Food Industry Regulatory Update - July 16, 2021

In this Week’s Edition:

USDA to Provide Pandemic Assistance to Livestock Producers for Animal Losses
FDA Provides Update on New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint Efforts
CPSC Holds Amazon Responsible for Recalling Goods Sold by Third Parties on Website
FDA Allows Two New Additives in Animal Feed
FDA Quarterly Color Additive Certification Report
AMS Holding Continuance Referendum for Highbush Blueberry Marketing Order, Increases Assessment Rate for SE California Grapes
FSIS Formally Makes Yak Eligible for Voluntary Inspection
FSIS Establishes Uniform Timeframe for Filing of Appeals of Agency Inspection Decisions and Actions
FDA Investigating E. coli, Salmonella and Cyclospora Outbreaks
USDA Seeking Comments on Expanding Meat and Poultry Inspection Infrastructure
APHIS Proposing to Allow Release of Insects to Control potted-wing Drosophila
FNS Publishes Reimbursement Rates for School Lunch Program
FSIS Updates Lists of Foreign Establishments Eligible to Export to U.S.
FDA Import Alerts
FDA Warning Letters

USDA to Provide Pandemic Assistance to Livestock Producers for Animal Losses

Livestock and poultry producers can apply for assistance through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) July 20 through Sept. 17, 2021.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, authorized payments to producers for losses of livestock or poultry depopulated from March 1, 2020 through December 26, 2020, due to insufficient processing access as a result of the pandemic. PLIP payments will be based on 80% of the fair market value of the livestock and poultry and for the cost of depopulation and disposal of the animal. Eligible livestock and poultry include swine, chickens and turkeys, but pork producers are expected to be the primary recipients of the assistance. More details here.

FDA Provides Update on New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint Efforts

Details here.

CPSC Holds Amazon Responsible for Recalling Goods Sold by Third Parties on Website

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) filed an administrative complaint against Amazon.com, the world’s largest retailer, to force Amazon to accept responsibility for recalling potentially hazardous products sold on Amazon.com.

“Today’s vote to file an administrative complaint against Amazon was a huge step forward for this small agency,” says Acting Chairman Robert Adler. “But it’s a huge step across a vast desert—we must grapple with how to deal with these massive third-party platforms more efficiently, and how best to protect the American consumers who rely on them.”

The complaint charges that the specific products are defective and pose a risk of serious injury or death to consumers and that Amazon is legally responsible to recall them. The named products include 24,000 faulty carbon monoxide detectors that fail to alarm, numerous children’s sleepwear garments that are in violation of the flammable fabric safety standard risking burn injuries to children, and nearly 400,000 hair dryers sold without the required immersion protection devices that protect consumers against shock and electrocution. More details here.