FDA
For first time, FDA orders a food recall
The FDA ordered a mandatory recall of powdered kratom products manufactured by a Nevada company because salmonella bacteria were found in the herbal supplement, said the Washington Post.
The cattle farmer who became the newest U.S. senator
The Senate is in recess so it will be another week before cattle farmer Cindy Hyde-Smith, a veteran of state politics, formally succeeds Thad Cochran as U.S. senator from Mississippi. She already has a Republican challenger in the November special election to serve the final two years of Cochran's term, and had a get-acquainted meeting with top White House officials last week.
FDA commissioner announces sweeping nutrition plan
Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, announced a multiyear nutrition strategy Thursday that pursues many Obama-era nutrition goals.
FDA guidance documents lose some of their power of direction
The Justice Department has changed its policy and "will no longer rely on (FDA) guidance documents to establish civil law infractions," says Food Safety News. The change follows a memo last November by Attorney General Jeff Sessions against codes of conduct that are issued by the government but are not the result of the formal rule-making process.
FDA, USDA pledge greater coordination on food safety
The leaders of the USDA and the FDA, which together oversee the U.S. food supply, signed a formal agreement at the White House to reduce regulatory overlap and improve the efficiency of the federal food safety system.
FDA sniffs at snortable chocolate
Nutrition professor and food author Marion Nestle says the FDA dropped the hammer on the promoters of “snortable Coco Loko ... cocoa powder infused with caffeine, ginkgo, taurine, and guarani.”
Sales of antibiotics for livestock drop for the first time, FDA data show
The amount of antibiotics sold for use in livestock in the United States has dropped for the first time since data collection began, according to FDA numbers. The data also show for the first time which types of meat animals are receiving the most antibiotics. (No paywall)
FDA proposes to revoke heart-healthy claim for soy protein
Nearly two decades after it agreed that consumption of soy protein reduced the risk of heart disease, the FDA proposed revocation of the so-called health claim because of new research that questions the relationship. It would be the first time the agency revoked any of the 12 health claims authorized since 1990.
‘Big Chicken’ shows government regulators were slow to act on ABX resistance
Antibiotic-resistant infections — everything from gastrointestinal illnesses to recurring urinary tract infections and staph — are among the most menacing issues in public health today, sickening 2 million people a year and killing at least 23,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So perhaps it’s not surprising that government has begun to take steps to limit antibiotics in animal agriculture, where many of these infections arise, before they wreak further havoc in humans.
FDA delay of Nutrition Facts update is too long, says key senator
The Democratic leader on the Senate Health Committee wrote FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb to complain of an unreasonable delay in updating the Nutrition Facts label that appears on every package of food.
Massachusetts bakery gets no love from FDA
In a letter released Tuesday, the FDA instructed the Nashoba Brook Bakery in West Concord, Mass., that it needed to remove "love" from the list of ingredients for its granola, Bloomberg reports. “Your Nashoba Granola label lists ingredient ‘Love,’” the agency wrote in the letter, which was dated Sept. 22. “‘Love’ is not a common or usual name of an ingredient, and is considered to be intervening material because it is not part of the common or usual name of the ingredient.”
FDA delays Nutrition Facts update until 2020 to accommodate foodmakers
The FDA plans to delay the debut of the updated Nutrition Facts label to Jan. 1, 2020, some 43 months after the Obama administration unveiled the first overhaul of the label in 20 years. The agency said it acted "in response to the continued concern that companies and trade associations have shared with us regarding the time needed for implementation of the final rules."
Court agreement points to May 2018 start for menu labeling
The Food and Drug Administration will aim to begin enforcement around May 7, 2018, of the long-delayed requirement that chain restaurants, grocery stores, and convenience stores put calorie counts on their menus, according to an agreement reached in federal court. The target date is in line with a statement by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb a month ago that the agency will be providing guidance to retailers so they will be ready to comply in May 2018.
New York City waits while FDA aims for menu labeling next year
FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb says the agency "will provide additional, practical guidance" to food retailers by the end of the year so they will be ready to comply with menu-labeling rules when they take effect, which is now scheduled for May 2018. The FDA announced it was going forward with the May 2018 target at the same time New York City agreed in court not to enforce its own labeling law until next May.
Impossible Foods defends its plant-based burger
In a public letter, the chief executive officer of Impossible Foods defended the company’s methods of producing a popular plant-based burger that is designed to mimic meat. The method includes genetically engineering algae to produce a soy protein, which the FDA has said could raise allergen concerns.
Senate panel votes to keep top USDA rural development job, tells Trump to fill it
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved unanimously a USDA-FDA funding bill that rejected President Trump's proposals to slash spending on rural development, crop insurance and food stamps. And in the first major congressional disagreement with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, the $145 billion funding bill overrode his recent elimination of the slot for an undersecretary in charge of rural economic development — and directed the administration to fill the job.
House appropriators open the door to horse slaughter
The long-running ban on horse slaughter in the United States, a rider on the annual USDA-FDA funding bill, would end on Sept. 30 under a vote by the House Appropriations Committee. Before clearing the bill for a floor vote, the committee refused, 27-25, to include the provision in the $145 billion funding bill for the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1.
Wanted for USDA trade chief: A battler
Farm groups persuaded Congress to create a high-level USDA post to promote U.S, agricultural exports. Lawmakers, in putting up money for the office, want a fearless advocate on the job. "Be cognizant and steadfast in raising trade enforcement issues related to the agricultural practices of foreign nations," says the House Appropriations Committee in a report that accompanies the USDA-FDA funding bill for fiscal 2018.
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.