Phil: Rick, it’s hard to believe that 35 years have passed since we started this firm as a two-lawyer shop in 1979. Rick: It sure is. I remember working with you at the law firm I joined fresh out of the University of Michigan Law School, and which you had joined several years earlier out
Phil Olsson and Rick Frank on 35 Years of Life at OFW Read More »
At last – the mid-term election is behind us. President Obama had said that although he was not on the ballot, his policies were. The nation’s voters repudiated those policies. Republicans were voted in and Democrats voted out. Some races are still in dispute, but Republicans have already secured more than enough new Senate seats
John Block: Mid-Term Elections Read More »
By Marshall L. Matz and Peter B. Matz, as published in Agri-Pulse On September 29, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General José Graziano da Silva issued a call for climate smart agriculture and a “paradigm shift towards sustainable agriculture and family farming.” It is a theme we have seen in a number of recent reports by leading organizations, including:
Climate Smart, Sustainable Agriculture Read More »
When asked to visit an establishment to assess compliance, my first step is always to ask for data. Establishment food safety data, laboratory results, regulatory data, audits…. What story is being told? Is there a trend in the making? Upward trend? Downward trend? It is important for establishments that are regulated by the Food Safety
Data Driven Decision Making by Dr. Doom Read More »
This week, OFW Law founding principal Richard L. Frank fills in for former USDA Secretary John R. Block. There are a variety of disturbing questions surrounding the Dietary Guidelines for Americans now being drafted for release in 2015. The questions relate to whether the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee should focus its review and recommendations on scientific advances in
By John R. Block, as published in the Des Moines Register Every day millions of shoppers are paying out as much as 50 or 100 percent more to buy organic foods for themselves and their families. I have friends who make these choices because they have no reason to question claims on labels, in advertising and
Consumers are Misled About Organic Safety Read More »
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) plans, effective November 10, 2014, to halt issuing export certificates for FDA-regulated foods that contain an egg product(s) as an ingredient because USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) now provides this service. FDA regulates the safe production, sanitary processing, and labeling of food products containing egg products. Nevertheless,
Export Certificates for FDA-Regulated Foods Containing Egg Products as an Ingredient Read More »
By Marshall L. Matz, as published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch According to Forbes Magazine, Mr. Strive Masiyiwa is the Bill Gates of Africa. The Econet Wireless Group headed by Masiyiwa and based in South Africa now operates in 17 countries, employs 6,000 and generates $3 billion a year. Yet Masiyiwa believes it is agriculture development that
The 2014 Global Child Nutrition Forum is fast approaching and, while space is limited, there is still opportunity to attend, exhibit and/or sponsor the Forum. This year’s event is being held by the Global Child Nutrition Foundation and World Food Program outside Johannesburg, South Africa, from September 29-October 3. This conference is held annually to
2014 Global Child Nutrition Forum, Sept. 29-Oct. 3 Read More »
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has published a Federal Register notice requesting comments on a possible federal standard of identity for honey. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the agency that would be responsible for developing a standard of identity for honey, the 2014 Farm Bill charged the
What should we be eating? We are getting hammered from every angle about what is good for us versus what is bad. Too many carbs, stay away from red meat, don’t trust GE foods, sugar will make you fat. The government wants to regulate. We have been through this before but never with the intensity
Today, I want to talk to you about the deficit – not the dollar deficit. That’s for another day. I want to talk about the deficit of action, the deficit of responsibility. The U.S. Congress and the President have failed the people. The end of this fiscal year is fast approaching and the Congress (once
John Block: Getting Nothing Done Read More »
By Marshall L. Matz and Nathaniel B. Fretz, as published by Agri-Pulse There is a new question surrounding the Dietary Guidelines for Americans now being drafted for release in 2015. The question is whether the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee should continue to focus their review and recommendations on scientific advances in nutrition and diet or should they venture
The Next Dietary Guidelines Debate Read More »
The White House’s role with USDA’s regulations for school foods and the WIC feeding program has been widely reported. Lesser known is the White House involvement in FDA food labeling policy. To commemorate the anniversary of the Let’s Move! campaign, the first lady hosted a week-long series of events in March, one of which included
Anyone who has been involved in the quality assurance and food safety side of the food business for any length of time knows that one of the top items on the list of those that will keep you awake at night is whether or not your product “hold” or retention program will be effective in
Ms. Gloom Wants to Know: Does Your Product Hold Program Really “Hold” When Needed? Read More »
The great battle for the 2014 Farm Bill is thankfully over, but that hasn’t stopped the U.S. Congress from continuing to tinker with Federal Crop Insurance. Most recently, in late May, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees each voted to report their versions of bills to fund USDA in fiscal 2015, and each took the
Crop Insurance Appropriations – A Clue for the next SRA? Read More »
As described by Dennis Johnson in his recent article from our Regulatory Round-Up Newsletter, the current human illness rate for E. coli O157:H7 has not gone down as documented by the Centers for Disease Control and is, in fact, trending upwards. This is very concerning. Our firm has been advocating that the beef industry be aware of this
Pontifications by Dr. Doom Read More »
On behalf of OFW Law’s Agriculture practice group, here is a copy of our new newsletter. We hope you find it useful. To receive this periodic newsletter by e-mail, please contact Carrie Morgan at [email protected].
