Citing concerns that the Trump Administration could roll back or weaken Biden-era EPA drinking water standards for PFAS, a bill has been introduced in California that would set state-level limits for harmful “forever chemicals” that are at least as protective as current federal standards.
This episode of Food Safety Five covers a new EU regulation that limits PFAS in food packaging and bans single-use plastics for fruit and vegetables under a certain weight, among other changes. Also discussed is a bill introduced to the New York State legislature to ban certain food additives and tighten requirements for GRAS ingredients.
A partisan House bill sponsored by U.S. Representatives Tracey Mann (R-KS) and Steve Womack (R-AK) aims to block USDA from using federal funds to implement its proposed regulatory framework for Salmonella in raw poultry products, the goal of which is to reduce foodborne salmonellosis cases.
Recently reintroduced to Congress, the bipartisan Protect Infant Formula From Contamination Act aims to strengthen FDA’s oversight of infant formula manufacturers by expanding certain authorities, allowing the agency to better ensure the safety and resiliency of the country’s infant formula supply.
If enacted during the New York State budget process in March, the Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act would require food companies to disclose their use of any “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) ingredients, and would ban some additives and dyes from foods sold or made in New York or in its schools.
Minnesota Senator Heather Gustafson has introduced SF 188, a bill that would require manufacturers of packaged foods to test their products for phthalates and disclose the results online.
On December 19, the European Commission officially adopted a sweeping ban on the use of Bisphenol A (BPA), as well as some other bisphenols considered harmful, in all food contact materials. Industry will be allowed an 18-month transition period.
In the debut installment of the Food Safety Five Newsreel, we discuss an ongoing multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli infections linked to onions served at McDonald’s restaurants. The episode also takes a look at legislation passed in California that marks the country’s first mandatory food date labeling reforms.
Recently signed into law, California Assembly Bill 660 standardizes the use of “Best if Used By” and “Use By” dates on food labels, and prohibits the use of “Sell By” and other, inconsistently used dates.
In the wake of the California School Food Safety Act, on October 11, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) will hold a free, publicly available webinar discussing how consumer concerns about artificial food coloring are influencing policies and shaping the regulatory future of food additives.
