Bi-Monthly Newsletter of the

Midwest Food Products Association

Thank you 2023 MWFPA Safety Seminar Breakfast and Lunch Sponsors!

State Laws Restricting PFAS in Food Packaging Begin Taking Effect: What You Should Know

Over the past few years, state and federal lawmakers across the country have proposed and even enacted a slew of new laws prohibiting or limiting the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products, including food packaging, cosmetics, cookware, toys, and textiles. While attempts to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act to prohibit the sale of food packaging containing “intentionally added” PFAS into interstate commerce have been unsuccessful to date, a number of state laws begin to take effect this year. MORE

Source: Godfrey & Kahn

Lawsuit Asks Court to Void Biden Administration Clean Water Rule

Seventeen farm, construction, and mining groups filed suit in federal court to overturn the Biden administration’s definition of the upstream reach of water pollution laws. They argued that the new Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule was “so opaque, uncertain, and all-encompassing” that no one could confidently know its limits. “Just because a piece of land occasionally gets wet doesn’t make it a navigable waterway,” said Steven Sandherr, chief executive of Associated General Contractors of America, a construction industry trade group, on Thursday. The lawsuit to overturn the WOTUS rule was filed in federal district court in Galveston, Texas, on Wednesday, the same day the rule was published in the Federal Register. MORE

Source: MBS

Yiannas Resigns from FDA Post in Wake of High-Profile Challenges

Frank Yiannas, deputy commissioner for food policy and response for the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), has submitted his resignation effective Feb. 24, 2023. The resignation of Yiannas comes in the wake of the fumbled FDA response to the 2022 infant formula supply and food safety crisis, which revealed flaws in the agency’s response protocols. FDA officials did not learn of the ongoing food safety issues at Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis, Mich., facility until just before the recall was issued, and a whistleblower report on those safety concerns also did not reach officials for months after it was mailed to the FDA’s top officials. The subsequent recall of the contaminated product and shutdown of production at Sturgis had a crippling effect on the infant formula supply in the U.S. MORE

Source: FoodProcessing.com

Shipping Groups Back Bipartisan Trucking Overhaul Bill

A trade group for the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industry and other shippers’ groups are endorsing a bipartisan bill launched in Congress today that aims to deliver “a sweeping overhaul of the interstate trucking supply chain system” by bringing more drivers into the sector. According to its sponsors, the “Safer Highways and Increased Performance for Interstate Trucking (SHIP IT) Act” would increase safety and shipping capacity for truckers; provide recruitment and retention incentives for drivers; and include flexibility during times of emergencies or black swan events. MORE

Source: CBA

Food and Beverage Makers Poised to Miss Plastic Sustainability Goals

Many food and beverage companies are unlikely to meet their goals around making their plastic packaging more sustainable by 2025, according to a report tracking progress on the New Plastic Economy Global Commitment. Launched in 2018 by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) and the United Nations Environment Programme, the New Plastic Economy Global Commitment aims to create a circular economy for plastic, in which it never becomes waste or pollution. More than 500 organizations signed the pledge to reduce their use of virgin plastic and achieve 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025. MORE

Source: CLFP

FDA Aims To ‘Improve Diet, Reduce Chronic Disease’ By Updating Healthy Claims on Food Labels

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is updating the use of the term healthy on food labels for the first time since 1994. These changes attempt to align the agency’s definition of healthy with the latest nutrition science and federal dietary guidelines. The word healthy, like the phrases low fat or good source of calcium, is an implied nutrient content claim, meaning it suggests that “a nutrient or an ingredient is absent or present in a certain amount,” according to the Code of Federal Regulations. When consumers see the term healthy on food packaging, they can assume the product supports federal dietary recommendations, as noted in the current rule. MORE

Source: MBS

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What The Migration Rebound Means for The Labor Market

There's a sharp rebound in the net number of people migrating to the United States, following back-to-back years of historically low levels that contributed to the nation's labor shortages. Tucked in the Census Bureau population estimates — released late last year — was a huge jump in net international migration. It added more than a million people to the U.S. population. More immigrants means more potential workers, which over time might help solve the "structural labor shortage" that Fed Chair Jerome Powell has described as an ongoing economic challenge. MORE

Source: MBS

GDP Rose 2.9% in the Fourth Quarter, More Than Expected Even as Recession Fears Loom

