Food & Nutrition

Biden Administration Releases Spring 2024 Unified Agenda 

The Biden Administration published the HHS and USDA Spring 2024 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. This is a semiannual compilation of information about regulations under development by federal agencies with estimated timelines of when they hope to issue each action in the near and long-term. Below is a list of a few notable HHS and USDA regulatory items with updated estimated dates of action.

• Front-of-Package Nutrition Labeling - FDA Proposed Rule - 10/2024 
• Nutrient Content Claims, Definition of Term: Healthy - FDA Final Rule - 09/2024 
• Use of Salt Substitutes to Reduce the Sodium Content in Standardized Foods - FDA Final Rule - 04/2025 
• Food Labeling: Health Claims; Soy Protein and Coronary Heart Disease - Final Rule - 04/2025
• Food Standards; General Principles and Food Standards Modernization - Proposed Rule - 04/2025

FDA Releases Update of Priority Guidance Topics for Foods Program

FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) released an updated list of priority draft and final guidance topics that the FDA Foods Program plans to publish by December 2024. The updated list outlines remaining guidance topics on the agency’s agenda since the list of guidance topics was last updated in January 2024. The updated priority topic list includes draft guidance on the labeling of plant-based alternatives, draft guidance on voluntary sodium reduction targets for processed, packaged and prepared foods, guidance on action levels for lead in food intended for babies and young children, and draft guidance on the food traceability final rule, among others.

House Appropriations Committee Approves FY25 Ag-FDA Appropriations Act

The House Appropriations Committee held a markup for its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, in which the Committee approved the bill on a 29-26 party-line vote. During the markup, the Committee adopted an amendment offered by Representative Sanford Bishop (D-GA) to remove a bill rider that would allow states to voluntarily participate in a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) choice pilot program that would restrict what foods are allowed for purchase with SNAP benefits. Notably, the Committee’s Ag-FDA appropriations bill report also includes language highlighting its recognition that more research is required to understand the health impacts of ultra-processed food (UPF) and how to define it, as well as that the agency conduct additional research on the topic. The Committee hopes to pass the Ag-FDA appropriations bill on the House floor by the August recess. 

On a related note, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its FY 2025 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations bill summary. The Committee also held a markup of the bill, in which the Committee unanimously approved the bill on a 27-0 party-line vote.

Food Safety

FDA Publishes Final Rule to Revoke Use of Brominated Vegetable Oil in Food

FDA published the final rule, Revocation of Authorization of Use of Brominated Vegetable Oil in Food, to revoke the agency’s regulation authorizing the use of brominated vegetable oil (BVO) in food. FDA concluded that the intended use of BVO in food is no longer considered safe after study results conducted in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found the potential for adverse health effects in humans. BVO is currently authorized for use as a stabilizer in flavoring oils in few fruit-flavored beverages in the U.S. The final rule is effective on August 2, 2024, with compliance for companies to reformulate BVO-containing products beginning August 2, 2025.

Agriculture

USDA Invests to Support Summer Nutrition Programs Under SUN Bucks Program

USDA announced an investment of $100 million in grants to help states, Tribal Nations, and U.S. territories implement SUN Bucks, the new permanent Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program that will provide a grocery benefit of $120 per eligible school-aged child during the summer months. The grants will support development and modifications to state technology systems to effectively run the program. SUN Bucks is part of the agency’s SUN Programs: USDA’s Summer Nutrition Programs for Kids, to improve food and nutrition security for children during summer months. SUN Bucks helps to advance the goals of the Biden Administration’s White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health to enhance food and nutrition security and improve food access and affordability.

USDA Invests to Establish Nutrition Hubs to Advance Food and Nutrition Security

USDA announced an investment of $4.5 million in funding to establish three additional USDA Nutrition Hubs in communities across the U.S. The new Nutrition Hubs will provide tailored and scalable approaches to equitably advance food and nutrition security and help prevent diet-related chronic diseases. The additional Hubs will create a network that builds on the work of the agency’s pilot Nutrition Hub under USDA’s Agricultural Science Center of Excellence for Nutrition and Diet for Better Health (ASCEND for Better Health) initiative. Each Nutrition Hub will work with priority populations to develop and share science-based nutrition information and foster research and training opportunities in human nutrition research to advance food and nutrition security, particularly in underserved and underrepresented communities.

USDA Invests to Support Innovation Under Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative 

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced an investment of $10 million in grants as part of the agency’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative (HMI). The grants, awarded through the School Food System Transformation Challenge under the HMI, will support innovation in the school meals marketplace by incentivizing collaboration between schools, the food industry, and other stakeholders. The School Food System Transformation Challenge Grants helps to advance the goals of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health to enhance food and nutrition security and improve food access and affordability.

USDA FNS Publishes 2024 Learning Agenda

USDA’s FNS published the agency’s 2024 Learning Agenda which identified four priorities and eleven key research and evaluation questions to be answered to address the agency’s priorities. The Learning Agenda outlines FNS priorities, including to strengthen program participants' ability to embrace healthy dietary habits, ensure equitable and consistent access to FNS programs for eligible populations, improve results and the consumer experience through a culture of innovation, process analysis, and improvement, and ensure accountability to partners through integrity, transparency, monitoring and reporting.

Global

Australian Parliament Publishes Report Urging Taxation of SSBs

The Australia Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport published the report, The State of Diabetes Mellitus in Australia in 2024, that provides a series of recommendations to the Australian government urging the implementation of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) to improve health outcomes in the country. The Committee also called on the Australian government to consider regulating the marketing and advertising of unhealthy food to children and implement food labeling reforms targeting added sugar to allow consumers to clearly identify the content of added sugar from front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labeling. The report suggested that visual depictions of the amount of added sugar in the form of teaspoons or sugar cubes on FOP nutrition labeling may be effective to prevent and manage diabetes among consumers. 

Consumer Group Urges EFSA to Set Maximum Levels for Acrylamide in Foods

Safe Food Advocacy Europe (SAFE) published a position paper requesting that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) set legally binding limits for contaminant acrylamide in foods. The position paper recommends that the EU mitigate the health risks associated with acrylamide exposure in food products by requesting that EU policymakers 1) define legally binding maximum levels for acrylamide in all high-risk food categories, 2) establish legally binding maximum levels for acrylamide in baby foods, 3) establish legally binding maximum levels for acrylamide in biscuits and other foods intended for babies and young children, 4) lower the benchmark level for breakfast cereal products consumed by children below 3 years of age, and 5) include additional food categories in the regulation of acrylamide levels.

Fun Fact: The Caesar salad was invented 100 years ago by Caesar Cardini in Tijuana, Mexico in July 1924.