AquaBounty Technologies - which hopes to become the first company to introduce a genetically engineered (GE) animal to the human food supply - says a legal challenge to Environment Canada’s decision to approve its technology is just the latest attempt...
The new omnibus appropriations bill that surprisingly sailed through Congress recently contains significant budget increases for the Food and Drug administration. Whether those increases will match FDA’s expanded responsibilities under the Food Safety...
It might have enraged those in favor of mandatory GMO labeling, but a leaked document outlining the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s (GMA’s) ideas for a federally regulated 'voluntary' approach to this issue has been praised by one ex-FDA...
FDA has published another proposed rule in the rollout of the Food Safety Modernization Act. The rule spells out plans companies must have in place to defend against intentional adulteration of food.
The FDA’s proposal to revoke the GRAS status of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) in a bid to oust artificial trans fats from the US diet “is extreme… and other options should be explored”, says soybean industry collaborative Qualisoy.
The FDA has written to three federal judges handling civil cases vs food manufacturers over natural claims to “respectfully decline” their request to come to an administrative determination of whether GMOs belong in ‘all-natural’ foods.
Anti-GMO activists have reacted with fury to leaked proposals by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) to develop federal rules governing GMO labeling that would pre-empt state-driven initiatives.
The debate rages on over whether government should have a say in what consumers eat and drink, as the high-profile proposed cap on soda sizes brought the issue into the limelight in 2013. For the trade associations representing the beverage and snack...
Amid mounting false advertising lawsuits and increased pressure from consumer advocacy groups, the future of the historically vague marketing term "natural" is in question.
As the FDA prepares to conduct consumer research into whole grain labeling statements before it issues finalized guidance for industry, the debate over precisely what should constitute a ‘whole grain’, as well as how the amount of whole grain should be...
There will be pressure from some corners to give the food industry several years to phase out partially hydrogenated oils, but from a technical perspective, viable alternatives are already out there for pretty much every application, according to one...
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a draft guidance for the food industry to help growers, manufacturers and operators work toward reducing levels of acrylamide in certain foods.
News that the FDA is considering revoking the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) in a bid to eradicate artificial trans fats from the US food supply has been broadly welcomed. But how long should the agency...
Confectionery giant Mars has defended its use of artificial colors in M&Ms after being urged to ditch them in a petition on change.org accompanied by a press release from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) describing them as “neurotoxic...
As a tidal wave of civil litigation over the use of the term ‘evaporated cane juice’ (ECJ) to describe dried cane syrup (aka sugar) continues to engulf the food industry, there has been good and bad news for some high-profile defendants this month.
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) announced that it opposes federally mandated voluntary GMO labeling in favor of states’ rights to enforce mandatory GMO labeling, arguing that voluntary labeling could end state GMO laws and legitimate non-GMO-certified...
From August 5, 2014, manufacturers using the term ‘gluten-free’ on food labels must adhere to new FDA rules that set a gluten limit of 20 parts per million (ppm). But can consumers take their word for it, or will they still look for some kind of third...
The FDA says it will permit qualified health claims on the relationship between eating whole grains and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, but is the wording it has proposed so qualified that no food manufacturer will want to use it?
Is it too risky to label products that may contain ingredients from genetically engineered crops as ‘all-natural’? And will the FDA step in and decide this issue so consumer class action lawsuits over this issue stop clogging up the court system?
Are reasonable consumers being misled by companies using the term ‘evaporated cane juice’ (ECJ) to describe dried sugar cane syrup (aka sugar) on product labels? And should this issue be determined by the FDA or the courts?
In the 2nd major development this week in the debate over whether foods made with GMOs can be labeled ‘natural’, a NY judge handling a multi-district lawsuit vs Frito-Lay says she will not refer the matter to the FDA, as her counterparts have done in...
In 2006, the FDA issued draft guidance designed to ensure food manufacturers were all singing from the same hymn sheet when making whole grain labeling statements. Seven years later, we are still waiting for the finalized guidance, and comments to the...
A heart disease researcher who became fed up of waiting for the FDA to respond to his 2009 citizen petition calling for a ban on artificial trans fats has now followed up with a lawsuit.
