Food Safety

Responding to a comprehensive FDA report on a multistate E. coli outbreak that killed five people and hospitalized dozens this spring, a vocal consumer advocacy group urged FDA to rapidly implement the remaining steps of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), a seven-year-old law that aims to standardize mandatory food safety protocols and recordkeeping requirements for farms across the country.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue indicated that a framework for the two agencies to jointly regulate cell-based meats could be available as early as next year.

Consumer advocates claimed victory after successfully petitioning FDA to de-list six carcinogenic flavoring chemicals from its food additives list over 50 years since their initial approval, effectively banning the substances from being used in food. FDA also de-listed a seventh chemical due to its falling out of use in industry.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced an about-face for his agency on Wednesday (Sept. 26) by issuing a draft guidance stating FDA will systematically disclose the names of retailers selling recalled food in certain recall situations.

After months of heated stakeholder debate over whether FDA or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) should regulate cell-based meat, the two agencies announced Monday (Sept. 10) that they will host a two-day joint public meeting to discuss oversight of the nascent industry, with a focus on the potential hazards, regulatory issues and labeling of the emerging technology.

In a letter to President Donald Trump, leading representatives of the cell-based and traditional meat industries came to a compromise over a proposed regulatory framework for cell-based meat, which are foods resembling meat, poultry and seafood that are produced using small amounts of cells from the animal that the food product is supposed to resemble.

FDA will reevaluate standards of identity (SOI) for certain foods -- including a look a potential health issues posed by non-dairy milk and cheese products -- as 300 of the current standards are outdated and in need of an updated framework, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement Thursday (July 26).

As FDA looks to take on regulation of cultured meat, three leading consumer advocacy groups are urging the agency to pursue a new oversight strategy that is more stringent than the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) approach currently used for new food ingredients.

FDA defended its role in regulating cultured meats -- foods resembling meat, poultry and seafood that are produced using small amounts of cells from the animal that the food product is supposed to resemble -- during a public meeting held Thursday (July 12).