16-Mar-2009 - President Obama has named his pick for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner: Food safety and bioterrorism expert Dr Margaret Hamburg.
13-Mar-2009 - The US government has set up a working group to look at how food is marketed to all children under the age of 18, in a move that has angered some industry representatives.
13-Mar-2009 - A federal judge has rejected challenges to a law requiring mandatory pasteurization of almonds to reduce risk of salmonella contamination.
11-Mar-2009 - The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has invited interested parties to take part in a scoping session on the agenda for meetings discussing a proposed rule for genetically engineered (GE) organisms in April.
10-Mar-2009 - A US tortilla manufacturer has been shut down over repeated violations, claims the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
06-Mar-2009 - Obtaining new powers for the FDA to recall food products and implement new preventative measures will take time, the Acting Commissioner has said, in a candid viewpoint that recognizes officials’ constraints.
06-Mar-2009 - New rules on listeria testing in ready-to-eat meats launched last week by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) don’t go far enough to guard against the risk of infection in large companies, warns one of the federal government’s expert advisors on food safety.
05-Mar-2009 - Food companies have come out in support of stricter government regulation proposed by a bipartisan Senate bill intended to strengthen the FDA’s powers to ensure food safety.
26-Feb-2009 - Health Canada has recommended that acrylamide – a possible carcinogen found in French fries and potato chips – be included on the nation’s list of toxic substances.
24-Feb-2009 - Indirect benefits of the economic stimulus bill signed by President Obama earlier this month are set to filter through to manufacturers of food, beverage and supplement products – especially the smaller players.
23-Feb-2009 - US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is requesting that US meatpackers voluntarily impose a stricter regime of country-of-origin labelling (COOL) for meat than that required under the Bush administration ruling.
20-Feb-2009 - Georgia’s state Senate has passed a watered down food safety bill on Wednesday which would require compulsory tests for contamination in some instances.
19-Feb-2009 - New regulations for Canadian organic food are due to come into effect at the end of June, and the Organic Trade Association (OTA) has said that they will ease trade in organic food between Canada and major trading partners.
11-Feb-2009 - Maryland could become the first US state to ban several artificial food colorings which have been linked to hyperactivity and behavioral problems in children, if proposed legislation is approved.
10-Feb-2009 - The US food safety regulator is set to provide more information to the public later this month about its safety review of Bisphenol A (BPA), the chemical found in packaging.
04-Feb-2009 - The Center for Science in the Public Interest has urged Pennsylvanian officials to ignore the advice of a task force on trans fat, which concluded that a mandatory ban “could be more harmful from a health perspective”.
03-Feb-2009 - President Obama has said in a televised interview that his administration will conduct a complete review of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent future lapses in food safety.
02-Feb-2009 - E. coli in ground beef, melamine in infant formula, and salmonella in peanut butter - what is next? Isn’t it about time the slices of the US food safety pie were taken back from the multiple federal agencies involved and surveillance placed under one roof?
29-Jan-2009 - Legislation unveiled in the House of Representatives this week would increase Food and Drug Administration powers and the frequency of safety inspections – but would require industry to cover the cost.
27-Jan-2009 - US-grown roasted chicory is not expected to rise in price when trade tariffs are lifted in March, says its sole US supplier, because the pull of locally-produced food remains strong.
26-Jan-2009 - A group of ten major food industry organizations has signed letters to Congress urging it to modernize US food safety regulation amid concern that otherwise America could lose its reputation for safe, good quality food supplies.
23-Jan-2009 - The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has criticized US officials’ response to the peanut butter salmonella outbreak, calling it ‘woefully inadequate’.
22-Jan-2009 - The Chinese melamine scandal is expected to claim more lives after the country’s courts sentenced two people with alleged involvement in last year’s contamination to death and imprisoned an industry executive, say news reports.
20-Jan-2009 - As we enter the Obama era today, NutraIngredients-USA.com examines the likely effects of the much-awaited Congressional shift on the functional foods and dietary supplements industries. According to industry veteran Loren Israelsen, the road ahead could be less than positive – especially for supplements.
19-Jan-2009 - The Center for Food Safety (CFS) has criticized the final ruling on Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), saying that it includes loopholes that leave consumers uninformed about the origins of many common foods.