Food & Drug Law Prof Blog

USDA to Hold Facebook Chat on Local Food

USDA is on Facebook, and you can become a fan.  Not only that, they're having a live chat:

The next Live Facebook Chat will take place on Thursday, October 1 at 3:45 pm ET with Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan to talk about local food systems.

Read about this on Food Safety News.

Go to the USDA website page on the Facebook chat.

My son just sent me this xkcd cartoon about food labels. Click on the link to view on their website, and be sure to hold your mouse over the picture for the rest of the caption. 

"Veggie Libel" laws

I am in Laramie, Wyoming, at the University of Wyoming's consumer issues conference on Food Safety, Security, and Sources.  Tonight I watched the movie Food, Inc., in an auditorium that was packed to overflowing. This was the first time I'd seen the film, which is beautifully done. 

While I recognized most of the people interviewed in the film, and was not surprised by anything in it, there was one new tidbit for me -- "veggie libel" laws.  How this has escaped my radar until now I am not sure.

Here's what Wikipedia says: Food libel laws, also known as "food disparagement laws", "veggie libel laws", or "veggie hate laws", are laws passed in 13 U.S. states that make it easier for food industry interests to sue their critics for libel. These 13 states are: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas.

The entry cites a Center for Science in the Public Interest chart of state food libel laws.

Wyoming Law Consumer Issues Conference on Food Issues Thursday and Friday

I am in Laramie, Wyoming, for the University of Wyoming's annual Consumer Issues Conference.  This year the topic is Food, and the sessions cover just about all the issues we blog about here on Food Law Prof Blog. 

I did not realize Laramie is up at 7200 feet, but I did kind of have the sense that Wyoming features sagebrush and antelope, both of which I saw on the way to the hotel.  I am the plenary speaker for the first session tomorrow morning.

E coli O157:H7 from produce yet again?

From Food Safety News:

It appears that fresh produce may once again be responsible for a new outbreak of the dreaded E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in Utah, Colorado, and New York, Food Safety News has learned. . . .

. . . sources close to the investigation say lettuce from a California supplier is the likely culprit.

read more

Yike! I just came through Denver on my way to Laramie, Wyoming.  Maybe I'll skip the salad tonight at dinner.

FDA Science Writers Symposium, November 4-5

From the FDA website:

Writing About the Future of Public Health 

Science is a key foundation for the decisions FDA makes day on a wide-range of products affecting human and animal health—from the most common food ingredients, to complex medical and surgical devices, to lifesaving drugs.

The Second Annual Science Writers Symposium on November 4 and 5, 2009, will highlight how the FDA applies novel scientific approaches to critical public health issues and the products it regulates. The symposium, featuring a lab tour and presentations by FDA scientists, will give writers a unique insight into the evolving field of regulatory science with an eye towards generating potential story ideas.

November 4-5, 2009
FDA White Oak Campus
Silver Spring, MD 20993

NYT: Agricultural Runoff and Drinking Water

From the New York Times online, Sept. 18, 2009:

Health Ills Abound as Farm Runoff Fouls Wells
By CHARLES DUHIGG

. . .There are 41,000 dairy cows in Brown County [WI], which includes Morrison, and they produce more than 260 million gallons of manure each year, much of which is spread on nearby grain fields. Other farmers receive fees to cover their land with slaughterhouse waste and treated sewage.

In measured amounts, that waste acts as fertilizer. But if the amounts are excessive, bacteria and chemicals can flow into the ground and contaminate residents’ tap water.

. . .Yet runoff from all but the largest farms is essentially unregulated . . .

read more

Shanah Tovah

Today is the first day of Rosh Hashanah.  Food Law Prof Blog wishes all of its readers a Sweet and Rewarding Year. 

Shanah Tovah

Friday Lite: CNN on Why We Eat Too Much

From CNN.com:

We all know we're supposed to eat healthy portions. So why is it that a rough day at the office or even just the smell of chocolate-chip cookies can cause us to throw our best intentions out the window?