Regulatory Round-Up Newsletter, Spring 2014 Read More »
By Marshall L. Matz, as published in Agri-Pulse Organic foods are “in.” Analysts estimate that U.S. organic food sales have reached $35 billion, or over 4% of all the foods consumed at home. While that means 96% of the foods we consume are not “USDA Organic,” 4% is statistically significant. Produce and dairy are the top two
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a public meeting on June 26, 2014 to discuss its two pending proposed rules to update the Nutrition Facts label (and the Supplement Facts label for dietary supplements). Those proposed rules are: Food Labeling: Revision of the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels Food Labeling: Serving Sizes of
FDA Announces Public Meeting on Nutrition Labeling Proposed Rules Read More »
Last month, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) reissued seven Directives relating to FSIS surveillance, investigation and enforcement activities. The Directives are available here. Together, these Directives provide a comprehensive set of instructions to FSIS investigators and other personnel for conducting surveillance activities and investigations to determine a regulated entity’s compliance with the Inspection
Are You Prepared for An FSIS Compliance Visit? Read More »
The Senate Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee also voted today by voice vote to approve its draft FY 2015 bill and report it to the full Senate Appropriations Committee. The full Committee is scheduled to consider this bill on Thursday, May 22. Neither the bill text nor the
The National Organic Program (NOP) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has issued a final guidance document on “made with organic ___” labeling. The guidance became effective on May 2, 2014. The guidance document explains that the claim “made with organic ___” may be made if the following conditions are met:
USDA Offers Guidance on “Made with Organic ___” Label Claims Read More »
There have been on-going questions regarding the regulatory oversight of catfish inspection. To address this concern, the 2014 Farm Bill required the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to create a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to “improve interagency cooperation on food safety and fraud prevention and to maximize
Fishy Fishy – MOU between FSIS and FDA to Improve Interagency Cooperation Read More »
The House Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee today voted by voice vote to approve its draft FY 2015 bill and report it to the full House Appropriations Committee. The full Committee is expected to consider this bill on Thursday, May 29, with the goal of having the bill
The severe drought that had plagued the American Southwest over the past three years – the worst in modern memory – has taken a toll on many local businesses, taxpayers, and homeowners, but among its worst casualties have been American farm producers. USDA’s Federal crop insurance program, run by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC),
Dr. Doom discussed “getting to the roots” of issues to ensure the cause is eliminated in her recent article. This is the same approach that facilities need to use each and every time they have a positive finding of Listeria monocytogenes (Lm), or Listeria species (L. spp.), or Listeria-like organisms in their environment, on their
Getting to the Roots of Listeria – A Practice Tip from Ms. Gloom Read More »
I am often asked to review responses to regulatory noncompliance or establishment corrective actions. Many times facilities are wondering why they have repeated occurrences of the “same problem,” or why the regulatory agency is repeatedly documenting the same findings. When asked whether the facility has conducted a “root cause analysis,” I am always amazed at
Get to the Roots, Don’t Just Pluck the Weeds — A Practice Tip from Dr. Gloom Read More »
We are pleased to announce that Edward J. Farrell, Esq., an expert on international trade, customs and agriculture matters, has joined OFW Law as a Principal. Please click the announcement, below, to enlarge it.
Edward Farrell, Esq., Joins OFW Law Read More »
The 2014 Farm Bill contains several important provisions which will impact retail stores that participate in the USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s (FNS) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The key changes for food stamp vendors include an increase in the minimum number of staple food items that stores must carry on a continuous basis, that
In Part One, we discussed using transparencies on the receiving dock as an easy way for personnel to quickly ascertain whether or not the incoming ingredient (at least its ingredient statement) was the same as your specification. See our earlier blog posting. In this post, we want to discuss some of the steps a facility
Steps to Prevent Allergen Recalls, Part Two – Another Practice Tip from Ms. Gloom Read More »
Each year, the USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) initiates over one-hundred enforcement actions against packers, dealers, market agencies, live poultry dealers and other regulated entities for alleged violations of the Packers and Stockyards (P&S) Act. These actions are taken for alleged unfair and deceptive trade practices, or anticompetitive behavior, such as collusion
Anyone who is remotely involved in the food arena knows that the number one reason for a recall of meat and poultry regulated under USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) or all other types of food regulated under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an undeclared allergen. In fact, a quick review of
Steps to Prevent Allergen Recalls – A Practice Tip from Ms. Gloom Read More »
There has been a great deal of noise in the media recently about “plants running without inspection” and the significance to both the establishment and to FSIS. It is important to remember that no operations requiring inspection shall be conducted “except under the supervision of a program employee.” FSIS provides that supervision in a variety
“Time”-ly Tip from Dr. Doom Read More »
FSIS has indicated that based on some recent “negative events;” they will be increasing verification activities. Increased verification should not mean increased noncompliance. We should do what we say we are going to do and document that we did it—each and every time. That said, we all know life isn’t always perfect. Therefore, I would
Tune up and Be Ready – A Practice Tip from Dr. Doom Read More »
