FSIS announced a series of public meetings on its draft HACCP validation guidance, opening June 14, 2010 in Washington. The agency says the guidance adds no new requirements but clarifies existing ones, especially for small processors, with a second comment round to follow.
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Page 56 of 63
Politics
Food law, regulation, government advisories and the legal fights over what reaches your plate.
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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.
Politics
Dairy Gothic: Cows Stabbed With Pitchforks at Ohio farm
A Mercy For Animals undercover video from Conklin Dairy Farm in Plain City, Ohio shows cows stabbed with pitchforks, beaten with crowbars and calves' heads stomped. Dairy and veterinary groups condemned it, but prosecutors said the acts were only second-degree misdemeanors.
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.
Politics
Why has this Common Food Been Dumped in Europe… Yet, is Still Rampant in the US?
Mercola introduces his interview with Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette, who disputes the evidence behind industry claims that genetically modified foods are safe and responds to journalist Michael Specter's TED remarks on GMOs.
Politics
FDA Says You Have No Right to Real Food Unless They Give You Permission First
Answering a Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund lawsuit over its raw milk ban, the FDA argued Americans hold no absolute right to raw unprocessed food, no right to health outside its approval, and no right to contract privately for food. Mercola reviews the patchwork of state raw milk rules.
Politics
Elizabeth Birnbaum Resigns Amid Pressure
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that Minerals Management Service director Elizabeth Birnbaum resigned amid pressure over the Gulf oil spill. Critics faulted her for not fixing longstanding agency problems; the agency will be split into three parts.
Legal Actions
Hearing Scheduled for McNeil Plant
A hearing will examine the Pennsylvania McNeil plant behind the April 30 recall of Children's Tylenol and other Johnson & Johnson liquids. The FDA cited filthy equipment, bacterial contamination and untrained staff, and is reviewing 700 adverse-event reports, including seven deaths.
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.
Politics
FDA Warning Letters Show Dangerous Drugs in Cows and Veal
An Office of Inspector General report found USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service fails to test for many veterinary drugs in cattle and requested no recall after four adulterated carcasses reached the food supply. It tests for only one of 23 high-risk pesticides.
Politics
Santa Clara County Bans Happy Meal with Toys
The Board of Supervisors passed the ordinance 3-2. Sponsor Ken Yeager said it stops restaurants preying on children's love of toys; opponents said parents should decide. A health observer told foodconsumer.org that habitual junk food, not one poor meal, is the real problem.
Politics
FDA World-wide ‘Import Alert’ for Vacuum Pak or Modified Atmosphere Packaged Raw Seafood
Every firm exporting vacuum-packed or modified atmosphere packaged raw seafood to the US falls under Import Alert 16-125, which detains shipments from any company not on the FDA's Green List. The alert targets botulism risk in oxygen-free packaging; only 46 firms had qualified since 2009.
Politics
New Administration at USDA Steps Up to End Organic Corruption (PR)
USDA's National Organic Program issued a memo banning synthetic "accessory nutrients," ending the addition of synthetic omega-3 and omega-6 oils to organic infant formula. Cornucopia's FOIA documents traced the earlier allowance to a lobbyist's meeting with the program's former head.
Politics
KFC helps fight breast cancer
KFC gives Susan G. Komen 50 cents per pink bucket and has raised $2 million toward an $8 million goal. Harvard's Walter Willett says there is no direct link between fried chicken and breast cancer, though fatty food drives weight gain and fried meat carries heterocyclic amines.
Politics
Prominent Brands Using “Organic" in Their Name When Products Don't Qualify (PR)
The Cornucopia Institute filed complaints with the USDA's National Organic Program and the FTC over Oskri Organics, Organic Bistro and Newman's Own Organics, saying they sell products that do not qualify for the USDA Organic seal while carrying Organic prominently in their brand names.
Politics
Monsanto Under Investigation by Seven U.S. States
At least seven state attorneys general are investigating whether Monsanto abused its market power over seed, through rebates for excluding rival seeds, limits on combining traits, and incentives to move farmers to costlier varieties. The Justice Department is also reviewing its marketing.
Politics
Synthetic Oils in Infant Formula Could Be Making Babies Sick (PR)
The Cornucopia Institute re-filed a complaint asking the USDA to strip DHA and ARA, algae- and fungus-derived oils it calls synthetic, from organic infant formula. It says the additives have been linked to serious illness in some infants and were cleared over staff objections.
Politics
Are school lunches pose national security threat?
A group of retired officers told the Associated Press that school lunches have helped make young Americans too heavy to enlist. A new report says 9 million adults aged 17 to 24 are too overweight for service. The group urges Congress to cut junk food from schools.
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