We tapped the nation's leading experts for the unexpected reasons why so many of us overdo it -- so you can break the cycle and prevent an unwanted pile-on of pounds.

You're not getting enough sleep

Missing out on your zzz's . . .

read more

Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Milk Competition Saturday, Sept. 19

From the Wall Street Journal: Farmers Want Industry Probe 

Dairy farmers, stung by a price-depressing glut of milk, are pressing federal antitrust regulators to investigate competition in the industry.

A group of dairy farmers is slated to meet with antitrust enforcers Thursday in Washington, and Christine Varney, chief of the Justice Department's antitrust division, is scheduled to appear Saturday at a Vermont hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is populated with several Democrats from big dairy states such as Wisconsin, Minnesota and New York. . . .

Here's the announcement for the hearing, with the list of speakers:

Crisis on the Farm: The State of Competition and Prospects for Sustainability in the Northeast Dairy Industry

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE FIELD HEARING

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a field hearing on "Crisis on the Farm: The State of Competition and Prospects for Sustainability in the Northeast Dairy Industry" for Saturday, September 19, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Albans City Hall, 100 Main Street, St. Albans, Vermont.

Soda Tax in the News

Proposed taxes on sugar sodas seem to be getting a lot of ink lately. President Obama thinks it's worth considering (blogged here).

A recent study by a star-studded cast of nutrition and obesity experts published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week is stirring things up. :The Public Health and Economic Benefits of Taxing Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, (by Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., Thomas Farley, M.D., M.P.H., Walter C. Willett, M.D., Dr.P.H., Barry M. Popkin, Ph.D., Frank J. Chaloupka, Ph.D., Joseph W. Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., and David S. Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D.)

. . .Taxation has been proposed as a means of reducing the intake of [sugar-sweetened] beverages and thereby lowering health care costs, as well as a means of generating revenue that governments can use for health programs. Currently, 33 states have sales taxes on soft drinks (mean tax rate, 5.2%), but the taxes are too small to affect consumption and the revenues are not earmarked for programs related to health. This article examines trends in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, evidence linking these beverages to adverse health outcomes, and approaches to designing a tax system that could promote good nutrition and help the nation recover health care costs associated with the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. ^{. . .}

New York Times, Sept. 16, 2009: Proposed Tax on Sugary Beverages Debated

. . . a team of prominent doctors, scientists and policy makers says it could be a powerful weapon in efforts to reduce obesity, in the same way that cigarette taxes have helped curb smoking.

The group, which includes the New York City health commissioner, Thomas Farley, and Joseph W. Thompson, Arkansas surgeon general, estimates that a tax of a penny an ounce on sugary beverages would raise $14.9 billion in its first year, which . . .

ABCNews.go.com, Sept. 16, 2009: Public Health Leaders Propose Soda Tax

. . ."A tax on sugar-sweetened beverages is really a double-win," said Dr. David Ludwig, a co-author of the paper and director of the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children's Hospital, Boston. "We can raise much-needed dollars while likely reducing obesity prevalence, which is a major driver of health care costs, the paper states. "Ultimately the government needs to raise more money to cover the deficit, and in terms of ways of raising that revenue, a tax on sugar sweetened beverages is really a no-brainer.". . .

Wisconsin Campylobacter Outbreak Linked to Raw Milk

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture press release:

Pronunciation note: CAM puh lo bak ter juh JOO nee

MADISON -- DNA test results and other evidence have now established that an outbreak of illness involving at least 35 people, the majority children and teens, was linked to drinking unpasteurized milk. Wisconsin food safety officials are cautioning consumers not to drink raw milk and farmers not to sell it to the public.

"Laws requiring pasteurization of milk have been on the books for more than half a century, and there are good public health reasons for that," said Steve Ingham, head of the Food Safety Division in the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

"We have very compelling evidence linking these illnesses to drinking raw milk. This is the third major outbreak in Wisconsin since 2001 that has been tied to raw milk consumption. That's not to mention a number of smaller ones in which the link was strongly suspected, but patients were unwilling to identify farms that provided the milk. So far we've been fortunate that the infections have not been life-threatening, but raw milk is an inherently risky food and it can lead to other, more dangerous illnesses, including E. coli 0157:H7 infection."

