By Ricardo Carvajal – On July 23, FDA held the first of three public workshops to explain the Reportable Food Registry requirements that will take effect on September 8, 2009. One thing was made clear: the agency has no plans to offer a definition of …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The Institute of Food Technologists (“IFT”) has published an expert report that addresses the challenge of responding to food contamination events in the face of limited scientific information. The report describes the U.S. legal framework that governs substances intentionally or inadvertently …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (“CIFOR”) has published guidelines intended to help local, state and federal agencies improve their response to foodborne disease outbreaks. The guidelines address planning and preparation, surveillance and outbreak detection, investigation of clusters and outbreaks, …
By Ricardo Carvajal – In a complaint filed on July 1, the government is asking a federal district court to enjoin certain manufacturers of protein powder mixes and dietary supplements from further marketing of products alleged to be adulterated under FDC Act section 402(a)(4) due to the …
By Diane B. McColl & Riëtte van Laack – On June 25, 2009, Ovos Natural Health Inc. ("Ovos") filed a citizen petition asking FDA to promulgate a regulation allowing use of homotaurine, a new dietary ingredient, in dietary supplements under sections 201(ff)(3)(B)(ii) and 301(ll)(2) of …
By Ricardo Carvajal – FDA has announced public workshops on the Reportable Food Registry intended to “explain the purpose of the Registry, how it will work, and the responsibilities of persons required to submit a report regarding instances of reportable food to FDA through the …
JP Ellison – The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri announced three guilty pleas to misdemeanor violations of the FDC Act in connection with the "nationwide recall of pet food and the death and serious illness of countless pets across the United States …
By Riëtte van Laack – The FDA Amendments Act (“FDAAA”) amended the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDC Act”) to create section 417, which directs FDA to establish a Reportable Food Registry (“Registry”). The purpose of the Registry is to provide a “reliable mechanism to …
By Ricardo Carvajal – In an increasingly common exercise of the agency’s authority under FDC Act § 404, FDA announced that is has it has suspended the temporary Emergency Permit issued to Evanger's Dog & Cat Food Co., Inc. in April 2008. Under § 404 …
By Ricardo Carvajal – Much ink has already been spilled detailing the burdens that draft federal food safety legislation would impose on industry (click here for the latest version of the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 (“FSEA”)). Little has yet been said about the burdens …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The Obama administration’s Food Safety Working Group has launched a website through which it intends to keep the public informed of its activities (to date, the only activity listed on the website is a listening session and breakout discussion among stakeholders …
By JP Ellison – In a Memorandum to the heads of Executive Departments and Agencies dated May 20, 2009, with the Subject Line “Preemption” (the “May 20, 2009 Memorandum”), President Obama stated that “executive departments and agencies have sometimes announced that their regulations preempt State …
By Ricardo Carvajal – According to a DOJ press release, a federal judge has handed down a 63-month sentence to a seafood company president convicted of participating in a conspiracy to falsely label a certain type of fish from Vietnam to avoid paying federal tariffs. …
By Wes Siegner & Ricardo Carvajal – FDA has issued a warning letter to General Mills in which the agency alleges “serious violations” of the FDC Act in the label and labeling of Cheerios cereal. Specifically, FDA contends that the following label claims make Cheerios …
By Ricardo Carvajal – In two studies recently published in Nature (see here and here) scientists report success applying a novel technique to more precisely insert genes conferring herbicide resistance into corn and tobacco. In addition to enabling greater precision, the technique results in stable …