New rules released under the Food Safety Modernization Act will push more responsibility onto food importers and third party inspectors in an effort to prevent food borne illnesses at their source overseas rather than to try to catch them when they land...
A week after California judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers put a class action lawsuit (Cox vs Gruma Corp) on ice for six months to let the FDA determine whether GMOs belong in foods marketed as ‘natural’, a judge in Colorado has followed her lead in a similar...
Lawyers defending food industry clients in consumer class actions over whether GMOs belong in 'natural' products say courts should follow a California judge's lead and let the FDA determine this matter once and for all, so such cases stop...
The beleaguered boss of AquaBounty Technologies says Sen Lisa Murkowski's attempts to force mandatory labeling of his firm's genetically engineered (GE) salmon are "another setback" in what has been a "dreadful experience",...
FDA has finalized a rule on the importation of food under the Food Safety Modernization Act. The rule, Information Required in Prior Notice of Imported Food, was adopted without any changes suggested by comments from the draft version of the rule.
US consumer group SumOfUs has plastered its new “Got Aspartame in your kids’ milk?” poster on buses destined for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) HQ, in a last-ditch attempt to convince the authority not to approve a proposed amendment to the standard...
In an order that will be read carefully by those following ‘natural’ labeling lawsuits, a California judge has rejected an argument routinely made by defendants - that the FDA has primary jurisdiction when it comes to judging whether ‘natural’ claims...
A bill requiring the labeling of GMO ingredients has been introduced at the federal level by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR. Even though the bill’s chances of passage are uncertain, observers see it as a watershed moment.
Special edition: Sodium reduction - The road ahead
If consumers are not demanding lower-sodium products (at least not en masse), and the government does not mandate them, what incentive is there for manufacturers to make the kind of across-the-board reductions needed to deliver a meaningful reduction...
Food recalls in the US hit a two year high in the fourth quarter, according to a report released by a consulting firm. That comes to an average of six recalls a day, affecting about 18.4 million products.
Food consultant Ben England is urging food producers and importers to comment on two proposed rules issued by FDA under FSMA, and the agency has just made that easier by extending the comment period deadline.
The US Food and Drug Administration has adopted a final rule on its administrative detention authority under the Food Safety and Modernization Act. In adopting the final rule the agency did not make any of the changes to the interim final ruling that...
GMPs, NDIs and FSMA will top the list of most-frequently mentioned acronyms in the regulatory sphere for dietary supplements and functional food ingredient companies in the coming year, industry experts agree.
Raw milk dairy Organic Pastures has filed a lawsuit against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alleging that the agency repeatedly failed to respond to its petition to amend a law that forbids the sale of raw milk-based dairy products across state...
In the second part of this FoodNavigator-USA special on what’s on the regulatory radar for the food sector’s key trade associations in 2013, we look at sugar, corn, dairy, and natural products & supplements.
Evidence is growing that many overseas facilities may fail to meet the Dec. 31 Food Safety Modernization Act food facility re-registration deadline. A new consultancy based in Miami aims to help by offering online information in both Spanish and Portuguese.
A Minnesota federal judge has thrown out a class action lawsuit alleging that General Mills’ Yoplait Greek yogurts do not meet the regulatory definition of yogurt on the grounds that this is up to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to decide.
FDA has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that sought to prod the agency into faster implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). But regardless of whether full implementation is accelerated, FSMA has already significantly altered the...
With the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) poised to publish guidance on distinguishing between beverages and liquid dietary supplements, one analyst tells BeverageDaily.com he doesn’t see the agency cracking down too hard on traditional energy drinks.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering new standards for the levels of arsenic in rice but said yesterday that it does not have enough evidence yet.
Just because food manufacturers are still waiting for the devil to emerge from the detail of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) does not mean there is nothing they can do now but wait, according to one legal expert, who says firms can do a huge...
As the row between sugar and corn refiners heats up this week, advocacy group Citizens for Health has entered the fray with a citizen’s petition calling for the FDA to change the way high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is labeled.
Chamberlain Farms has been named as the source of the outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium from cantaloupes that has killed two and sickened nearly 200 people in 21 states.
The American Bakers Association has submitted comments to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) opposing a research proposal to examine how consumers might perceive labeling of added sugars on nutrition labels.
