Food Industry Regulatory Update - June 11, 2021

In this Week’s Edition:

USDA Stepping Up Antitrust Enforcement
FSIS Revises Prior Labeling Approval Directive
USDA Investing up to $1 Billion in Food Purchases for Nutrition Programs and Food Bank Support
FDA Releases Fact Sheets on FY2022 Budget for Food Safety and Nutrition
FSIS Revises Directive on Imports of Live Animals from Canada
FDA Investigating Salmonella Weltevreden Outbreak
FSIS Releases New Instructions for askFSIS Platform
USDA Adds South Dakota to Cooperative Interstate Shipment Program
FDA Changes Standard of Identity for Yogurt
FDA Releases Investigation Findings for Peach Outbreak
FSIS Updates Lists of Foreign Establishments Eligible to Export to U.S.
FDA Import Alerts
FDA Warning Letters

USDA Stepping Up Antitrust Enforcement

USDA intends to take three actions related to rulemaking in the months ahead. First, USDA intends to propose a new rule that will provide greater clarity to strengthen enforcement of unfair and deceptive practices, undue preferences, and unjust prejudices. Second, USDA will propose a new poultry grower tournament system rule, with the current inactive proposal to be withdrawn. Third, USDA will re-propose a rule to clarify that parties do not need to demonstrate harm to competition in order to bring an action under section 202 (a) and 202 (b) of the P&S Act. More details here.

FSIS Revises Prior Labeling Approval Directive

FSIS is reissuing the directive to clarify that labels eligible for the General Labeling task include those reviewed and approved by the Labeling and Program Delivery Staff (LPDS), as well as labels that were not approved by LPDS because they were generically approved under the conditions described in 9 CFR 412.2.

USDA Investing $1 Billion in Food Purchases for Nutrition Programs and Food Bank Support

USDA announced an investment of up to $1 billion, including $500 million in American Rescue Plan funding, in The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to support and expand the emergency food network so states, food banks and local organizations can serve their communities. Details here.

FDA Releases Fact Sheets on FY2022 Budget for Food Safety and Nutrition

The fact sheets are available here.

FSIS Revises Directive on Imports of Live Animals from Canada

Key points of the directive are:

Any slaughter facility receiving live ruminants from Canada for slaughter must implement procedures to ensure that each animal is eligible for slaughter
IPP are to verify that each slaughter facility receiving live ruminants for slaughter has a written program in place to verify each individual animal identification (ID) against the Canadian export health certificate
IPP are authorized to condemn any non-ambulatory disabled (NAD) Canadian cattle found upon arrival

FDA Investigating Salmonella Weltevreden Outbreak

More information available here.

FSIS Releases New Instructions for askFSIS Platform

The instructions are found here.

USDA Adds South Dakota to Cooperative Interstate Shipment Program

More information here.

FDA Changes Standard of Identity for Yogurt

FDA is issuing a final rule to revoke the standards of identity for lowfat yogurt and nonfat yogurt and amend the standard of identity for yogurt in numerous respects. This action is in response, in part, to a citizen petition submitted by the National Yogurt Association.

FDA Releases Investigation Findings for Peach Outbreak

FDA has released a report on its investigation of the Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak in Peaches. FDA and multiple state and federal partners investigated an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections that were linked to the consumption of peaches during the summer of 2020. In total, the outbreak caused 101 reported illnesses across 17 states, including 28 hospitalizations. This appears to be the first time a Salmonella outbreak has been linked to peaches. More information here.