Hey, remember how the Food and Drug Administration gave restaurants a yearlong extension on the deadline for getting their act together regarding calorie counts on menus nationwide? They were supposed to get their acts together and post that information on menus nationwide by December of this year. Now, though, a new bill passed in the House of Representatives seeks to change that before eateries are forced to comply. Which wouldn’t be for another few years. [More]
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Why Do New Starbucks Drinks Have ‘Chocolatey’ Chips, Not Chocolate?
By 2.10.16
Starbucks introduced a new lineup of seasonal drinks this week, which are chocolate-flavored for Valentine’s Day. Sounds romantic. Yet reader Kelly noticed something when reading a news article about them: the drinks were described as containing “chocolatey chips,” but why not chocolate chips? What makes the chips not chocolate? [More]
7 Things We Learned About Food Safety Oversight From A Foodborne Illness Expert
By 2.2.16
Foodborne illness outbreaks have dominated the news in recent months: E. coli and norovirus at Chipotle, listeria in prepackaged Dole salad mixes, and salmonella in cucumbers. These outbreaks have sickened — and in some cases killed — consumers, and one food safety expert says that inadequate safety oversight is at least partly to blame. [More]
Cheese Company With Leaky Roof, “Uncleanable Surfaces” Pleads Guilty To Selling Listeria-Tainted Food
By 1.22.16
Perhaps you’d like to think that your shrink-wrapped ready-to-eat cheese was made in something resembling a science-fiction movie — stark white walls, spotless machines, a few doctor-like employees supervising the sterile process behind surgical masks. You certainly don’t imagine the conditions that got one Delaware cheese company shut down. [More]
Big Tobacco Loses Legal Challenge To FDA Report On Menthol Cigarettes
By 1.15.16
A federal appeals court has stymied the tobacco industry’s attempt to challenge a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel report on the safety of menthol cigarettes. [More]
Campbell Soup To Label Products Containing GMOs, Supports Mandatory Labeling
By 1.8.16
While some large food producers contend that mandatory labeling of products containing genetically modified or genetically engineered ingredients would be a burdensome and unnecessary requirement, the folks at Campbell Soup Company have decided to not only voluntarily label their GMO-containing products but to publicly support mandatory GMO labeling. [More]
Walgreens “Nice!” Orange Slices Recalled Because Glass Shards Have No Nutritional Value
By 1.7.16
If you shop at Walgreens, you’re probably familiar with its “Nice!” line of house-brand products, which includes bottles of mandarin orange slices. Unfortunately, some of those bottles might contain something that isn’t very nice: pieces of glass. [More]
FDA Recalls Several Weight Loss Supplements Containing Unsafe Ingredients
By 12.23.15
Earlier this year, the owner of a dietary supplement company was sentenced to 30 months in prison for selling “all natural” products that secretly contained harmful active ingredients that shouldn’t even be available to U.S. consumers. Today, the FDA announced recalls for more than a dozen additional products containing these same, unsafe ingredients. [More]
FDA Ends Across-The-Board Ban On Blood Donations From Gay, Bisexual Men
By 12.21.15
Exactly a year ago this week, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it was going to eventually change its guidance on blood donations that had barred any man who had been intimate with another male at any time in the previous three decades from donating. Today, the FDA finalized that change, which still requires that all male donors abstain from same-sex intimacy for a year before donating. [More]
Hampton Creek: FDA Grants Condiment Dispensation, Eggless “Just Mayo” Can Keep Its Name
By 12.17.15
An ongoing battle about the nature of mayonnaise that began in November 2014 seems to have finally reached a peaceful resolution: the Food and Drug Administration has decided to allow Just Mayo, sold by Hampton Creek, call itself “mayo,” even though the vegan, eggless product technically isn’t mayonnaise, according to the government’s definition. [More]
Farm Animals Can Get Over-The-Counter Antibiotics That Humans Need A Prescription For
By 12.15.15
If you get sick and need an antibiotic, you’ll also need a prescription because these medically important drugs shouldn’t be used willy-nilly. But if you’re a cow, pig, chicken, or fish, you can get many of those same antibiotics without any prescription whatsoever at any number of retail and online stores. [More]
FDA’s Voluntary Guidance Failing To Curb Antibiotic Overuse In Farm Animals
By 12.10.15
Two years ago, the Food and Drug Administration — after decades of delay — paid lip service to the idea of reducing the use of medically important antibiotics for growth-promotion in farm animals, by asking the drug makers to voluntarily stop selling antibiotics specifically for that purpose. Critics called the FDA actions pointless while the drug and beef industries weren’t bothered in the least. And now, by the FDA’s own numbers, we can see why. [More]
Costco Won’t Sell Genetically Engineered Salmon
By 11.23.15
Genetically engineered salmon recently received the stamp of approval from the Food and Drug Administration, but it might have a hard time reaching a lot of customers. Costco has joined the list of major food sellers who say they won’t offer the controversial product to customers. [More]
FDA Signs Off On Genetically Modified Salmon Without Labeling
By 11.19.15
While genetically modified agricultural products have been used in the U.S. for quite some time, the Food and Drug Administration had yet to approve the food use of any genetically engineered (GE) animals — until today. This morning, the agency announced the approval of an application for a salmon engineered to grow to market size faster than other farm-raised Atlantic salmon. [More]
Feds File Criminal, Civil Cases Against More Than 100 Supplement Companies
By 11.17.15
A sweeping multi-agency federal investigation has resulted in a slew of criminal and civil charges being brought against more than 100 companies that either make or market supposed dietary supplements for selling products that allegedly contain ingredients other than those listed on the label, or products that make unsubstantiated health or disease-treatment claims. [More]
The FDA Will Now Have Oversight Of Fresh Produce Safety Before Anyone Gets Sick
By 11.13.15
No one expects to add more fresh fruit and vegetables to their diet and end up with a stomach bug, a serious illness, or dead. Yet that’s beginning to happen, with multi-state outbreaks of food-borne illness, especially in items like fruit and salad greens that are generally eaten without cooking, and apparently not washed sufficiently. The Food and Drug Administration wants to change that. [More]
Hampton Creek Explains To The FDA That “Mayo” Is Not Necessarily “Mayonnaise”
By 10.30.15
Hampton Creek, the company behind an eggless product called “Just Mayo,” has responded to the Food and Drug Administration’s warning that its product isn’t mayonnaise, and thus, shouldn’t be called “mayo.” That seems just fine by Hampton Creek, which recently responded to the FDA by agreeing with it. [More]
