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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is seeking comments on recommendations to update the List of Bioengineered Foods (List) under the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS). AMS seeks comment on four issues: (1) whether it should add insect-resistant sugarcane to the List; (2) whether it should add the modifier “virus-resistant”…

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently released the Spring 2020 Unified Agenda of Regulatory actions, which outlines the rulemaking actions currently under development in each federal agency. This memorandum summarizes the major actions that may be of particular interest to the food industry that are being planned by the U.S. Food and Drug…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently released several guidelines for various segments of the food industry to address the COVID-19 pandemic. First, CDC issued Interim Guidance from CDC and the U.S. Department of Labor, Agriculture Workers and Employers (“the Interim Guidance”), which provides recommendations related to COVID-19…

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published a Final Rule codifying internal procedures that must be followed when issuing agency guidance documents. The Final Rule amends USDA’s administrative regulations by adding procedural regulations for the review and issuance of USDA guidance documents. The Final Rule adds a new Subpart Q, “Review and Issuance…

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…

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…