Weekly Newsletter | July 21, 2023
Food & Nutrition

2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to Host Third Public Meeting in September
The 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) is hosting its third public meeting on September 12, 2023, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST and on September 13, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 pm EST. The meeting will provide subcommittee updates, featuring presentations by each subcommittee and deliberation by the full Committee regarding progress made since the second public meeting, including protocol development, evidence review and synthesis, systematic review findings, and plans for future Committee work. There will also be an opportunity for oral comments on September 12, 2023. Registration to deliver oral comments will open on August 10, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. EST.

President’s Council on Science and Technology Seeks Input on Nutrition Research   
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is seeking input from stakeholders to help inform the Biden Administration’s vision for advancing nutrition science. PCAST, alongside the Interagency Committee on Human Nutrition Research, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Interagency Policy Council on Nutrition, is requesting input on three identified questions to help identify scientific opportunities, gaps, and priorities to continue to advance nutrition science, emphasizing equitable access to the benefits of research. PCAST intends to consult with experts and federal agencies responsible for food and nutrition programs and research, building off efforts outlined in the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.

Senate Introduces SNAP Nutrition Security Act 
Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the SNAP Nutrition Security Act, which aims to study the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s (SNAP) impact on diet quality and nutrition security. The bill would require that USDA report what foods are being purchased in SNAP and annually measure and report on the diet quality and nutrition security in the program every four years. While this bill does not impose restrictions on what foods SNAP recipients can purchase, Senator Marco Rubio previously introduced a bill in May that would limit the types of foods that can be bought with SNAP benefits, such as alcohol, tobacco, soda, candy, ice cream, and baked goods. The SNAP Nutrition Security Act is endorsed by numerous advocacy groups, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), who released a statement in support of the bill.

Congress Introduces American Food for American Schools Act
Representatives Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) and John Garamendi (D-CA) reintroduced the American Food for American Schools Act, which aims to promote the purchase of domestic commodities and products under the Buy American Provision within the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). The bill would require school districts to obtain a waiver from USDA to purchase foreign-sourced food products, only to be granted if domestically produced food is not reasonably available in sufficient quality or quantities. The bill would also require USDA to publish information about the adoption of the Buy America requirement, impose Buy American contract requirements for school food procurement, and subject other USDA school feeding programs to the Buy America requirement. Senators Mike Braun (R-IN) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) also introduced a companion bill in the Senate.

Hearing Scheduled as California Assembly Bill Moves Through Committee
The California State Assembly is scheduled to convene a hearing on August 14, 2023, in the Senate Appropriations Committee on bill AB 418. As a reminder, this bill would prohibit the manufacture, sale, and distribution of food products that contain brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, red dye 3, and titanium dioxide in the state. Notably, an amendment was also introduced that modifies the bill’s effective date from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2027. The bill, if passed, would make California the first state in the U.S. to ban these five additives from the food supply. 

NASEM to Host Workshop on Dietary Patterns to Prevent Disease Across the Lifespan
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NASEM) Food Forum is hosting a two-day workshop on August 15-16, 2023, that will explore the state of the science on the linkages between dietary patterns and diet-related chronic disease across the lifespan. The workshop, featuring presenters across federal agencies including FDA, USDA, and NIH, will examine dietary assessment, novel biomarkers for assessing dietary quality, how diet influences the developmental origins of chronic disease, and the modifiable influences on dietary patterns and how they affect chronic disease risk and susceptibility. 

