject to registration …
By Riëtte van Laack – As previously reported here, on Dec. 8, 2010, FDA issued a proposed rule to amend the interim final rule (“IFR”) for the phytosterol health claim. In the preamble to that proposal, the agency stated its intent to discontinue its policy of …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The American Bar Association’s Section of Ligation (specifically the Food and Supplements Subcommittee of the Products Liability Committee) is presenting its First Annual Workshop on Food and Supplements on February 17 in Atlanta. Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C.’s Ricardo Carvajal will be …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The Food Safety Modernization Act ("FSMA") is now law. We previously blogged on some provisions that take immediate effect (namely stronger records access authority under FDC Act § 414, mandatory recall authority, whistleblower protection, and authority to refuse admission of imported food …
By Diane B. McColl & Ricardo Carvajal – On December 28th, FDA reopened the public comment period for its 1997 proposed rule that outlined the voluntary GRAS notification process intended to replace the voluntary GRAS affirmation petition process. FDA stopped accepting GRAS affirmation petitions and implemented …
By Cassandra A. Soltis – The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) posed that question in 2005, when it issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking concerning the serving sizes of products that could reasonably be consumed at one eating occasion. 70 Fed. Reg. 17010 (Apr. 4, …
As expected, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (H.R. 2751) as passed by the Senate. The bill now goes to the President, who is expected to sign it into law. A copy of the bill is available here (scroll down to …
By Ricardo Carvajal – Capping a week-long flurry of legislative activity, the Senate reportedly passed the Food Safety Modernization Act by a voice vote Sunday night. The legislation now returns to the House, where approval is likely. Given that the President’s signature is certain, it now appears …
By Riëtte van Laack – On December 15, 2010, FDA took several steps to increase its enforcement against products that are marketed as dietary supplements but contain analogs of, or the same active ingredients as, FDA-approved drugs, or other substances that do not qualify as dietary …