The U.S. economy finished 2022 in solid shape even as questions persist over whether growth will turn negative in the year ahead. Fourth-quarter gross domestic product, the sum of all goods and services produced for the October-to-December period, rose at a 2.9% annualized pace, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected a reading of 2.8%. MORE

Source: IMA

After Two Incredible Years, U.S. Trade Will Slow, Possibly Until 2025

U.S. trade growth will be slow to nonexistent for many U.S. airports, seaports and border crossings for the next two to three years, if history is any indicator. When the U.S. Census Bureau releases annual statistics for 2022 next month, the United States will have topped $5 trillion in total trade for the first time ever. That’s behind a robust growth rate in the neighborhood of 17%. MORE

Source: MBS

Coalition Endeavors to Strengthen North American Trade

Seventeen agriculture groups have urged leaders from the United States, Mexico and Canada gathering last week in Mexico City to take advantage of an “extraordinary opportunity” to strengthen North American trade in agricultural products. The groups also pushed for “expeditious resolution” of potential blockades to trade. The request comes amid the North American Leaders Summit held this week in Mexico City in which US President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with other leaders from the three countries, met to discuss issues of migration and trade. MORE

Source: MBS

Rough Road for Farm Bill as Divided Congress Takes Hold

A chaotic start to the new Republican-led House may spell trouble for the 2023 farm bill. As Rep. Glenn Thompson begins his new job as Agriculture Committee chair, he faces significant challenges to make the five-year legislation bipartisan while managing pressure from his own party’s right flank. Issues such as climate change and low-income nutrition programs are likely targets for the party’s most conservative members, and the Pennsylvania Republican has little room to maneuver with a thin majority, say lobbyists and policy groups. MORE

Source: MBS

Van Orden Lands Agriculture Committee Assignment

At every campaign stop in the Chippewa Valley over the summer and fall, Derrick Van Orden vowed he would push to serve on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee if elected. Van Orden, R-Prairie Du Chien, was officially appointed to that committee this week, and is the only Wisconsin representative currently to serve there. “I plan on being the cheese king of Congress,” Van Orden told the Leader-Telegram on Thursday. “It’s been 26 years since the district had a representative on the Agriculture Committee. My plan is to be the dairy expert for all of Congress.” Van Orden noted the committee will start working the farm spending bill shortly. MORE

Source: WisPolitics

MN Agriculture Officials Seek Additional $117 Million Over Next Four Years

The Department of Agriculture comprises less 0.5% of the total state budget, and like other departments, it, too, is looking for more money. And Gov. Tim Walz would like to oblige. Commissioner Thom Petersen told the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee Tuesday the governor’s budget seeks an additional $45.5 million above its base appropriation for the 2024-25 biennium and $71.1 million for the following two budget years. Money would be used to expand staff in a few key areas, offer new services, update technology and provide more money to popular grant programs. The budget proposal includes $17.6 million annually for the Agricultural Growth Research Innovation Program, which grew out of ethanol producers’ payments and currently assists in the development of new products. The department would also like to extend the program’s sunset date from 2025 to 2035. MORE

Source: Fluence Media

USDA Cracks Down on Organic Food Fraud

The Department of Agriculture updated its regulations on Thursday for foods labeled as "organic." The move comes as the agency attempts to combat food fraud as well as increase confidence in its organic seal. Considered to be one of the biggest updates in organic regulations since 1990, the rule will increase oversight and enforcement organic product labeling. “Protecting and growing the organic sector and the trusted USDA organic seal is a key part of the USDA Food Systems Transformation initiative,” said Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt.“ As part of the new rule, which goes into effect in March, USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) certification will be required for all imported organic food. MORE

Source: FoodProcessing.com

MWFPA Will Join F&B Industry 4.0 Experts in Chicago

MWFPA is delighted to be partnering with the Smart Manufacturing for Food & Beverage Summit on 28 March 2023 in Chicago, IL.

The Food & Beverage industry is currently experiencing an unprecedented change, with recent reports suggesting that the industry will grow to $856.9 billion by 2025. To cope with this rise in demand, manufacturers are keen to accelerate their digital transformation journey. However, navigating the complex journey towards industry 4.0 requires a clear vision, decisive leadership, and technology-oriented culture.

Heads of Smart Manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and Manufacturing Operations are attending the Smart Manufacturing for Food & Beverage Summit to hear the latest technologies and strategies to optimize production.

