February 1, 2023 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a major overhaul of its food-safety programs on Tuesday, 31 January.
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said the changes, which include an overhaul of the FDA’s Human Foods Program and its Office of Regulatory Affairs, were designed to ensure the safety of the country’s food supply and to promote better nutrition.
December 29, 2022 — The 2022 Seafood Expo North America, which took place 13 to 15, March in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., and the 2022 Seafood Expo Global, 26 to 28 April, 2022, in Barcelona, Spain, featured a comprehensive conference program of live panel events focusing on topics chosen to be of vital interest to the seafood industry.
The 28 individual presentations from SENA and the 21 sessions from SEG featured exclusive information and insight from seafood industry experts, including economic forecasts and analysis on the trends and topics impacting the global seafood industry as it navigates issues of trade, food safety, traceability, aquaculture, sustainability, and consumption trends. Now, a video recording of each of these sessions is available for on-demand replay.
November 23, 2o22 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule on food traceability. Foods subject to the final rule requirements appear on the Food Traceability List (FTL), which includes seafood.
Designed to facilitate faster identification and rapid removal of potentially contaminated food from the market, resulting in fewer foodborne illnesses and/or deaths, the FDA final rule on Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods (Food Traceability Final Rule) establishes traceability recordkeeping requirements, beyond those in existing regulations, for persons who manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods included on the Food Traceability List (FTL).
The Food Traceability List (FTL) rule requires businesses to track most seafood from the point of landing through the supply chain to the final point of sale. The list also includes includes fresh cut fruits and vegetables, shell eggs, and nut butters, as well as certain fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, ready-to-eat deli salads and cheeses.
At the core of the final rule is a requirement that persons who manufacture, process, pack or hold food on the FTL maintain records including Key Data Elements (KDEs) related to Critical Tracking Events (CTEs). Covered firms and farms, retail food establishments and restaurants will be required to provide information to the FDA within 24 hours, or some reasonable time to which the FDA agrees.
September 30, 2022 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed new criteria for “healthy” labels on packaging, which industry insiders expect will increase seafood consumption.
The FDA’s proposed rule would align the definition of the “healthy” claim with current nutrition science, the updated Nutrition Facts label and the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
April 5, 2022 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning about raw oysters from Canada involved in a norovirus outbreak that has sickened nearly 300 Canadians.
Potentially contaminated raw oysters harvested in the south and central parts of Baynes Sound, British Columbia, Canada, were distributed to restaurants and retailers in the U.S. states of California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, the FDA said in a press release.
February 15, 2022 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:
The National Fisheries Institute welcomes Dr. Robert Califf as the Food and Drug Administration’s new Commissioner.
Many parts of the seafood value chain have been impacted by the pandemic and associated lockdowns over the course of two years. During that time the FDA has been rightly focused on various scientific aspects of protecting public health and we salute the agency for its work.
We ask Dr. Califf to quickly focus FDA’s food safety resources on challenges that are important to the seafood community. Prompt action on things like proper labeling, standards of identity and economic integrity are of critical significance. A lack of attention to these priorities undermines the importance of FDA’s vital food focus.
We look forward to working with Dr. Califf.
John Connelly
President
January 6, 2022 — Although the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) seafood import refusals dropped significantly in December, they surged for the year of 2021.
Last year, the FDA refused 75 entry lines of antibiotic-contaminated shrimp, over twice as many entry lines refused in 2020, according to the Southern Shrimp Alliance.
October 18, 2021 — As the morning fog peeled off the docks of Santa Barbara Harbor recently, fisherman Gary Burke eyed all that’s left of a fleet that once helped satisfy America’s insatiable appetite for swordfish: four old vessels with splotches of rust showing through peeling paint.
Decades ago, there were more than 100 such ships in Santa Barbara alone, towing mile-long drift gill nets in choppy seas far beyond the breakwater. Today, there are perhaps a dozen in the entire United States, and they will probably soon be removed from service.
Hammered by government regulations, foreign competition, soaring fuel and labor costs, fluctuating market prices, a state buy-back program to take nets out of the water, and conflicts with preservationists over incidental entanglements of whales, porpoises, seals, turtles and birds, Burke’s livelihood has gone the way of Southern California fur trappers and dairy farms.
As if all that weren’t enough, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have issued an advisory warning that swordfish are not safe to eat because they contain high levels of mercury.
August 26, 2021 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s first survey of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in processed foods has found levels of the chemicals in certain seafood items. But the agency said it is not concerned about the discovery.
PFAS are found in numerous consumer and industrial products, and are used due to their resistance to grease, oil, water, and heat, the FDA said in a press release. PFAs have been nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they take thousands of years to degrade and because they can accumulate in people’s bodies. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry lists increased cancer risks; disturbances to the immune system; higher rates of thyroid disease and liver problems, interference with a woman’s chance of getting pregnant; and disruptions to the normal growth, learning, and behavior of infants and children as some of the effects of exposure to PFAs.
August 19, 2021 — Researchers at Rutgers University exploring the issue of what lab-grown meat products should be called to differentiate them from their traditional livestock counterparts have landed on the terms “cell-based” or “cell-cultured.”
The labeling issue has more at stake than just being accurate: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture require food products to have a “common or usual name” on their labels so consumers can make informed choices, but the fast-growing industry has yet to settle on a term on its own.