Currently browsing posts about: food law

While I am on the topic of legal challenges, UNICEF has produced an invaluable resource.

PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM UNHEALTHY FOOD MARKETING: A Toolkit for Developing Effective Laws.

It is based on a previous UNICEF document,  Taking Action to Protect Children from the Harmful Impact of Food Marketing: A Child Rights-based Approach.

It includes Model Legal Language along with essential background information.

Use it!

I first read about this in Food Business News: New coalition targets ‘ingredient transparency’

Major food, agricultural and consumer products trade groups and companies have given their support to Americans for Ingredient Transparency (AFIT), a new policy advocacy coalition seeking a uniform national standard for ingredient transparency…With many states now enacting or considering their own ingredient transparency laws, the goal is to avoid the emergence of “an ever-expanding patchwork of disjointed food, beverage and personal care regulations” that would sow confusion among US consumers, the coalition said.

Specifically, AFIT said it will focus on reform of the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) process, front-of-package labeling and QR codes….The group also said it seeks to amend the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to establish the US Food and Drug Administration as “the sole entity setting the floor and ceiling for regulations on the marketing and sale of foods, beverages and over-the-counter products in the United States.”

Translation: The coalition wants a weak federal law to preempt (block) tougher state standards for GRAS qualification and front-of-pack labels.

US Right to Know explains what this is really about:  Americans for Ingredient Transparency: Product defense for unhealthy ultra-processed foods.  It shows:

Sarah Sorscher in Food Safety News calls this out for what it is: a front group aiming to weaken food safety rules.

But wait!  84 organizations have called on Congress to block preemption of states’ rights to regulate food chemicals .

I’m for this group.

Which side are you on?

Let your congressional representatives know.

Now.

The Global Health Advocacy Incubator has issued an action guide to legal advocacy.

As GHAI puts it,

GHAI has launched a new Legal Advocacy Action Guide to show how legal professionals can advance public health objectives by identifying the most feasible legal strategies, drafting robust laws and regulation and using strategic litigation to promote and protect public health policy. Download it here, or read our sponsored Devex article summarizing how legal strategies can help advocates draft stronger laws and hold health-harming industries accountable. The new legal guide complements our Advocacy Action Guide.

This is a how-to manual for lawyers and advocates about how to use the legal system of a country to promote public health.  It’s divided into the 4 sections shown on the cover: Analyze, Draft, Assess, Litigate.

Each of these discussions comes with international case studies.

Here is an excerpt from the litigate section.

This guide is really useful.  Use it!

I spoke on a panel last week in support of New York State bills sponsored by my local Greenich Village Senator, Brian Kavanagh, and assemblymember Dr. Anna Kelles, who represents the district that includes Ithaca, where I live part time.

Their bill is S.1239/A.1556, The Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act.  This act,

• Bans red dye #3, potassium bromate, and propylparaben from foods sold in New York State.
• Removes petroleum-based dyes from all schools in the state that have been banned in New York City (red 3 and 40, blue 1 and 2, green 3, and yellow 5 and 6).
• Closes the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) loophole, which allows food companies to decide for themselves whether the additives they are using are safe.
• Requires food companies to report all ingredients in their products and demonstrate their safety.

You probably have the same reaction I did: aren’t food companies and the FDA already doing this?

No, they are not.

If you live anywhere in New York State and want to support the bill, call or send a note to your state representatives saying so.  They are easy to find and contact.

• Find my New York State Senator
• Search for my New York State Assembly Member

If enough states do this, the federal government will have to follow.  And this bill fits with Robert Kennedy Jr’s Make America Healthy Again campaign.  Let’s give it some bipartisan support.

Breaking news: West Virginia is the first state to ban food dyes.

I was interested to see this article in The Lancet: Mexico’s bold new law on adequate and sustainable nutrition.  

Mexico’s new General Law on Adequate and Sustainable Nutrition (Ley general de Alimentación Adecuada y Sostenible) is a substantial step towards transforming food systems to address NCDs and promote environmental sustainability… It enshrines the human right to food…It prioritises health, environmental stewardship, water access, children’s health, enhanced food supply and distribution, the promotion of nutritious food, reduced food loss and waste, food provision in crisis situations, and social participation in food strategies…>It includes specific goals such as the prevention of diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and the mitigation of global warming….