The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requesting public comment on the labeling of seafood products made using cell culture technology. FDA’s Request for Information (RFI) entitled, “Labeling of Foods Comprised of or...more
The United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued an instruction to field personnel, FSIS Notice 49-20, to begin implementing the agency’s new Adulterated Product Monitoring...more
10/5/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
Department of Agriculture ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Safety ,
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) ,
Food Supply ,
Genetically Engineered Seed ,
GMO ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retail Market ,
Tracking Systems
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS or the agency) has issued a Proposed Rule to expand the circumstances in which FSIS will generically approve the labels of meat,...more
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...more
7/15/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
APHIS ,
Farms ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Food Safety ,
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) ,
Food Supply ,
FSMA ,
Hemp ,
OMB ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
USDA
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...more
On May 19, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) authorizing federal agencies to provide regulatory relief to support the economic response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Specifically, the EO allows agencies to rescind,...more
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...more
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) recently issued a COVID-19 industry guidance intended for facilities that process or pack meat, dairy, or produce to support a safe and clean environment for workers. In...more
5/16/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Training ,
Farm Animals ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Safety ,
Food Supply ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
OSHA ,
Public Health ,
Social Distancing ,
Workplace Decontamination ,
Workplace Safety
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...more
5/8/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Agriculture ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Safety ,
Food Supply ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
OSHA ,
Secretary of Agriculture ,
USDA ,
Workplace Safety
This week, 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...more
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have issued interim guidance on COVID-19 considerations for meat and poultry processing workers and employers. This...more
5/1/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Farm Animals ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Safety ,
Food Supply ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Poultry ,
Public Health ,
Workplace Safety
This post summarizes two recent documents the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued for the Food and Agriculture Sector in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The first, “Use of Respirators, Facemasks, and Cloth Face...more
5/1/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
Agricultural Workers ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Farms ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Food Safety ,
Food Supply ,
Health & Safety Standard ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Regulatory Requirements
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...more
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced it will temporarily exercise enforcement discretion for country of origin labeling (COOL) or method of production requirements to...more
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released guidance regarding compliance with the shell Egg Safety Rule during the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate the distribution of eggs to retail. The agency also updated...more
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...more
The FDA issued a new guidance document that provides retailers with some flexibility from labeling requirements for shell eggs in order to facilitate the distribution of eggs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This guidance...more
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...more
This post summarizes recent actions the federal government has taken in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. First, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has updated...more
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a Constituent Update announcing the Agency temporarily is exercising enforcement discretion to provide labeling flexibilities for...more
In our memo of March 19, we summarized federal government policy identifying the Food and Agriculture and Transportation industries as two of the nation’s 16 Critical Infrastructure Sectors. In The President’s Coronavirus...more
3/20/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
Business Closures ,
Business Interruption ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Farms ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Service Workers ,
Food Supply ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Restaurant Industry
As the novel coronavirus crisis continues to escalate, state and local governments have begun implementing increasingly aggressive measures, including restrictions on when and which businesses may operate, quarantines,...more
As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has continued to escalate, both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have taken additional action to provide industry, the...more
3/18/2020
/ China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Recalls ,
Food Safety ,
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) ,
Food Supply ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Health ,
Safety Inspections ,
USDA
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently released the Fall 2019 Unified Agenda of Regulatory Actions, which outlines the rulemaking actions currently under development in each federal agency. This memorandum...more
12/19/2019
/ Agribusiness ,
APHIS ,
Farms ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Safety ,
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) ,
Food Supply ,
FSMA ,
Imports ,
OMB ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rulemaking Process ,
USDA
Recently, FSIS issued its long-awaited guidance on the labeling and packaging of “kit” products. Although FSIS has long informally applied its “kit policy,” this FSIS Compliance Guideline marks the first public guidance that...more