Weekly Newsletter | July 7, 2023
Food & Nutrition

FDA Releases Updated List of 2023 Priority Guidance Topics for Foods Program
FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) and the Office of Food Policy and Response (OFPR) released an updated list of priority draft and final guidance topics that the FDA Foods Program plans to publish by December 2023. The updated list outlines new guidance topics added to the agency’s agenda and recently issued guidances on food labeling, safety, and allergens since the release of the agenda in February 2023. The updated list now includes draft guidance on low-moisture ready-to-eat foods, draft guidances on action levels for arsenic and cadmium in food intended for babies and young children, an amendment to the menu labeling supplemental guidance, draft guidance on dietary supplements, and draft guidance on protein efficiency ratio (PER) rat bioassay studies for infant formula. 

FDA and FTC Warn Companies for Misleading THC Food Product Marketing
FDA and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued warning letters to six companies selling and marketing food products containing Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as delta-8 THC, in packaging that may be mistaken as traditional food products, including chips, cookies, candy, gummies, or other snack products. In the letters, FTC determined that the companies advertisement of THC-containing food products may violate Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts that present unwarranted health or safety risks. The agencies state that imitating non-THC-containing food products, particularly those marketed to or appealing to children, is misleading and may be ingested by consumers or taken in higher doses than intended. 

Coalition Sends Letter Requesting Implementation of Food Service Guidelines
A coalition of 160 advocacy organizations sent a letter requesting that the Biden Administration fulfill its commitment to update and implement the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Food Service Guidelines for Federal Facilities (FSG) as outlined in the White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. In the letter, the coalition urges the Administration to issue an Executive Order to update and require implementation of the updated guidelines. The Executive Order would establish a timeline and process for developing and implementing comprehensive values-aligned food procurement standards in all federally owned and operated facilities.

Illinois Signs Food Label Standardization Bill into Law 
The Illinois State legislature signed into law a bill to promote the voluntary standardization of food labels and reduce food waste across the state. The bill will require the state Department of Agriculture to publish information by July 1, 2024, to encourage food manufacturers, processors, and retailers responsible for the labeling of food products to voluntarily use specified uniform terms on food product labels to communicate quality dates and safety dates. The bill would define "BEST if Used by" or "BEST if Used or Frozen by" to indicate the quality date of a product and "USE by" or "USE by or Freeze by" to indicate the safety date of a product. This law will go into effect on January 1, 2024. 
Food Safety

FDA Releases Update on Cyclospora Prevention, Response, and Research Action Plan
FDA released an update to the agency’s Cyclospora Prevention, Response, and Research Action Plan to reflect the current status of the agency’s work to prevent and reduce incidences of foodborne cyclosporiasis in the U.S. This updated action plan includes refined strategies, a report on FDA’s accomplishments, and three new identified actions by the agency’s Cyclospora Task Force. Building upon FDA’s 2021 action plan, the plan outlines the agency’s cyclosporiasis reduction strategy and defines its priorities for Cyclospora food safety research, aligned with the Food Safety Modernization Act and the work of the New Era of Smarter Food Safety. 

CDC to Add Cronobacter to List of Nationally Notifiable Diseases
The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) announced the approval of a position statement that recommends establishing Cronobacter sakazakii as a nationally notifiable disease, requiring health departments to track and report cases of Cronobacter sakazakii to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The pathogen is set to be added to the list of nationally notifiable diseases in 2024, in which doctors and laboratories will be required to report cases of infection in infants less than one year of age to state health departments.
Agriculture

USDA FNS Launches Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative Recognition Awards
USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s (FNS) Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) launched recognition awards to celebrate School Food Authorities (SFA) that have made significant improvements to the nutritional quality of their school meals. The recognition awards will spotlight innovative practices, student and community engagement activities, and strategies schools have used to provide meals that are consistent with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, launched in June 2022, aims to improve the nutritional quality of school meals through food systems transformation and school food authority recognition and technical assistance.
Global

WHO Publishes Guideline on Impact of Food Marketing for Children
The World Health Organization (WHO) published its new guideline entitled, ‘policies to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing.’ The guideline provides countries with recommendations for measures to restrict food marketing to children, advising that countries implement comprehensive mandatory policies to protect children of all ages from the marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages that are high in saturated fat, trans fat, free sugars and/or salt (HFSS). WHO suggests that policies to restrict food marketing are shown to be most effective if they are mandatory, protect children of all ages, and use a government-led nutrient profile model to classify foods to be restricted from marketing, among others.

On a related note, WHO released a complementary implementation guidance that expands on previous WHO guidance with additional steps governments can take to reduce marketing of ‘unhealthy’ foods to children.

WHO and FAO to Update Definition of Healthy Diets 
The World Health Organization (WHO) is hosting an event on July 13, 2023, to launch the WHO and FAO’s updated concept of healthy diets alongside WHO’s healthy diet guidelines. FAO and WHO are updating their concept of healthy diets to reflect the latest scientific evidence for the relationship between diet and human health and recognize the linkages between human and planetary health through sustainable agrifood systems. The updated FAO-WHO definition of healthy diets and the WHO healthy diet guidelines will provide evidence-informed recommendations on diet, including the consumption of micro- and macronutrients and other elements of contemporary diets, including non-sugar sweeteners and low sodium salt substitutes.

Fun Fact: The term "hamburger" originates from the city of Hamburg, Germany.