Food Laws and Regulations Division
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Food Laws and Regulations Division
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Newsletter - Vol. 9, No. 1 - Winter/Spring 1999 Table of Contents
Message from the Chair Barbara Rasco, Chair Thanks to all division members who worked so hard to pull together the program for the 1999 Annual Meeting. It looks like it will be a good one! A special thanks to Hilary Shallo, Catherine Fish and David D=Zurilla for organizing symposia for this meeting and also to Ralph Clover and Jack Cooper for pulling the program together. The tentative schedule from IFT includes our second ever oral technical; this session will include the graduate student paper competition. The symposium cosponsored with the Nutrition Division on "Product Communication: Navigation through Science and Regulations to Communicate Effectively'' is scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Monday morning, we are cosponsoring a symposium with the Toxicology and Safety Evaluation Division on titled: Update on the Food Quality Protection Act - Developments and Implications for Food and Agriculture. Monday afternoon we are sponsoring a session on "Understanding the FDA Rulemaking Process". Tuesday morning our division is cosponsoring "Regulatory and Intellectual Property Aspects of Novel Food Processing Technologies" with the Nonthermal Processing Division. And finally, on Tuesday afternoon, we are cosponsoring "Regulatory Issues With Ozone Use in Food Processing" with the Food Engineering Division. I am proud so many different divisions were willing to work with us on the program. This indicates to me the high level of interest IFT members have concerning the interrelatedness of technical and legal issues. This is an exciting time to be involved in the food law arena. The Clinton Administration is focusing more attention and funding, albeit inadequate funding, on food safety and food safety research. Implementation of hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) programs have been in place for one year now in the seafood industry. Exactly what constitutes adequate compliance with the seafood HACCP regulations and how to deal with record keeping issues seem to pose the biggest problems. HACCP programs for meat and poultry, juice, and fresh produce have also been a major focus this year. There are still a lot of bugs out there (sorry, bad pun!) with implementation of these food safety programs. It will take years to sort all this out. Changing technology has sparked new regulations by the FDA that could potentially create new problems for food companies involved with product liability litigation. Last March, the FDA issued a final rule on electronic records. The FDA conducted a national education program on electronic records on January 12, 1999; this program was downlinked to over 400 participants at twenty sites all across the nation. FDA representatives explained the agency's regulations on electronic signatures and records, and stated that the agency would require companies to provide it with "electronic copies" of electronic records. Paper copies will not do. Paper copies do not contain the meta data and other "stuff" that is part and parcel of generating and keeping files on a computer. This requirement for "electronic copies" creates new evidentiary issues and puts a new twist in the road to full and complete discovery. If the FDA can demand electronic copies, then litigants will demand them too. Changing technology is impacting the food laws in other ways. I imagine many of you are following the controversy surrounding genetically engineered foods in Europe. How can we determine if a food was "engineered" and where does this distinction end? How are we going to adopt new treatment and processing methods to ensure that the food products we make are safe? Should we change the definition of a food additive, and if so, how? One of the biggest issues looming on the horizon involves food safety and the new environmental regulations that will be generated. Food safety laws are on a collision course with property rights, and will renew controversies over land use that reached the Supreme Court in the late 1980's and early 1990's. For example, there are proposed environmental/food safety regulations at the federal and state level aimed at controlling the introduction of pathogenic Escherichia coli and other dangerous microbes into waterways. The objective is to protect shellfish growing areas. In the Pacific Northwest, the burden for compliance will fall on small farmers and homeowners, even if "the problem" is not directly traceable to anything they may have done. This scenario is different from other "pollution" cases because wildlife harbor pathogens and shed them into the water column. In pristine environments, wildlife are the most significant source ofpollution. There is no effective legal means of enjoining Bambi, Yogi and Flipper from answering nature's call! ...Barbara Rasco, Division Chair CALL FOR NOMINATIONS - YOUR CHANCE TO GET INVOLVED)... Past-Chair of the Division, Jim Heimbach, is putting together a slate of candidates for the following offices in the Division:
If you would like to serve in one of these positions or would like to recommend some one who would, please contact Jim at: jheimbach@environcorp.com phone: 703/516-2490, fax: 703/516-2390 Jim needs the names of candidates no later than April Ist. A mail ballot will follow with those elected taking office in September of this year. A VALUABLE SERVICE BY THE DIVISION... The Employment Recruitment Committee under the excellent direction of Mitzi Elkes continues to post "Positions Available" on the Division's Listserve as they are brought to her attention. This service has proven to be invaluable to our members and to others in the industry. The Committee encourages all members to "get the word out" that this posting service is available to our Listserve members. If you should know of any company, institution and/or establishment in the food industry that would like to fill a position in the food laws and regulations field, please have them contact Mitzi:
YOU MAY BE INTERESTED... David Haytowitz, our Webpage Meister, advises us of an important meeting coming up that might be of interest to you. The 23rd National Nutrient Databank Conference will be held in Washington, DC on Friday, April 16th. The theme of this year's meeting is "Keeping Pace with a changing Food Supply." Additional information is available on the Conference Home Page. Although there is no fee for registration, preregistration is essential to guarantee a seat. To register send your name, organization, address, phone and fax number, and email address to David
SHORT COURSES CONTINUE... Jim Vetter, short course coordinator, reports that the Division continues to co-sponsor the following short courses being offered by IFT's Continuing Education Committee: Food Laws and Regulations Food Labeling - Requirements for FDA Regulated Products Everyone working in or around the food industry should know and understand the ever-changing laws and regulations affecting the production and marketing of food in the United States. These short course provide an excellent opportunity to do that.
