Food Industry Regulatory Update - August 27, 2021

In This Week’s Edition:

FDA Determines PFAS Generally Not Migrating to Foods from Packaging
CORE Outbreak Investigation Table Update
AMS Proposes to Remove Substances Allowed in Organic Production
FDA and Mexican Counterparts Report Progress and Next Steps for Food Safety Partnership
FSIS Updates Lists of Foreign Establishments Eligible to Export to U.S.
FDA Import Alerts
FDA Warning Letters

FDA Releases PFAS Testing Results from First Survey of Nationally Distributed Processed Foods

FDA released the results of the first survey of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in nationally distributed processed foods, including several processed baby foods, collected from the agency’s Total Diet Study (TDS), which monitors levels of nutrients and contaminants in foods consumed in the U.S. PFAS are chemicals found in a number of consumer and industrial products because of their resistance to grease, oil, water and heat. Nearly all foods tested had no detectable levels of PFAS; no evidence that levels found in samples indicate need to avoid particular foods.

CORE Investigation Table Update

The CORE Investigation Table is a list of outbreak investigations being managed by FDA’s CORE Response Teams.

This week’s updates are:

The case count for the #1020 Cyclospora outbreak has increased to 119 cases
The case count for the #1026 Cyclospora outbreak has increased to 37 cases.

Learn more here

AMS Proposes to Remove Substances Allowed in Organic Production

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service has proposed amendments to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances removing several substances currently allowed for various uses in organic crop production, livestock production, and manufacture of processed products.

Substances proposed to be removed for use in processed food manufacturing include nonorganic:

Alginic acid
Colors (black currant juice color, blueberry juice color, carrot juice color, cherry juice color, grape juice color, paprika color, pumpkin juice color, turmeric extract color)
Kelp
Konjac flour
Sweet potato starch
Turkish bay leaves
Whey protein concentrate

More details here.

FDA and Mexican Counterparts Report Progress and Next Steps for Food Safety Partnership

FDA has reported continuing progress to ensure the safety of food imported from Mexico at the virtual annual meeting of the FDA-SENASICA-Cofepris Food Safety Partnership (FSP), held on August 20, 2021.