FDA
Moran-Wolf clash may be Kansas Senate harbinger
Tea Party-backed Milton Wolf, the radiologist who unsuccessfully challenged Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts in the Republican primary last year, is fueling speculation that he will try again for the Senate, this time against incumbent Jerry Moran, chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the USDA and FDA spending.
Food industry asks FDA to allow low levels of trans fats
The Grocery Manufacturers Association petitioned the FDA to allow specific low-level uses of trans fats, formally known as partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), as a food additive.
Senate bill would label GE salmon, block beef imports
Retailers would have to identify transgenic salmon as genetically engineered and imports of raw beef from Brazil and Argentina would be barred under the USDA/FDA funding bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
White House objects to USDA-FDA funding levels and riders
The USDA-FDA appropriations bill awaiting a vote in the Senate "short-changes food safety needs" and "under-funds efforts to address the challenge of child poverty" while carrying harmful "ideological provisions," said the White House budget office.
White House defers to FDA on GMO food-labeling petitions
The White House responded to two petitions for labeling of foods made with genetically modified organisms by deferring to the expertise of the FDA, which has been studying the question for more than two years.
Senate bill says U.S. diet advice must be solely nutritional
The Senate version of the USDA/FDA funding bill includes language that would restrict the new edition of the Dietary Guidelines to solely nutritional and dietary matters.
Researcher eyes insects as livestock feed source
A Duke University fellow, Philip Taylor, is experimenting with the black soldier fly as an alternative to fishmeal or soybeans to provide protein in livestock feed, reports Earth Island Journal, describing Taylor's efforts to find the ideal artificial light to encourage flies to reproduce.
GMO foods could be “natural” under House pre-emption bill
A bill to prevent states from requiring labels on foods made with genetically modified organisms could allow GMO foods to be marketed as "natural," opponents claimed ahead of a committee vote scheduled for today on the bill.
FDA proposes more Nutrition Facts details for added sugars
The government proposed that the Nutrition Facts label should say what percentage an item would provide of the recommended daily amount of added sugar to the diet.
Five years later, update of U.S. food-safety system falters
A Politico investigation concludes that, "The Obama administration and Congress have all but squandered an opportunity to give the anemic Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for the safety of 80 percent of the food supply, a level of oversight the public has long assumed it already had.
As House votes on GMO pre-emption, Senate in spotlight
By all accounts, the Republican-controlled House will pass HR 1599 today to pre-empt states from requiring special labels on foods made with genetically modified organisms.
FDA extends menu-labeling deadline to late 2016
The FDA said it would give restaurants an additional year, until Dec. 1, 2016, to comply with a requirement that they list calorie counts on menus and menu boards.
House Ag leaders say GMO bill focuses on labels only
With a floor vote near, the leaders of the House Agriculture Committee say a bill to bar states from requiring labels on foods made with genetically modified foods is targeted in its scope.
White House begins update of food and ag biotech regulation
The administration launched an update of its multi-agency system of regulating food and agricultural biotechnology with a goal of writing the new version of its "coordinated framework" by July 2016.
FDA sets three-year phase-out for trans fats in food
Foodmakers will have three years to phase out the use of partially hydrogenated oils, the primary source of artificial trans fats, said the Food and Drug Administration. The agency said "a thorough review of the scientific evidence" showed the materials should not be part of the diet. The agency tentatively ruled in 2013 that artificial trans fats should be banned. It said it finalized that determination after considering public comments on the issue.
House bill delays calorie counts on menus for two years
Restaurants would not have to put calorie counts on their menus until late 2017 under a bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee and cleared for floor action. The $143.9 billion USDA-FDA funding bill also delays for one year enforcement of a requirement in the 2014 farm law that farmers practice soil and water conservation in order to qualify for federally subsidized crop insurance.
U.S. ban on trans fats may open doors for Canadian canola
The FDA order to foodmakers to phase out artificial trans fats "will create opportunities for Canada's canola sector, especially high oleic varieties," says Commodity News Service Canada.
House panel would delay menu labels, school-lunch reforms
Administration proposals to put calorie counts on menus and to reform school lunches would be delayed by one year under a bill drafted by the House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture. The subcommittee also would restrict the 2015 update of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the government's tips for healthy eating, "to only matters of diet and nutrient intake" - a rejection of the proposal from a panel of experts to encourage sustainable food production.
Trump picks Kennedy, vaccine skeptic, for health secretary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will head the Department of Health and Human Services in the new administration, said President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday. “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to public health,” said Trump in announcing the nomination.