On January 12, the State Medical Disaster Advisory Committee (SDMAC) Vaccine Subcommittee released its recommendations for Wisconsin’s Phase 1b distribution priority for the COVID-19 vaccine. The draft plan for Phase 1b does NOT include farm workers or food processing workers. The recommendation for this next phase includes first responders, teachers, childcare workers, people ages 70 and older, mink husbandry workers, prisoners and others who live in congregate living settings. DHS will finalize the Phase 1b vaccine distribution priority after reviewing public comments. MWPFA joined 22 other ag-related groups in filing joint comments to the state Department of Health Services (DHS) asking for the re-instatement of food and ag workers in the 1b designation.  (MWFPA submitted comments along with the Wisconsin Ag Coalition calling for food and agriculture workers to remain in Phase 1B.)

“Strong sales data only tells part of the story,” said American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) President and CEO Alison Bodor through a press release. “Frozen foods align with the times we’re living in, offering consumers nutrition, variety, ease of preparation and certainty at a moment we’re needing it more than ever in our kitchens and on our tables.” Read More

The government’s worker-safety agency “has been prevented from using its full range of tools to protect workers from COVID-19,” said President-elect Biden on the 50th anniversary of creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. “The number of OSHA inspectors is at its lowest level since 1975, while millions of essential workers are working to keep the country functioning through the pandemic.” In a statement, Biden said on December 29, “My administration will ask OSHA to determine whether to establish an emergency temporary standard to keep workers safe from COVID-19. I will direct OSHA to enforce worker safety requirements, target the worst violators, and work to increase the number of OSHA inspectors to get the job done. And, I will direct OSHA and other relevant agencies to develop comprehensive strategies for addressing the most dangerous hazards workers encounter in the workplace.” Read More

Survey It’s one thing for someone working in the produce industry to attend a conference with all sorts of regulators and scientists talking about food safety. But it’s quite another thing for those folks to be asked what their greatest challenges are when it comes to managing food safety. But that’s just the tack the USDA is taking in its anonymous online survey that asks growers, packers, buyers, consultants, suppliers, educators, auditors and regulators to rank their top five food safety management areas that need improvement. “We are trying to understand what food safety concerns keep the produce industry up at night — in general, what are their biggest concerns,” said Meredith Melendez, a Rutgers cooperative extension agent and principal investigator of the survey for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Read More

Janet Woodcock, a 30-year veteran of the Food and Drug Administration, is being considered by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as commissioner of the agency, according to people familiar with the selection process. Woodcock is expected to serve as acting head of the drug regulator after Biden’s inauguration next week, while being vetted by the Biden team for the permanent job along with former FDA principal deputy commissioner Joshua Sharfstein, according to the people. Earlier this year, Woodcock stepped aside as director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research to lead an effort to accelerate Covid-19 therapies under Operation Warp Speed. She remains in that role and is advising FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, who is expected to depart the agency at the end of President Donald Trump’s term. 

Four years after the thunder in Congress over labeling foods made with GMO ingredients, the deadline for compliance with the USDA labeling regulation is in sight — the end of 2021 — despite complaints that the rule is riddled with loopholes that exempt many foods. Under the rule, food makers have four options for indicating GMO ingredients, ranging from saying so on the package to a fingernail-size QR code, so consumers may find it difficult to identify a GMO food. The labels will say bioengineered, rather than the more commonly used GMO, which also might dilute their impact. And disclosure is discretionary for some GMO ingredients, most prominently corn and soy oils from biotech plants. Read More

A new report by the Federal Communications Commission acknowledges the impact of rural broadband service on-farm productivity. The FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics released the new paper called “Impact of Broadband Penetration on U.S. Farm Productivity.” In a statement Thursday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai says this paper underscores the importance of the Commission’s top priority of expanding broadband access in rural and underserved areas. Pai says the availability of broadband has significant positive impacts on crop yields and other farm production metrics by lowering fertilizer and seed costs. The FCC report cites one example where a 1% increase in the number of rural broadband connections per 1000 households is associated with a 3.6% increase in corn yields.  Read More

