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    • FDA Updates Its Food Facility Registration GuidanceNovember 10th, 2016

      By Ricardo Carvajal – FDA recently announced the issuance of the 7th edition of the Agency's Questions and Answers Regarding Food Facility Registration.  The latest edition includes nearly 60 new Q&As on a variety of registration-related topics, including: Biennial registration renewal – A facility’s registration must be renewed in …

    • Is it Time for a Single Food Agency?November 2nd, 2016

      That will be among several food policy topics discussed this Friday at a Food and Drug Law Journal Symposium titled Law and Food Systems: Institutional Pathways Toward a New Paradigm?  Proposals for a single food agency have bubbled up over the years, and the impending election …

    • Draft Guidance Addresses Suppliers’ Disclosure of Uncontrolled Hazards in Foods October 30th, 2016

      By Ricardo Carvajal – FDA issued a draft guidance document that addresses disclosures required to be provided by a supplier when certain hazards in food have not been controlled.  A disclosure requirement is included in four of the FSMA rules, namely the preventive controls rule for …

    • FSIS Issues Update to Guideline Regarding Animal-Raising ClaimsOctober 19th, 2016

      By Riëtte van Laack – A couple of weeks ago, the Food Safety Inspection Service of the USDA (FSIS) announced the availability of an updated compliance guideline regarding animal-raising claims. The previous guideline dated from 2002. Traditionally, the FSIS has interpreted the Federal Meat Inspection Act (“FMIA”) …

    • FDA to Revisit the Nutrient Content Claim “Healthy”October 3rd, 2016

      By Riëtte van Laack – On Sept. 27, 2016, FDA announced the availability of several documents regarding the “healthy” claim on foods. Under the current regulation, the term “healthy” (or similar terms) – when used with an explicit or implicit claim or statement about a nutrient in …

    • FDA’s First Substantiation Guidance for a Conventional FoodSeptember 19th, 2016

      By Ricardo Carvajal – FDA’s issuance of a draft guidance for industry titled Substantiation for Structure/Function Claims Made in Infant Formula Labels and Labeling marks the first issuance of a guidance that addresses structure/function (SF) claim substantiation for a conventional food.  As FDA explains in the guidance, …

    • FDA Tries New Approach to Removing Marketed Dietary Ingredients; Prepares About-Face on Dietary Ingredient Status of VinpocetineSeptember 7th, 2016

      By Wes Siegner – After 20 years of marketing vinpocetine, and accepting without objection the filing of 5 new dietary ingredient notifications (NDINs), FDA has “tentatively concluded” that vinpocetine is an illegal dietary ingredient for two reasons: 1) it does not fit within the statutory list …

    • ACI’s Food Law Regulation Boot CampSeptember 6th, 2016

      The American Conference Institute’s (“ACI’s”) Food Law Regulation Boot Camp is slated to take place at the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile in Chicago, Illinois from November 15-16, 2016. The conference is billed as a way to “[c]onnect the dots of food regulatory law and gain …

    • Ready or Not, CRISPR and Gene Editing Have Arrived and Are Here to StaySeptember 5th, 2016

      Over the course of roughly the last year, gene editing has gone from being a topic limited to scientific conferences to being featured in the New York Times and on the cover of TIME magazine.  Most of the attention has been due to a molecular …

    • FDA Finalizes Regulations for Voluntary GRAS Notifications; Few SurprisesAugust 31st, 2016

      By Riëtte van Laack – On August 17, FDA published in the Federal Register the long awaited final rule, “Substances Generally Recognized as Safe.” The final rule is based on the proposed rule from 1997, and a reopening of the comment period with supplemental questions in …

    • FSIS Now Allows Use of the Term GMO in “Negative Claims”August 29th, 2016

      By Riëtte van Laack – On August 24, 2016, the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the availability of its compliance guidance regarding “Statements That Bioengineered or Genetically Modified (GM) Ingredients or Animal Feed Were Not Used in the Production …

    • FDA Issues Calorie Labeling Guidance Documents for Vending Machine OperatorsAugust 21st, 2016

      By Riëtte van Laack – On August 15, 2016 FDA simultaneously issued two guidance documents, the Draft Guidance, Calorie Labeling of Articles of Food in Vending Machines and the Final Guidance, Small Entity Compliance Guide (SECG), Calorie Labeling of Articles of Food in Vending Machines, to help …

    • FDA Issues Long-Awaited Revised Dietary Supplement NDI Draft GuidanceAugust 14th, 2016

      By Etan J. Yeshua – Last week, FDA issued for the dietary supplement industry a draft guidance document that largely doubles-down on controversial positions the Agency has previously taken. The draft guidance – “Dietary Supplements: New Dietary Ingredient Notifications and Related Issues” – replaces the draft …

    • FDA Publishes Industry Resources re the New Nutrition Labeling Requirements; Many Questions Remain UnansweredAugust 4th, 2016

      By Riëtte van Laack – Yesterday, FDA announced the availability of a webpage providing information to industry regarding the requirements of the recently finalized Nutrition Facts and serving size regulations.  FDA clarifies that until the compliance date of July 26, 2018 (or July 26, 2019 for companies …

    • HHS OIG’s Odd Take on Food RecallsJune 22nd, 2016

      By Ricardo Carvajal – In an unusual “Early Alert,” the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) publicly took FDA to task for allegedly lacking “an efficient and effective food recall initiation process that helps ensure the safety of …