Food & Nutrition

RUF Hosts Front-of-Package Nutrition Labeling Public Meeting

Last week, the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA (RUF) hosted a front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labeling public meeting that featured the FDA’s work to date on the development of an FOP nutrition label. During the meeting, agency officials emphasized that nutrition remains ‘top of mind’ at the agency, revealing that FDA has completed the data collection for its 2023 experimental study and second round of focus groups and is now analyzing the results. The agency intends to continue its work to develop a proposed rule to develop an FOP nutrition label, review the scientific literature, consider learnings from other countries, and engage with stakeholders on the topic. The agency also indicated that the timeline for an FOP proposed rule, initially shared within the Spring 2023 Unified Agenda, remains uncertain. FDA plans to review the oral and submitted written comments from this meeting to inform the development of an FOP nutrition labeling scheme.

FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner Janet Woodcock to Retire in 2024

Janet Woodcock, FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner, announced plans to retire from her position as Principal Deputy Commissioner in early 2024. The announcement, shared in an agency-wide message from FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, follows Woodcock’s nearly four decades at the agency. In her role, Woodcock worked with the agency’s Commissioner of Food and Drugs to develop and implement key public health initiatives and help oversee the agency’s day-to-day functions. Woodcock served as the Acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs from January 2021 through February 2022 and helped lead the reorganization of the agency’s Human Foods Program.

GAO Recommends Strengthening Interagency Collaboration to Inform Future DGAs

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report to review federal efforts to promote the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) and inform future DGA-related nutrition research priorities. The report found that HHS, USDA, Departments of Defense (DOD), and Veterans Affairs (VA) are taking various actions to promote the DGAs and collaborate to inform nutrition research but recommended interagency collaboration could be improved. Moving forward, GAO recommends that HHS and USDA fully incorporate seven leading interagency collaboration practices, including ensuring that agency research plans are complementary and reflect the current desired outcomes, as well as conducting an inventory of federal authorities, activities, and appropriations related to nutrition research that could inform the DGA development process.

White House Publishes U.S. Playbook to Address Social Determinants of Health

The White House released the first-ever U.S. Playbook to Address Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). The Playbook outlines an initial set of structural actions, grouped into three pillars, that federal agencies are undertaking to support equitable health outcomes by improving the social circumstances of individuals and communities, highlighting federal programs, toolkits, and guidance to improve the delivery of health and social services. Notably, the Playbook addresses food security, citing that government initiatives such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has been associated with lower healthcare costs and reduced hospitalization and emergency department visits. The Playbook also highlights that disparities, including various environmental and social factors that impact food security, underscore the importance of continuing to center equity in all government programs. This announcement builds on the Biden Administration’s work to advance health equity in the U.S.

Study Suggests UPF Consumption Increases Mouth and Esophagus Cancer Risk

A study published in the European Journal of Nutrition examined the role of adiposity in the associations between ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and head and neck cancer (HNC) and oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC), also known as cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract, including the mouth, throat, and esophagus. The study suggests that higher UPF consumption, according to the NOVA classification system, was associated with a greater risk of HNC and OAC. Researchers found that a 10% increase in UPF consumption was associated with a 23% greater risk of HNC and a 24% greater risk of OAC. The study also suggests that food additives, including emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners, as well as contaminants from food packaging, may partly explain the association between UPF consumption and upper-aerodigestive tract cancer risk.

FDA and STOP Foodborne Illness to Host Ninth Webinar on Food Safety Culture 

FDA, in partnership with STOP Foodborne Illness, a non-profit public health organization, are co-hosting the ninth webinar of its ongoing webinar series, Collaborating on Culture in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety, on December 6, 2023. The webinar, “Food Safety Culture: Storytelling to Shape, Reinforce, and Inspire,” will address the importance of storytelling in building and reinforcing a strong food safety culture. The event will feature speakers from FDA, Stop Foodborne Illness, Cultivate SA, and the Wendy’s Company. This webinar series is intended to engage experts from the public and private sectors related to the importance of a robust food safety culture in helping to ensure safe food production in the U.S. 

IFSAC Releases 2021 Annual Report on Sources of Foodborne Illness

The Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC), a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), FDA, and USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), published its annual sources of foodborne illnesses report. The report examined outbreak surveillance data from 1998 through 2021 and presents annual estimates of foodborne illness attributed to 17 food categories for Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157, and Listeria monocytogenes. IFSAC found that 75% of Salmonella illnesses were attributed to seven food categories, 80% of Escherichia coli O157 illnesses were attributed to vegetable row crops and beef, and 75% of Listeria monocytogenes illnesses were attributed to dairy products, vegetable row crops, and fruits. These updated estimates intend to help shape agencies’ priorities and inform targeted interventions to reduce foodborne illnesses caused by these pathogens.

Agriculture

Congress Introduces EFFECTIVE Food Procurement Act

Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) and Representative Alma Adams (D-NC) introduced the Enabling Farmer, Food worker, Environmental, and Climate Targets through Innovative, Values-aligned, and Equitable (EFFECTIVE) Food Procurement Act. The bill would require USDA to use its purchasing authority on sustainable and ‘healthy’ food and create a new pilot program to establish a values-aligned USDA purchasing process and support market access for small-scale and underserved producers. Specifically, the bill would direct USDA to use its existing framework for food procurement to expand ‘healthy,’ sustainable, and ethical food options for school districts and other program beneficiaries by setting targets for increasing equitable and environmentally friendly purchasing, among others.

Global

Italy Passes Law to Ban Cultivated Meat and Plant-Based Meat-Related Labeling

The Italian Parliament passed a law that will prohibit the use, sale, import, and export of cultivated meat and restrict the use of meat-related names, such as ‘salami’ or ‘steak,’ for labeling plant-based meat products. This law makes Italy the first country to ban cultivated meat, defined as food and feed from cell cultures or tissue derived from vertebrate animals. As of November 2023, no cultivated meat products are commercially available in the EU as these products have only been approved for human consumption in Singapore and the U.S. If approved for consumption in the EU, Italy’s new law may be challenged by the European Commission. This proposal was initially proposed in March 2023.

Fun Fact: Americans eat an average of nine pounds of pickles per person each year.