For anyone not familiar with the legal framework governing “organic” claims, first a brief summary. The Organic Food Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) established a process for organic certification by the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program (NOP). Under the …
On March 12, 2018, the USDA announced its decision to withdraw the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) final rule that was published on January 19, 2017. As previously discussed, the OLPP was essentially an animal welfare rule, establishing minimum indoor and outdoor space requirements for …
On March 5, 2018, GAO released to the public a report titled “Food Safety and Nutrition: FDA Can Build on Existing Efforts to Measure Progress and Implement Key Activities.” The report confirms that FDA’s Food and Veterinary Medicine (FVM) Program has been primarily preoccupied with …
On March 1, 2018, FDA announced the release of several guidance documents: final guidance on Scientific Evaluation of the Evidence on the Beneficial Physiological Effects of Isolated or Synthetic Non-digestible Carbohydrates Submitted as Citizen Petition; final guidance on Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed: List of Products …
On February 13, 2018, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published a proposed rule that would amend the egg products inspection regulations. The proposal had been announced on January 9, 2018. The 48-page proposal (including the preamble) covers more than a change in …
Clean or cultured meat are terms used for animal muscle produced by growing cells directly rather than via the rearing and slaughtering of an animal. The idea of growing meat (or muscle) from cells outside the body (in vitro) to produce a product that replicates …
Barely a week apart, FDA announced the publication of a slew of guidance documents intended to further implement the food supply chain-related provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). In this posting, we look at the first set of documents, published on January 24. …
On January 30, 2018, Dr. Gottlieb of FDA and Secretary Perdue of the USDA announced that they had signed a formal agreement to make the coordination and collaboration between the two agencies more efficient and effective. The USDA has jurisdiction over most meat, poultry, catfish, and …
Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed prison sentences for Stewart and Michael Parnell, and Mary Wilkerson, formerly of the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). If you missed our earlier coverage of this historic case (here and here), PCA was …
FDA issued a draft guidance that addresses public warning and notification of recalls under the agency’s recall regulation at 21 CFR part 7, subpart C (see here and here). Although the draft guidance extends to recalls of nearly all FDA-regulated products, it is of particular importance …
On January 4, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the release of a new guidance by FTC staff concerning Multi-Level Marketing (MLM). The guidance, in the form of questions and answers, addresses issues relevant for businesses evaluating their compliance with the FTC Act. Multi-level marketing is …
As discussed previously, the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) rule has a somewhat tortured history. The rule was finalized at the end of the Obama administration. Since then, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has delayed the effective date of the rule several times, most …
FDA recently published a guidance document reminding proponents of GRAS status of their obligations under the FFDCA and its implementing regulations (which we refer to as the “Reminder Guidance,” available here). FDA also published a draft guidance document setting out best practices for convening a …
On November 14, 2017, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced that it will further delay and reconsider the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) regulations. This is not the first delay of the effective date for the OLPP regulations. The OLPP final rule amends the …
Small business owners and managers of chain restaurants subject to FDA’s menu labeling rule remain confused as to the criminality of adding an extra dollop of ketchup to a hamburger. One thing is now clear — the only way to stop FDA’s years of wasteful …
