After 25 years doing food litigation, I am seldom surprised by the announcement of a foodborne illness outbreak. It was no different last Friday when Indiana announced a multi-state Salmonella outbreak linked to cut fruit — mainly melons sold at large retailers in several states. Over the years, people in government or in various parts…
Food Ingredients: Trade Secrets vs. Public Disclosure
Can a food manufacturer determine that an ingredient is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and maintain trade secrets
information on that ingredient? The answer to this question may be more perplexing than Congress originally intended when it created the GRAS exemption to food additives in 1958. At that time, food ingredients were more simple and…
Patent-Protected Technology Ended Up on FDA Website, Companies Charge
Two small Maryland companies have launched a campaign to publicize their allegations that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stole their patented technology. The two small businesses, FoodQuestTQ, LLC and Projectioneering LLC are charging that FDA took patent-protected computer automated risk management tools they developed and are now making them available on the government’s…