March 6, 2015
TO: JPA Members
FROM: Patricia Faison
RE: JPA Regulatory Update
(1) Legislation Introduced in Maryland to Prohibit Certain Ingredients in School Foods
(2) 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report Flawed Says House Republicans
(3) GAO Finds FDA Not Keeping Pace with Foreign Food Facility Inspections
(4) Renewable Fuel Standard Legislation Introduced in Congress
Legislation Introduced in Maryland to Prohibit Certain Ingredients in School Foods
JPA recently became aware that the “Chemical-Free Schools Act” (Maryland House Bill 679) has been introduced in the Maryland General Assembly to prohibit schools from purchasing, selling or serving foods that contain the following ingredients: artificial colors, artificial flavors; artificial sweeteners (e.g., aspartame, sucralose, saccharin), bread or flour additives (e.g., azodicarbonamide), brominated vegetable oil, monosodium glutamate and other additives containing glutamate (e.g., autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed vegetable protein), mycoprotein, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite and sodium sulfite, preservatives (e.g., butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)), and sulfur dioxide. If enacted, the law would become effective on July 1, 2015. A hearing on the legislation is scheduled to be held on March 13, 2015. JPA has learned that support for the legislation by superintendents and school boards is limited.
JPA will continue to monitor and provide updates, as information becomes available.
2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report Flawed Says House Republicans
In February 2015, JPA notified members of the release of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) report. According to a press release recently issued by Representative K. Michael Conaway (R-TX), available here, a letter has been submitted to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell expressing concerns related to the DGAC report. The letter, signed by Representatives Conaway, Jackie Walorski (R-IN) and David Rouzer (R-NC) and available here, requests that the deadline to submit comments on the report be extended from 45 days to 120 days. Representative Conaway stated the following in the press release.
“Members of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee greatly exceeded their scope in developing recommendations. The Secretaries share responsibility for these flawed recommendations because they failed to keep the Committee focused on nutritional recommendations and away from areas such as sustainability and tax policy, which are outside of the Committee’s purview...Given the grave concerns that have been raised, more time is needed for public comment, and those comments should be fully reviewed and considered.”
JPA will continue to monitor and provide updates on the DGAC report and pending 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as information becomes available.
GAO Finds FDA Not Keeping Pace with Foreign Food Facility Inspections
According to an article recently published by Food Safety News, available here, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has published a report, which found the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is not conducting the number of foreign food facility inspections required by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The GAO report, “Additional Actions Needed to Help FDA’s Foreign Offices Ensure Safety of Imported Food,” available here, notes FSMA requires the FDA to “inspect 600 foreign food facilities in 2011 and, for each of the next 5 years, inspect at least twice the number of facilities inspected during the previous year.” The FDA completed 1,002 foreign food inspections in 2011 (167 percent of the mandate), 1,343 inspections in 2012 (not double the previous year), and 1,403 inspections in 2013 (not double the previous year). GAO states the FDA is not keeping pace with the FSMA mandate primarily due to costs. The FDA earlier estimated that the average cost to inspect a foreign food facility was $23,600 compared with $15,500 for a domestic facility. To complete the 4,800 foreign facility inspections required in 2014 to meet the FSMA mandate, at least $113 million would have been needed. According to GAO, for 2014, the FDA received about $138 million to implement all FSMA provisions, including rulemaking, training, and foreign inspections. The FDA told GAO that due to the limited funding, additional foreign inspections were not the best use of FSMA-related funds. Instead, the Agency would be focusing on assisting the food industry (domestic and foreign) with complying with the new rules and training FDA personnel.
GAO noted that the FDA had not conducted an assessment to determine the number of foreign food facility inspections sufficient to ensure imported food safety is comparable to domestic food. In part, GAO recommended that such an analysis be conducted and if the inspection numbers vary from the FSMA-mandated targets, FDA should report the results to Congress and request a change in the mandate.
Renewable Fuel Standard Legislation Introduced in Congress
In February 2015, JPA notified members that the “Renewable Fuel Standard Elimination Act” (H.R. 703) and the “Renewable Fuel Standard Reform Act” (H.R. 704) had been introduced in Congress to reform the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which requires transportation fuel to contain a minimum volume of fuel made from renewable materials like corn-based ethanol.
According to an article recently published on DeltaFarmPress.com, available here, the “Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act of 2015” (Senate Bill 577) has been introduced in Congress by Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). The legislation would remove corn-derived ethanol as an option for fuel from the RFS. The article notes concerns about increases in food prices due to the use of corn for fuel. Biofuel proponents commented that Senators Feinstein and Toomey were wrong on the facts and their motives for introducing the legislation are political. The legislation has been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
JPA will continue to monitor and provide updates, as information becomes available.
As always, please contact me with questions or comments.
Patricia Faison
pfaison@kellencompany.com
(404)252-3663
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JPA Staff
Juice ProductsAssociation
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Washington, DC20045
202-591-2438
jpa@kellencompany.com
www.juiceproducts.org