Click here  to read the full press release

Read more on this outbreak on Food Poisoning Law Blog (published by PritzkerOlsen law firm)

Read more on the raw milk debate on MarlerBlog (published by Bill Marler of Marler Clark law firm)

Read more on the raw milk debate on RealMilk.com (published by the Weston A. Price Foundation)

China Probes ‘Unfair Trade’ in U.S. Chicken and Auto Products

From Bloomberg.com:

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- China announced dumping and subsidy probes of chicken and auto products from the U.S., two days after President Barack Obama imposed tariffs on tires from the Asian nation.

Chinese industries complain . . . 

more

Thank you to Steven H. Sholk for this and so many other leads.

Advisory Panel to Consider Nano-materials in Pesticide Products

Thank you to Cindy Finley, who contributed this as a comment to our earlier post on nano particles in pesticides (blogged here).

There will be a 4-day consultation meeting of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP) to consider and review a set of scientific issues related to the assessment of hazard and exposure associated with nanosilver and other nanometal pesticide products.

DATES: November 3 - 6, 2009, from approximately 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Environmental Protection Agency, Conference Center, Lobby Level, One Potomac Yard (South Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA 22202.

Comments: The Agency encourages that written comments be submitted by October 20, 2009 and requests for oral comments be submitted by October 27, 2009. Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0683, by one of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public Docket (7502P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph E. Bailey, DFO, Office of Science Coordination and Policy (7201M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 564-2045; fax number: (202) 564-8382; e-mail address: bailey.joseph@epa.gov. EPA source: http://www.FederalRegister.com

House and Senate Food Safety Bills

Bill Marler has prepared a useful comparison of HR 2749, The Food Safety Enhancement Act, passed by the House, and S. 510, The Food Safety Modernization Act, under consideration in the Senate.  The comparison appears on Food Safety News:

Food Safety Acts Compared: HR 2749 vs. S 510
by Bill Marler | Sep 14, 2009

Shortly before the summer recess, the House overwhelmingly passed HR 2749 - The Food Safety Enhancement Act. The Senate may now either adopt the House version, or S 510 - The Food Safety Modernization Act. Both Acts have similar goals; however, the real question is whether they will succeed achieving their goals, and by what means each bill will seek success. . . .

read more

New website: Food Safety News

Kudos to Marler Clark for launching a promising and informative new website.  Food Safety News is a news site rather than a blog (Bill Marler's MarlerBlog is still going strong too).  The site has reporters who are not lawyers, as well as contributed articles by lawyers and others.  I've added it to my favorites bar, I like it that much. 

Food Safety News  (FSN) is a daily online newspaper dedicated to covering food safety news--all the news that's fit to eat!  FSN writers will be reporting on everything from foodborne illness outbreaks to food politics to international food safety policy. We have bureaus in Seattle, Denver, and Washington, DC and have invited contributors from government, industry, academia, and consumer groups to share their viewpoints on food safety-related issues. It's a one-stop shop for all things food safety.

USDA ERS Report: U.S. Food Import Patterns, 1995-2007

The USDA Economic Research Service recently (August 2009) published a report on food imports:

Abstract

Using import data from the U.S. Census Bureau, this study examines patterns of U.S. food imports for fiscal years 1998-2007. Results indicate faster import growth trends for consumer-ready foods, such as fruit, vegetables, meats, seafood, and processed food products. Although the United States imported most bulk food commodities and perishable consumer-ready products, such as fruit and vegetables, from neighboring countries in the Western Hemisphere, it imported processed foods, spices, and other tropical products from more global sources, with rising import shares for many countries in Asia.