The IFT annual meeting in Chicago on July 24-28 promises to be a busy and productive time for the Division. Mark your calendar now to attend the following key events:
The Division is involved in a number of symposia and technical sessions during the annual meeting. Links are provided to the Annual Meeting Program with speakers and abstracts. Sunday morning - "Food Laws and Regulations - Oral Session"
Sunday afternoon - "Product Communication: Navigating through Science and Regulations to Communicate Effectively"
Monday morning - "Update on the Food Quality Protection Act Developments and Implications for Food and Agriculture" - a symposium sponsored jointly with the Toxicology and Safety Evaluation Division.
Monday afternoon - "Understanding the FDA Rulemaking Process" - a symposium sponsored by the Division
Tuesday morning - "Regulatory and Intellectual Property Aspects of Novel Food Processing Technologies" - a symposium sponsored jointly with the Nonthermal Processing Division
Tuesday afternoon - "Regulatory Issues with Ozone Use in Food Processing" - a symposium sponsored jointly with the Food Engineering Division
Many thanks to Jack Cooper for representing the Division at the meeting in Chicago that generated the above schedule. WHAT IS GLYCERIN - IN NUTRITION LABELING?... When glycerin (or glycerol) is added to a food product, is it included in fat, carbohydrate, sugar, or sugar alcohol in the Nutrition Facts panel? According to James E. Hoadley, Ph.D. of FDA's Office of Food Labeling, glycerin is labeled as carbohydrate and, if any claim is made regarding sugar content, also as a sugar alcohol. The following is an abstract of a letter signed by Hoadley and provided by Mitzi Elkes of JEMS International, Inc.: When part of the fat molecule as the glycerin components of the fatty acid-glycerol esters, glycerin is included in the weight of total fat in nutrition labeling. However, when added to a food as a separate ingredient, glycerin is labeled as part of total carbohydrate. "Carbohydrates are polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones conforming to the general formula (CH20)n and their derivatives... ...three carbon sugars include glyceraldehyde (an aldehyde) and dihydroxyacetone (a ketone). The hydrogenated derivative of both these is glycerin [CH20)3H]. The chemical definition of carbohydrate is clearly inclusive of all three compounds...There is no rational basis to consider glycerin as anything but a carbohydrate." "...total carbohydrate content of a food: ...shall be calculated by subtraction of the sum of the crude protein, total fat, moisture, and ash from the total weight of the food... Glycerin is clearly included with this "Carbohydrate by Difference" definition which is used to calculate carbohydrate content..." "A sugar alcohol (or polyol) is the hydrogenated derivative of a sugar. As noted above, glycerin is the hydrogenated derivative of glyceraldehyde and dihydroxyacetone, and thus is a sugar alcohol. Nutrition labeling regulations provide for a voluntary statement in the nutrition label of the number of grams of sugar alcohols per serving. Declaration of the sugar alcohol content becomes mandatory when a claim is made about sugars...and sugar alcohols are present in the food. As such, when glycerin is an ingredient of a food and the food label bears a claim about sugar content, the amount of glycerin per serving must be declared both as part of the weight of total carbohydrate and as a sugar alcohol." "In summary, the terms glycerol and glycerin refer to the same substance. FDA nutrition labeling regulations require that when glycerin is used as a food ingredient, it must be included in the grams of total carbohydrate per serving declaration. Also, when the label ofa food containing glycerin has a statement regarding sugars, the glycerin content per serving must also be declared as sugar alcohol." Editor's Corner Janine Neils, Newsletter Co-Editor There has been much talk and research surrounding the negative health effects of the consumption of trans fatty acids and the possibility of FDA proposing regulations regarding the labeling of these food constituents. This particularly effects manufacturers of margarine and spread products where the hydrogenation of vegetable oils increases the concentration of trans fatty acids. My most current has it that this spring FDA will propose regulations revising NLEA regarding the labeling of trans fatty acids. It is conjectured that the proposal would include 1). A quantitative declaration of trans fatty acids, 2). A definition for a Atrans fatty acid free" nutrient content claim, and 3). Revision of the current criteria for saturated and cholesterol nutrient content claims for products that exceed certain trans fatty acid levels. I expect as consumer awareness increases and research continues into the health benefits/detriments of various food components, we will have more regulatory activity defining the requirements of what may not be stated on the label. Stay tuned. Please submit articles or information for the next newsletter by April 15, 1999. Send information to the Editors at the addresses below. Please send comments, suggestions, concerns and corrections to us, we want to hear from you,
Newsletter Deadline - April 15, 1999 Last modified: March 21, 1999 |
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