OFW’s Food & Agriculture team regularly monitors announcements and policy issuances from FDA, USDA, and other agencies to keep our clients apprised of regulatory developments that may impact their business. Here are a few of the significant developments from August. If you have any questions or would like more information, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- On August 13, 2024, FDA released the results of the second retail sampling survey that tested dairy products for the highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1). Importantly, the results showed that no viable virus was detected in the samples collected from retail locations and analyzed between June 18 and July 31, 2024.
- On August 15, 2024, FDA announced the availability of a Draft Guidance “Voluntary Sodium Reduction Goals: Target Mean and Upper Bound Concentrations for Sodium Commercially Processed, Packaged, and Prepared Foods (Edition 2): Guidance for Industry.” The Draft Guidance builds on Phase I of the voluntary sodium reduction targets and contains 3-year revised, quantitative “target mean concentrations” as well as “upper bound concentrations” for sodium levels in more than 230 target foods/ 163 target food categories.
- On August 20, 2024, FDA provided additional meeting materials for the forthcoming public meeting on “Development of an Enhanced Systematic Process for FDA’s Post-Market Assessment of Chemicals in Food.” The hybrid (in-person and virtual) meeting will be held on September 25, 2024, from 12:30 pm-4:30 pm EST. The purpose of the meeting is for FDA to share and answer questions regarding efforts to address chemicals in food after states have begun passing a patchwork of legislation banning or limiting chemicals in food.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- On August 13, 2024, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued FSIS Notice 26-24, “FSIS H5N1 Influenza A Dairy Cow Testing Program.” The Notice was issued to provide information and instructions to Public Health Veterinarians, Supervisory Consumer Safety Inspectors, and Consumer Safety Inspectors regarding the testing of dairy cows for H5N1 Influenza A under the National Residue Program (NRP). The Notice also provides some insight into what industry should be monitoring for.
- On August 23, 2024, FSIS reminded stakeholders that starting September 1, 2024, FSIS will begin the allergen verification sampling (additional information in FSIS Directive 7000.6). In response to questions, FSIS is posting questions and answers for a few commonly asked questions.
- On August 28, 2024, USDA-FSIS announced the availability of updated guidelines, “FSIS Guidelines on Substantiating Animal-Raising or Environmental Related Labeling Claims” to provide the industry with additional information on how to both use and substantiate animal raising and environmental claims on meat and poultry products. The guidance has not been updated since December 2019.
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Please contact Kyla Kaplan (kkaplan@ofwlaw.com) if you have any questions or are interested in additional assistance.
