New York City plans a bill banning toy giveaways with children's fast-food meals, after San Francisco barred toys with meals failing nutrition standards. The piece tallies McDonald's Mighty Kids' Meal at 840 calories, 37 grams of fat and 1,460 milligrams of sodium.
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Law & Regulations
Food laws and regulations.
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Law & Regulations
Food Safety Modernization Act: Putting the Focus on Prevention
FDA Commissioner Hamburg writes that the Food Safety Modernization Act directs the agency to build a prevention-focused oversight system spanning the whole food supply, noting foodborne illness strikes 48 million Americans a year. Processors of all food types must now evaluate their hazards.
Law & Regulations
Nutrition facts label does not help curb obesity epidemic
A study due in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found King County's mandatory menu labeling changed nothing at Taco Time restaurants, affecting neither total sales nor average calories per purchase. Lead author Eric Finkelstein doubts such rules will curb obesity.
Law & Regulations
Meat products will carry nutrition information on labels - USDA
The USDA will require nutrition facts panels listing calories, total fat and saturated fat on 40 popular cuts of meat and poultry, either on the package or at the point of purchase. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the labels should help shoppers follow the Dietary Guidelines.
Law & Regulations
Both House and Senate Vote YES on Food Safety Bill
The House has passed the food safety bill and sent it to the president. The piece traces how the Senate revived H.R. 2751, a dormant Cash for Clunkers measure, substituted the text of S. 510 for it by unanimous consent, and renamed it the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.
Law & Regulations
U.S. Policies to Blame for Beef Export Restrictions (PR)
R-CALF USA told Senate Finance Committee staff that the US has given importers legitimate reason to impose 30-month age limits on US beef, and urged senators to stop seeking concessions from Japan, South Korea and China until the US tightens its own BSE import rules.
Law & Regulations
Medicare Advantage Plans to Experience Weeding Out Process
About 966,000 Medicare Advantage enrollees will need new coverage next year as insurers close plans that failed a 2008 requirement to build their own doctor and hospital networks. The mandate is projected to save $132 billion over a decade, money redirected to cover the uninsured.
Law & Regulations
Obama's Healthcare Law Deemed Constitutional by Federal Judge
Judge George Steeh ruled that the Commerce Clause lets Congress require Americans to buy coverage by 2014 and penalize those who do not, rejecting a Thomas More Law Center challenge. He dismissed two of the group's six claims; four remain pending.
Law & Regulations
FDA and NOAA ramp up seafood inspection in the Gulf region
FDA is working with NOAA, the EPA, other federal agencies and state authorities to monitor seafood safety after the Gulf oil spill. The agency says the public should not be concerned about seafood in stores at this time, and fish harvested outside the closed areas is considered safe to eat.
Law & Regulations
Opioid Abuse Skyrockets
CDC data show emergency room visits for opioid painkiller overdoses rose from 144,644 in 2004 to 305,885 in 2008, a 111 percent increase. Oxycodone-related visits rose 152 percent, hydrocodone 123 percent and methadone 73 percent.
Law & Regulations
CDC Critiques Surgical Centers
A CDC review of infection control at ambulatory surgery centers in Maryland, North Carolina and Oklahoma found 68 percent had at least one lapse: 46 percent mishandled blood glucose monitoring equipment and over 28 percent mishandled medications, even though staff knew they were watched.
Law & Regulations
FDA Issues Global Raw Packaged Seafood Import Alert
FDA Import Alert 16-25 lets the agency detain vacuum-packed and modified atmosphere raw seafood by default unless the shipping firm sits on a Green List, which held only 46 international firms as of September 2009. The alert targets the botulism risk in anaerobic packaging.
Law & Regulations
Study: Avandia Safe in Low Doses
A University of Toronto study in the Lancet reported that low-dose Avandia taken with another diabetes drug cut the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 66 percent in at-risk patients. Lead author Bernard Zinman said the study was not designed to test cardiovascular safety.
Law & Regulations
Representatives urge Treasury Secretary to Protect Banks Working With Marijuana Dispensaries
Fifteen US representatives wrote to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urging him to assure national banks that serving state-legal medical marijuana dispensaries will not be targeted. They warn that without relief, dispensaries must operate entirely in cash.
Law & Regulations
Health Care Legislation Requires Calories on Restaurant Menus
The health care law signed Tuesday requires restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets to post calorie counts on menus and drive-through signs, and to label vending machine items. The language comes from the MEAL Act; the restaurant industry backs it for nationwide consistency.
Law & Regulations
Health Care Legislation Will Require Calories on Restaurant Menus
The health care legislation signed this week requires restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets to post calorie counts on menus and drive-through signs, and to label vending machine items. The National Restaurant Association backs it for making information consistent nationwide.
Law & Regulations
New Definitions for Organic Meat and Milk Issued
USDA replaced its vague "access to pasture" language with a rule that organic meat and milk come from livestock grazing pasture at least four months a year, with 30 percent of their feed from that grazing. The rules take effect in June.
Law & Regulations
Vitamin D Nutritional Policy in Europe (Press Release)
The Standing Committee of European Doctors, the Vitamin D Workshop and the PA International Foundation convened doctors, MEPs and patient representatives at the European Parliament on 23 March 2010 to press for action on vitamin D deficiency, which speakers said affects at least half the population.
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