United Fresh president Tom Stenzel welcomed USDA's final rule requiring SNAP retailers to stock seven varieties of fruits and vegetables with three units each, calling it a win for both SNAP families and the small stores his group asked USDA not to overburden.
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Law & Regulations
Food laws and regulations.
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Law & Regulations
President Obama Capitulates to Big Food, Signs DARK Act Into Law
Food & Water Watch director Wenonah Hauter's statement on the GMO labeling bill President Obama signed: it lets companies use QR codes, bar codes or 1-800 numbers instead of on-package labels, nullifies Vermont's law, preempts other states, and sets no penalties for noncompliance.
Law & Regulations
FDA: Lowering Sodium in the Food Supply
Americans average 3,400 mg of sodium a day, nearly 50 percent above the 2,300 mg federal limit, and most of it comes from processed and prepared foods. FDA says cutting intake could prevent hundreds of thousands of premature deaths and illnesses within a decade.
Law & Regulations
FSMA Final Rule for Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration
The FDA's final FSMA rule requires certain registered food facilities to adopt mitigation strategies for processes vulnerable to intentional adulteration, rather than targeting particular foods or hazards. The final version adds flexibility to the 2013 proposal.
Law & Regulations
FDA Makes Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label
FDA finalized the Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods: bigger, bolder calorie and serving size type, required amounts for vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium, an added sugars line in grams and percent Daily Value, and a rewritten footnote explaining percent Daily Value.
Law & Regulations
National Organic Program: Proposed Rule for Animal Welfare Standards
The Cornucopia Institute's Mark Kastel responds to USDA's long-delayed draft organic animal welfare rule, noting it arrives five years after the standards board's 2011 recommendation and could phase in over another three to five, and questioning the board process behind it.
Law & Regulations
USDA Consolidates and Streamlines Regulations for processed meats
FSIS proposed a rule that would drop redundant trichinae control requirements for pork and consolidate the regulations for thermally processed, commercially sterile meat and poultry. Plants would still have to control trichinae through their HACCP plans. The agency is taking comment.
Law & Regulations
Food Industry Enlisted Academics in G.M.O. Lobbying War
A pointer to a New York Times report, based on emails, on how the food industry recruited academics in the lobbying fight over genetically modified organisms.
Law & Regulations
FDA Takes Action on Bulk Pure Powdered Caffeine Products
FDA sent warning letters to five distributors of pure powdered caffeine, saying the gap between a safe and a toxic dose is very small and kitchen spoons cannot measure it: a teaspoon holds roughly the caffeine of 28 cups of coffee. Two teenagers' deaths in 2014 prompted earlier warnings.
Law & Regulations
The DARK Act is a DISASTER - news email 080415 from Center for Food Safety
A Center for Food Safety campaign email. The U.S. House passed the DARK Act, which would overturn state labeling laws for genetically engineered food, bar the FDA from mandatory labeling and allow 'natural' claims for GE ingredients. The group asks readers to lobby senators.
Law & Regulations
FDA takes step to remove artificial trans fats in processed foods
The FDA finalized its determination that partially hydrogenated oils, the main source of artificial trans fat, are not generally recognized as safe in food, giving manufacturers three years to remove them. Trans fat intake already fell about 78% from 2003 to 2012.
Law & Regulations
Internal Document Reveals USDA To Launch Non-GMO Certification as Part of “USDA Process Verified" Program
An internal May 1 letter from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, obtained by the Associated Press, outlines a program letting companies pay USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service to verify non-GMO claims and add a “USDA Process Verified” label. Vilsack said an unnamed global company requested it.
Law & Regulations
Bill to WEAKEN toxic chemical regulation introduced in the Senate
An EWG fundraising appeal opposing the chemical safety bill from Senators Tom Udall and David Vitter, which the group says would leave BPA, flame retardants and other chemicals barely regulated. EWG asks readers to help it raise $20,000 by midnight.
Law & Regulations
USDA Says “Yes” to Pesticide Drift, Approves Dicamba-Tolerant Crops
Food & Water Watch director Wenonah Hauter condemns USDA's approval of Monsanto's dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton, citing the agency's own estimate that dicamba use will rise 88-fold on soybeans and 14-fold on cotton, and Monsanto's bid to raise cottonseed tolerances 150-fold.
Law & Regulations
FDA finalizes menu and vending machine calorie labeling rules
The FDA finalised rules requiring chain restaurants, similar retail food outlets and vending machine operators with 20 or more locations to post calorie counts beside item names or prices. Daily specials, temporary items and general-use condiments are exempt.
Law & Regulations
Trade Experts to Convene Reporters’ Briefing on WTO’s Rejection of Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL)
A media advisory for an October 23 teleconference at which Food & Water Watch, the National Farmers Union, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch and the U.S. Cattlemen's Association will discuss the WTO's ruling on country-of-origin labeling for beef and pork.
Law & Regulations
Food Facility Biennial Registration Renewal
FDA reminds food facilities that the Food Safety Modernization Act requires them to renew their registrations every even-numbered year between October 1 and December 31, and points to three guidance documents updated in 2012 explaining who must register and how.
Law & Regulations
FDA food safety challenge to spur new technologies for fighting foodborne illness
The agency is offering a $500,000 prize pool for breakthrough ways to detect disease-causing organisms in food, especially Salmonella in minimally processed fresh produce. Judges from the FDA, CDC and USDA will pick winners; the competition launches September 23.
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