The FDA and the National Institutes of Health announced that they will be co-hosting a two-day virtual workshop, “Bridging The Biological And Communication Sciences On Nutrients And Environmental Contaminants In Foods To Support Child Development,” on February 9, 2023, and February 10, 2023, from 10:30 am – 4:30 pm. The workshop will focus on toxicology and nutrition topics, including the challenges of children consuming adequate nutrients, the role of nutrients from different food groups in child development, and the role of environmental contaminants in food. This workshop supports FDA’s Closer to Zero Action Plan.

The Biden Administration is targeting an end to the public health emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic as soon as spring 2023, according to Politico. This week, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, extended the COVID-19 public health emergency through April 2023. FDA guidance - including food and menu labeling flexibilities - will continue to remain in place until the public health emergency is lifted. While no decision has been made to end the emergency by HHS officials, it’s likely the Administration would alert the health industry and states of its plans to end its designation in early February.

The Washington Post Editorial Board published an interview with FDA Commissioner, Dr. Robert Califf and Principal Deputy Commissioner, Janet Woodcock in response to the Reagan Udall Foundation’s report that included recommendations to reform the FDA’s Human Foods Program. During this interview, Dr. Califf noted that the decision to create a separate food agency is not, ‘one for [him] to make,’ explaining there are risks and costs in doing so. The FDA plans to announce a new vision for the Human Foods Program by the end of January 2023, with additional public updates by the end of February. 

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) published a report, ‘Behind the Carton,’ that examined the nutrition facts and ingredient data for 22 unflavored and 29 flavored single-serve milks from 11 major dairy companies. This report compared the nutrition profile of these milks to the USDA’s school nutrition standards. Overall, the report found that milks exceeded standards for sodium and added sugars, most frequently for grades K-5. CSPI recommends the USDA to conduct a study into the national school milk market.

A regulation that addresses when acrylamide in cooked or heat processed foods requires a warning under Proposition 65 was finalized by The California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s (OEHHA). The final regulation outlines what constitutes an “exposure” to acrylamide from cooked or heat processed food, as it does not create an “exposure” requiring a warning if a manufacturer has reduced the acrylamide to the “lowest level currently feasible” by employing practices recommended in the Codex Code of Practice for the Reduction of Acrylamide in Foods. The final regulation also establishes safe harbor levels for bread, almonds, cookies, crackers, and potato products that contain acrylamide at or below the specified level that need not bear a warning as these levels are deemed to be the “lowest level currently feasible.” The new regulation takes effect April 1, 2023.

Bloomberg Law worked with an accredited laboratory to test 33 baby foods for arsenic, cadmium, and lead, indicating that some of the baby foods that were tested contained levels of these heavy metals higher than levels set in the ‘Baby Food Safety Act.’ Throughout this article, Bloomberg Law criticizes the ‘slow’ timeline guiding FDA’s Closer to Zero Action Plan to reduce heavy metals in baby food and calls for Congressional legislation with ‘more stringent standards’ for heavy metal levels than FDA’s Closer to Zero Plan. 

FDA Issues Final Guidance on Foreign Supplier Verification Programs 

The FDA issued the final guidance, Foreign Supplier Verification Programs for Importers of Food for Humans and Animals, to provide guidance for industry on the requirements for a foreign supplier verification program (FSVP) that importers of human or animal food must establish and follow to ensure that food they import into the United States meets applicable U.S. requirements. The guidance includes recommendations on the requirements to analyze the hazards in food, evaluate a potential foreign supplier’s performance and the risk posed by the food, and determine and conduct appropriate foreign supplier verification activities. 

FDA and Stop Foodborne Illness to Host Webinar on Food Safety Culture 

The FDA and Stop Foodborne Illness are co-hosting the sixth webinar in the ongoing series of webinars exploring food safety culture to explore how food safety culture relates to training and education on January 25, 2023, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm EST. The webinar series, Collaborating on Culture in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety, aims to engage experts from the public and private sectors on the importance of a robust food safety culture in helping to ensure safe food production. 

Last week, Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) announced she will not be seeking reelection in 2024 and will leave the Senate at the end of her term on January 3, 2025. Stabenow has played a major role in the development of previous Farm Bills, and despite her announcement to retire, Stabenow states that she will be ‘intensely focused’ on leading the passage of the next five-year Farm Bill.

The USDA announced an investment of $9.6 million across 25 projects for farmers, ranchers, processors and rural businesses to set up more independent meat processing and retail locations across the U.S. In particular, USDA is awarding 23 Value Added Producer Grant program grants totaling $3.9 million to help producer-owned companies process and market new products. USDA is also awarding $5.7 million in loans to two companies through the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program to support new investments in infrastructure for food aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storage, transportation, wholesaling and distribution.

Chile recently updated their Dietary Guidelines to include an emphasis on diets that are ‘sustainable,’ ‘fresh,’ and ‘incorporate minimally processed foods.’ The Chilean Dietary guidelines contain 10 messages that include purchasing ‘fresh’ foods from markets, avoiding ultra-processed foods, cooking more at home, and reducing food waste. The guidelines promote increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, water, dairy, and seafood. 

The Uruguay government finalized changes to its Healthy Eating Law to prohibit the sale, advertising, promotion or sponsorship in educational centers of food and beverages not included in the health list developed by the Ministry of Public Health. This amendment will take effect on January 1, 2024. 

The Paraguay Public Health Commission reported they are working on a bill to establish a front-of-pack nutrition labeling (FOPNL) system entitled, “Establishing the implementation of front-of-package warning labeling according to nutritional composition.” It’s expected Paraguay will continue to work towards implementing a FOPNL warning label system on food packages in 2023. Currently, all 35 World Health Organization Region of the Americas (AMRO) countries have considered FOPNL systems and seven countries have implemented them.

Fun Fact: There are more than 600 varieties of strawberries.