The National Organic Standards Board has voted 10-3, with one abstention, to remove carrageenan from the list of substances approved for use in food items labeled “USDA Organic.” The vote came Thursday afternoon during the board’s three-day fall meeting in St. Louis.

NOSB members were tentatively scheduled to make a

Continue Reading Board nixes use of carrageenan in organic food production

While the Food Safety Modernization Act doesn’t require transparency, it encourages it, but equally important for food manufacturers, consumers are increasingly demanding traceability. “Companies are under pressure from consumers, as trust is the lowest it’s ever been,” said John Keogh, president and principal advisor, Shantalla Inc., Ho Chi Minh City,
Continue Reading Public demands what feds suggest: Traceability via food labels

Activists and industry reps sat down twice with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to see if they could find a compromise about labeling food processed with genetic engineering. No compromise could be found, and it’s unlikely there will be a third meeting. That the negotiations broke down hardly came as
Continue Reading Ag secretary can’t find common ground for activists, industry on GE/GMO labels

Only two more Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules remain to be finalized. Final rules for Sanitary Transportation and Intentional Adulteration are due out next spring. But with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) release last week of final FSMA rules on Produce Safety, Foreign Supplier Verification, and Accredited
Continue Reading Letter From the Editor: A ‘Herculean Accomplishment’

The processed food industry has evolved over the past several decades to keep pace with food safety advances, including the development of HACCP and, more recently, the implementation of GFSI-benchmarked food safety management programs. The implementation of FSMA is yet another revolutionary change that will have tremendous impact on the
Continue Reading New Era for Food Safety: What Companies Must Do