HHS and USDA Launch New Food Safety Consumer Website

Health and Human Services News Release:

HHS and USDA Unveil New Food Safety Consumer Web Site at www.foodsafety.gov
New site features the latest food safety and recall information from across the government

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, the co-chairs of the Obama Administration’s Food Safety Working Group, unveiled a new consumer Web site today at www.foodsafety.gov.  The site is designed to help consumers and families get all the latest information on food safety and food recalls in one convenient place.

The new site will feature information from all the agencies across the federal government that deal with critical food and food safety information, including preventive tips about how to handle food safely, alerts on life-saving food recalls, and the latest news from the key agencies.

Consumers can sign up in one easy place to receive email and RSS alerts on recalled or potentially unsafe food and hear from the top scientific experts across the government on food safety.  Later phases of the site to be launched will include recall feeds for texting and mobile phones. The site will also feature a foodsafety.gov widget that the public and the media are encouraged to download and promote on their Web sites and social networking sites. The widget will instantly update viewers with the latest food safety recalls and will be a valuable public health and safety tool.

Leaders from HHS and USDA praised the new site and said it would be a valuable tool in their efforts to keep our food supply safe and consumers healthy.

“The highest mission of any government is keeping its citizens safe.  In this administration, we see public health as an essential part of that mission and this new website as an essential way we will can help keep people safe from unhealthy food and food handling practices and up-to-date on critical food recalls,” Secretary Sebelius said.   “Consumers no longer will have to search around in different places trying to figure out which agency manages which food product. All the information that they will need will be one easy place at foodsafety.gov.”

“Protecting the health and well-being of the American people is a fundamental responsibility of the federal government.  Our new and innovative approach to connecting consumers to food safety information in an easy and timely manner is a critical improvement in this effort,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

“This site focuses on prevention by highlighting the steps both businesses and consumers can take to avoid illness,” said Food and Drug (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.  “It also will be a clearinghouse for information on the latest FDA rules and guidance.”

“Health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rely on information from many places, including consumers, when it comes to tracking food-borne illnesses across the country and the world,” said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden. “With this new Web site, consumers will quickly know who to contact if they believe they became ill from eating a certain food.  Those reports of illness can help us identify potential outbreaks sooner and strengthen our efforts to protect Americans from unsafe food and food-borne illness.”

“Protecting the American people from food-borne illness is a critical mission of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Our work is designed to prevent outbreaks of food borne illness from occurring and to react quickly and decisively to contamination in the food supply,” said Jerry Mande, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at USDA. “The new foodsafety.gov site will provide families with a one-stop online shop for all the latest information they need to reduce the danger of food-borne illnesses.”

FDA: Updated Guidance on the Reportable Food Registry

The Reportable Food Registry Electronic Portal went into effect September 8, but FDA has revised its Guidance to announce "enforcement discretion:"

You must comply with the requirements of the Reportable Food Registry (Section 417 of the FD&C Act) on September 8, 2009, and the prohibited act provisions of the FD&C Act related to the Registry will apply on that date. However, FDA intends to consider exercising enforcement discretion for a period of 90 days, until December 8, 2009, in circumstances where FDA determines that a responsible party has made a reasonable effort to comply with the requirements of section 417 of the FD&C Act and has otherwise acted to protect public health.

Read more about this at FDA Law Blog.

Also, there is general background on the FDA website:

The Reportable Food Registry (RFR or the Registry) is an electronic portal for Industry to report when there is reasonable probability that an article of food will cause serious adverse health consequences. The Registry helps the FDA better protect public health by tracking patterns and targeting inspections. The Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (Pub. L.110-085), section 1005 directs the FDA to establish a Reportable Food Registry for Industry.

Criticism and Concern over "Smart Choices" Green Checkmarks

From the New York Times:

For Your Health, Froot Loops

. . . The green checkmark label that is starting to show up on store shelves will appear on hundreds of packages, including — to the surprise of many nutritionists — sugar-laden cereals like Cocoa Krispies and Froot Loops.

“These are horrible choices,” said Walter C. Willett, chairman of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health. . .

Read more