GAO Recommends USDA Address Challenges in its Foods in Schools Program
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report that examines the implementation of USDA’s Foods in Schools program and the challenges state and school food authorities faced in operating the program from school years 2014-15 through 2020-21. In the report, more than half of states reported satisfaction with USDA Food and Nutrition Services’ (FNS) assistance in the program, but 28 states reported delivery challenges, and 21 states identified opportunities for additional assistance, including more timely communication to enhance program operations. GAO outlines three recommendations to USDA, including 1) develop a mechanism to routinely and systematically identify and address challenges, 2) establish guidelines for timely communication with states and 3) systematically identify and share promising practices and lessons learned with states related to the USDA Foods in Schools program.
Food Safety

FDA Concludes Pilot Program in Evaluation of Third-Party Food Safety Standards 
FDA announced the agency’s findings from its voluntary pilot program to evaluate alignment of private third-party food safety audit standards with the food safety requirements in the Preventive Controls for Human Food (PC Human Food) and the Produce Safety rules implemented under FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This voluntary pilot program was launched to help FDA and industry gain a better understanding of whether these standards align with FDA regulations, consistent with FDA’s goal under its New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint. FDA concluded that while the agency sees value in the use of third-party food safety audit standards in facilitating industry's implementation of FSMA, FDA does not currently have adequate resources to continue to review and evaluate the alignment of third-party food safety standards beyond this pilot. FDA intends to continue to assess future opportunities to leverage third-party audit standards.
Agriculture

USDA Launches Partnership to Promote Competition Across Food Supply Chain
USDA launched a partnership between USDA and bipartisan attorney generals in 31 states and the District of Columbia to enhance competition and protect consumers in food and agricultural markets, including grocery and meat and poultry processing. The Agricultural Competition Partnership initiative will offer funding and enhance the capacity of state attorneys to conduct on-the-ground assessments of competition and consumer issues, enhance coordination between federal and state agriculture and competition authorities, and create new and more independent research programs to result in competitive markets and more resilient supply chains. This initiative supports President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. 

Congress Sends Letter to CBO on Farm Bill Timeline
The House and Senate Committees on Agriculture sent a letter to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) requesting a timely receipt of government spending required for the proposed changes to farm and nutrition programs for the 2023 Farm Bill. In the letter, the Committees requested that the Senate and House Budget Committees and CBO utilize all available resources and authorities to facilitate CBO's ability to reorganize staff to prioritize farm bill requests, hire or contract additional staff, and identify qualified professionals. This letter comes as House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson (R-PA) and Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) acknowledged a possible extension of some of the provisions in the current Farm Bill, ahead of the September 30, 2023 deadline.
Global

WHO: IARC and JECFA Release Hazard and Risk Assessment Findings on Aspartame
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) released results of recent evaluations of the health impacts of the non-sugar sweetener, aspartame. Despite limited evidence, IARC classified aspartame as "possibly carcinogenic" to humans (IARC Group 2B) based on limited evidence for risk of liver cancer. JECFA, however, did not find safety concerns at current use levels and maintained the previously established acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 0-40 mg/kg body weight for aspartame. An adult weighing 154 lbs. would need to consume 9-14 cans of an aspartame-sweetened beverage per day to exceed this ADI. In response to IARC’s conclusion, FDA published an update disagreeing with IARC's conclusion noting that “FDA scientists do not have safety concerns when aspartame is used under the approved conditions.”

WHO Publishes Guidelines to Update Concept of Healthy Diets 
The World Health Organization (WHO) published updated guidelines on total fat, saturated and trans-fat, and carbohydrates. These three guidelines, together with existing WHO guidelines on free sugars, non-sugar sweeteners, and sodium, along with forthcoming guidance on the use of low-sodium salt substitutes and polyunsaturated fat intake, form the basis of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)-WHO updated concept of healthy diets. Notably, WHO issued a new recommendation that carbohydrate intake for those 2 years and older should come primarily from whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and pulses, advising that adults consume at least 400 grams of fruits and vegetables and 25 grams of naturally occurring dietary fiber per day. During the guidelines launch event, WHO discussed its ongoing efforts to develop recommendations on food-based dietary guidelines, incorporating considerations for a food’s broader impact on the food system by the end of 2023. WHO also highlighted its recently published report, 'State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023,' which provides an update on global progress towards the targets of ending hunger and malnutrition, with an emphasis on urbanization, agrifood systems transformation, and healthy diets.

Fun Fact: Brazil nuts contain the highest amount of selenium among all nuts, with approximately 68–91 mcg per nut.