The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Monday released its version of the Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA) without the provisions that would have beefed up the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s annual reporting of antibiotic sales for use in food animal production. The move disappointed health and agriculture reform advocates who… Continue Reading
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration heard a broad range of feedback from stakeholders on its draft food safety rules – on preventive controls and produce safety – in a public meeting held late last week in Washington, DC. While everyone from consumer advocates to produce growers offered a variety of input, asked lots of… Continue Reading
This week, Food Safety News is acknowledging leaders who help keep our food supply safe. Today we celebrate consumer organizations. In the days ahead we’ll celebrate leaders in non-government organizations, the food industry and the news media. Of course, no list is ever complete so if you think we’ve forgotten someone, please leave us a… Continue Reading
Opinion
To some, the ongoing debate over the use of antibiotics in animals raised for food is like the sign post in the Wizard of Oz — pointing in opposite directions. But from reading “Antibiotics in Food Animal Production: Pew’s Response to Raymond Op-Ed,” Jan.11, there is violent agreement between PEW and the animal health industry…. Continue Reading
Opinion
In his attempt to clarify the issue of antibiotic use in meat and poultry production (“Antibiotics and Animals Raised for Food: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics,” Jan. 7), Dr. Richard Raymond confuses matters. Most importantly, Dr. Raymond mischaracterizes the value of tetracyclines and the dangers of their overuse. The World Health Organization ranks their importance… Continue Reading
January 4, 2011 was a landmark day for food safety advocates nationwide. It was the day President Obama signed into law the first major piece of federal legislation concerning food safety since 1938: the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act. But as the act’s two-year anniversary approaches, many of its major components are stuck in the… Continue Reading
To the long history of determining which food additives are “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) by the federal government, we can now add a privately developed database that is open to the public, all in the name of transparency. AIBMR Life Sciences at the Supply Side West show in Las Vegas introduced the new GRAS… Continue Reading
Consumer Reports, the popular monthly product testing magazine, was awarded a $2 million grant by the Pew Charitable Trusts to study food safety, the New York Times reported Monday. According to the Times, the organization has already received a one million dollar installment. The magazine’s scientific staff will begin their first round of testing of… Continue Reading
Thirty enthusiastic moms from across the United States gathered in Washington Tuesday to lobby for greater limits on antibiotics used in food animal production. Organized by the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming and the American Academy of Pediatrics, the “Supermoms against Superbugs” event included more than 50 meetings with House and Senate… Continue Reading
The Pew Charitable Trusts has begun an effort to shed light on an often over-looked subject that affects most American eaters: the federal regulatory system for food chemicals. According to the Pew Health Group, safety decisions regarding a third of the more than 10,000 chemicals and additives that can be put in food were made… Continue Reading
Approximately two-thirds of likely voters support additional funding for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to implement the recently-enacted FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, according to a poll released Thursday. The poll, commissioned by the Pew Charitable Trusts and conducted by Hart Research and American Viewpoint, found that 66 percent support increased funding for carrying… Continue Reading