Source: Michael Best Strategies

The Trump administration over the holidays published its formal guidance for healthy eating — and decided to buck the advice of external scientific advisers who recommended that men drink less alcohol and that everyone cut down on added sugars, our Helena Bottemiller Evich reports. The official Dietary Guidelines for Americans, updated every five years, influence federal nutrition programs and nutritional messaging for millions of American (though most people don’t follow the government’s advice). Before USDA and HHS unveiled the final blueprint last week, an advisory group of dietary experts weighed in over the summer and recommended several notable changes to the existing advice: USDA and HHS also ignored the advisers’ call for stricter limits on added sugars, instead sticking with the Obama administration’s advice that individuals get no more than 10 percent of their calories from added sugars. (The advisory committee recommended lowering the limit to 6 percent.) Read More

At the end of 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the latest 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). Intended for policymakers and health professionals, the DGAs are published every five years to reflect the most current nutrition science and have an important role in guiding federal nutrition policy. For the first time the latest DGAs provide recommendations for all ages, underscoring the importance of eating nutrient-dense foods and beverages, including vegetables of all types and whole fruits. AFFI is pleased to see the latest DGAs provide ample opportunities for the inclusion of frozen foods. For more information, please read AFFI’s press release here and read this review that summarizes where frozen is incorporated in the DGAs.

FDA in December announced a final guidance allowing the use of the term "potassium salt" instead of potassium chloride on food labels, acknowledging the salt substitute could help reduce Americans' intake of potentially dangerous sodium.  Read More

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services launched a new data page on Tuesday, Dec. 29. This visualization tool focuses on a completely different set of numbers: It's all about coronavirus vaccine data. “We are committed to providing the public with timely COVID-19 vaccine information,” says DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm. Read More

Glen Tellock, president/CEO of Lakeside Foods Inc. in Manitowoc, WI, has announced his intention to retire at mid-year. Succeeding him will be Joe Yanda, current chief operating officer.

The following list of outbreak investigations is being managed by FDA’s CORE Response Teams. The investigations are in a variety of stages, meaning that some outbreaks have limited information, and others may be near completion or declared ended. A public health advisory will be issued for outbreak investigations that have resulted in specific, actionable steps for consumers to take to protect themselves. Outbreak investigations that do not result in specific, actionable steps for consumers may or may not conclusively identify a source or reveal any contributing factors. If a source and/or contributing factors are identified that could inform future prevention, FDA commits to providing a summary of those findings. Outbreak investigations that do not result in specific, actionable steps for consumers may or may not conclusively identify a source or reveal any contributing factors. If a source and/or contributing factors are identified that could inform future prevention, FDA commits to providing a summary of those findings. Read More

Manufacturers have widely embraced the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, and artificial intelligence to drive productivity, performance, safety, compliance, and to create better work conditions. And while this digitization of manufacturing processes has many benefits, one challenge is effectively using the data that is created by IoT. Mountains of data is often trapped in reports and spreadsheets, where it isn't useful to frontline workers, or it's out of date by the time it’s available so it lacks any real-time insights to inform decision making.  Read More

With only 12 days until the Biden presidential inauguration, agriculture is waiting to see what a shift in power will mean for agricultural policy. There is already optimism sprouting from some agricultural groups, with leaders saying the Biden Administration is taking an extremely proactive approach. “I have been in Washington since Ronald Reagan was President, so I've seen administrations come and I’ve seen administrations go. I have never, ever seen the kind of outreach to agriculture that I’ve seen with the Biden folks,” says Jon Doggett, CEO of National Corn Growers Association (NCGA). “And it isn't one or two calls, it has been multiple calls at multiple levels, across the board and with many different organizations.” Doggett says he personally received a phone call from Biden’s EPA pick, Michael Regan, just before Christmas. Doggett also says NCGA isn’t alone, and the common theme is Regan and others want to listen to what issues agriculture is facing.