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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently issued a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the potential use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) with regard to FDA-regulated food. Importantly, USDA retains its DPA authority for products subject to FDA jurisdiction. The MOU, however, establishes that FDA will…

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently updated its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) webpage regarding COVID-19 to include a section on President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) for Meat and Poultry Processors. These FAQs address the role USDA plays in implementing the EO, what meat and poultry plants should…

A recent court decision struck down a 2018 final rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), which had relaxed sodium and whole grains requirements for the National School Lunch Program and National School Breakfast Program (school meals programs). The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and Healthy…

Late Tuesday, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue sent letters to state governors and meat and poultry processing company leaders setting forth USDA’s expectations for continued operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. These letters follow President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order issued last week ordering USDA to take all appropriate actions to ensure that…

Late yesterday, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) to protect the meat and poultry production supply chain. In the Executive Order, entitled, Delegating Authority Under The Defense Production Act With Respect To Food Supply Chain Resources During The National Emergency Caused By The Outbreak Of COVID-19, the President…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently updated their respective questions and answers guidance to address questions or update their recommendations concerning food safety and COVID-19. FDA has supplemented its questions and answers guidance on topics regarding the food supply, social distancing, and responding to a worker who…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently updated their respective COVID-19 questions and answers guidance. FDA updated its food safety questions and answers guidance on COVID-19 with additional information related to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) updated recommendations regarding the use of cloth face coverings.…

In response to two petitions, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced that intends to conduct rulemaking to change its policy toward “Product of USA” claims for meat and poultry products, with an apparent objective of limiting the scope of products eligible for the claim.

Recently, FSIS announced…

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act,” or the CARES Act.  This is the third phase of federal legislation in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The estimated $2 trillion package cuts across nearly every segment of the economy, widely affecting companies and consumers alike, and…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has released Draft Instructions on Testing Methods (Draft Instructions) for use in compliance with the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS). The document provides guidance on the selection of a test method that may be used to ascertain that a highly refined food or ingredient…