Food & Nutrition

FDA to Host Webinar on Allergen Labeling for Food Service Establishments

FDA is hosting an educational webinar for regulatory partners and industry, including retail food stores and food service establishments, on December 18, 2024, to provide an overview of the agency’s food labeling and food allergen labeling requirements and compliance. The webinar is intended to help industry better understand and comply with FDA guidances and food allergen labeling requirements. The webinar will feature a question and answer session with an opportunity to submit public questions or comments related to allergen labeling for retail food stores and food service establishments due December 6, 2024.

NIH Office of Nutrition Research Releases 2022-2023 Nutrition Research Report

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Nutrition Research (ONR) released the agency's 2022-2023 Nutrition Research Report, which summarizes nutrition research activities supported and conducted across NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices in Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023. The report provides an overview of ongoing nutrition-related research efforts, including recent funding levels, scientific advancements, key research findings, and descriptions of future directions for nutrition research. Examples of future directions featured in the report include the development of new tools and resources that broadly inform nutrition science and improve the precision of nutritional assessment.

EPA Releases National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the agency's National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution: Part Three of a Series on Building a Circular Economy for All. The strategy presents a 10-year vision of opportunities for voluntary and regulatory actions that can be taken by businesses; nongovernmental organizations; federal, Tribal, state, local, and territorial governments; academia; and consumers, to eliminate the release of plastic waste from land and sea-based sources into the environment by 2040. The National Strategy contains six main objectives that address plastic pollution throughout the lifecycle of plastic products, with each objective followed by opportunities for action to eliminate waste in the management of plastic products. The National Strategy builds on the EPA’s November 2021 National Recycling Strategy and the June 2024 National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics.  

Senate Agriculture Committee Releases Draft Farm Bill Text 

Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) released the Committee's farm bill text, the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act. The draft farm bill text builds on the Committee's draft framework released in May 2024 and contains several nutrition provisions, including to explore allowing hot foods to be purchased with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, continue the 5-year update to the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), and expands the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (Double-Up Bucks) and produce prescriptions to increase access to fruits and vegetables, among others. Congress has until the end of the year to pass an extension of the 2018 farm bill, with lawmakers negotiating to pass a one-year extension of the bill before December 31, 2024. 

House Introduces Bill to Provide Grants to Support Food is Medicine Programs

Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL) introduced a bill that would require USDA to establish and administer a pilot program to award grants to support Food is Medicine programs. The Fueling Optimal Outcomes through Diet (FOOD) for Health Act seeks to improve health outcomes and lower healthcare costs by authorizing $20 million in fiscal years 2025 through 2029 and require a report to Congress analyzing the efficiency and impact on patient outcomes and system costs of the pilot program. The legislation is endorsed by several agriculture, nutrition, and Food is Medicine organizations, including the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Feeding America.

Food Safety

FDA Extends Comment Period for Post-Market Food Chemical Assessment Process

FDA extended the public comment period for the agency's proposed enhanced systematic process for its post-market assessment of chemicals in food from December 6, 2024, to January 21, 2025. The comment period was extended as a response to requests from stakeholders to allow additional time to develop and submit comments as the agency develops the process. In September 2024, FDA held a public meeting and published a discussion paper outlining the agency’s proposed systematic approach to identifying and prioritizing food chemicals currently in the market for safety reviews. As reflected under the FDA Human Foods Program (HFP) 2025 Priority Deliverables, the agency will update the framework based on public feedback and publish an updated list of substances prioritized for re-assessment with projected timelines in FY 2025.

FDA Issues Request for Information on PFAS in Seafood

FDA issued a request for information on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in seafood to increase the agency’s understanding of the potential for PFAS exposure from seafood products. The agency seeks scientific data and information from the seafood industry, academia, and state and federal agencies on PFAS concentrations in seafood, the environment, and processing water, as well as mitigation strategies for reducing exposure to PFAS in seafood. FDA’s previous testing indicated that seafood may be at higher risk for environmental PFAS contamination compared with other types of foods and the data on PFAS in seafood are still limited for many seafood types. The request for information serves as part of FDA’s work to reduce dietary exposure to PFAS, with public comments due February 18, 2025.

USDA FSIS to Host Virtual Public Meetings on Salmonella Framework

Registration is now open to attend USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) two public meetings to solicit stakeholder views on the agency’s Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products proposed rule and determination. The meetings are to be held on December 3 and December 5, 2024. Written public comments on the proposed rule and determination are due January 17, 2025.

Texas Introduces Bill to Prohibit Food Additives in Reduced-Price School Meals 

The Texas Legislature introduced a bill in both the House and Senate that would prohibit seven food additives from being included in free or reduced-price school meals. The legislation would prohibit brominated vegetable oil (BVO), potassium bromate, propylparaben, azodicarbonamide, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), red dye 3, and titanium dioxide, in free or reduced-price school meals served in the National School Breakfast Program, the National School Lunch Program, and school districts that provide free or reduced-price meals to eligible students. If passed, the legislation would take effect beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.

Agriculture

USDA NIFA Invests to Support Food Safety Research and Outreach

USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced an investment of $14 million to support food safety research, outreach, and workforce training across the agency. The investment will support research under NIFA’s Food Safety and Defense Program, which funds research projects aimed at reducing food contamination risks by developing methods and procedures to identify, detect, reduce and/or mitigate pathogens, allergens, or heavy metals in foods. The program also funds projects that develop technologies for food processing, manufacturing, packaging, cleaning, and sanitation to reduce the presence of pathogens in food and processing facilities.

Global

EFSA Increases Acceptable Daily Intake for Artificial Sweetener Saccharin

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released a scientific opinion to increase the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for the non-nutritive artificial sweetener saccharin from 5 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) of bodyweight (BW) per day to 9 mg/kg BW per day. EFSA concluded that the evidence did not support that saccharin causes DNA damage and that it is unlikely that its consumption is associated with cancer risk in humans. The evidence showed that consumer exposure was below the newly derived ADI, concluding there is no health risk.

Fun Fact: The star fruit, also called a carambola, is composed of about 90% water.