The confirmed speakers include:

• Lothar Lang, Senior Leader Process Control and Automation, Cargill

• Deepak Jose, Global Head of ODDA Analytics Solutions, Senior Director, Mars

• Alberto Cozer, Senior BRM/FRM, Business Process Automation, Nestle

• Chavis Ferguson, Vice President of Operations, Coast Packing Company

• Daniel Stauft, Director of Operational Technology, SugarCreek

Gain the necessary tools to develop an industry 4.0 roadmap to overcome current challenges and accomplishes business objectives. Find out more and register here.

Use PARTNER15 to save 15% on your pass.

www.smartmanufacturingfb.com info@amg-world.co.uk

Walz’s 2-year Budget Proposal Includes Checks of up to $2,600 per Household

Gov. Tim Walz announced his full two-year budget proposal Tuesday, including a plan to send money directly back to Minnesotans. According to Walz, the plan includes the largest tax cut in state history and a proposal to use part of the state’s more than $17 billion budget surplus for direct checks. His direct payment plan, which differs slightly from last year’s plan, calls for $1,000 checks for single filers making less than $75,000 per year, $2,000 for families with an income under $150,000 and up to an extra $200 for each dependent with a max of three. That means a Minnesota family with at least three kids and an income under $150,000 would get checks of $2,600. Anyone making over those thresholds, however, wouldn’t get a direct payment. MORE

Source: Fluence Media

Minnesota Legislature Committee Revises Agriculture Labor Standards

The Minnesota House of Representatives announced that it would move forward with proposed laws governing labor standards for workers in food processing and agricultural industries. The House Labor and Industry Finance and Policy Committee approved HF70, which updates the Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights. Currently, it only covers workers at meatpacking plants and only requires new employee paperwork to be provided in English and Spanish. The bill plans to expand the statute to include a mandate for paperwork in the recruit’s native language. Amendments would also add poultry processing facilities under the rules. Other additions included workers’ ability to receive information about worker’s compensation insurance at the start of employment. MORE

Source: MBS

A Guide to the Minnesota DFL’s 100% Carbon-free Standard

The DFL bill that would steer utilities toward a carbon-free electric grid is simple in concept: All electric utilities in the state would be asked to use 100% emissions-free energy by 2040. But the proposal — which Democrats have advanced through the Legislature at lightspeed in January — is really a complex regulatory scheme with exceptions, carve outs, off ramps and enough details to fill more than two dozen pages of dense legislation. The bill has also morphed from a plan that most utilities harbored serious concerns over to a proposal that many power companies appear to find at least somewhat palatable, though plenty still have concerns about keeping costs low and keeping the lights on while rapidly changing their fleet of electricity generators. MORE

Source: Fluence Media

Bill Requiring Carbon-Free Electricity in MN by 2040 Passes First Committee

Brian Cook, director of energy policy for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, said it will be costly for utilities to meet the deadline, and Minnesota already is facing rapidly rising electricity prices. "The costs will be passed through to customers on their utility bills – customers already facing cost increases that outpace the rest of the nation,” he said. “It will put even more stress on an already stressed grid." MORE

Source: MN Chamber

MN Democrats Moving Ahead with State Paid Leave Program Proposal

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce in statement said 80% of its members already offer paid leave in order to attract workers in a tight labor market but rebuffed the DFL bill requiring businesses buy-in to state-run program. "Policymakers should encourage or even incentivize this trend and not impose expansive and expensive one-size-fits-all mandates," said Lauryn Schothorst, director of workplace management and workforce development policy. MORE

Source: MN Chamber

WI GOP Leader Proposes Flat Income Tax; Evers Opposes

The Republican leader of the Wisconsin Senate proposed implementing a flat 3.25% income tax rate on Friday, a plan that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has vowed to block saying it benefits the wealthy over the middle class. The conflict comes as both sides say they want to tap a nearly $7 billion state budget surplus to lower taxes. Evers has also listed other costly priorities that will compete with cutting taxes, including increasing funding for K-12 public schools and giving local governments more money. Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu’s proposal, which he circulated for co-sponsors on Friday would phase in a flat income tax rate of 3.25% by 2026. Each of the brackets would gradually decrease over that time before becoming one. MORE

Source: WisPolitics

Evers SOTS pledges $500M for Mental Health, Shared Revenue and PFAS Remediation

Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday in his fifth State of the State address called for investing half a billion dollars more on mental health care while also proposing spending millions more on everything from workforce development to PFAS remediation. The speech in some ways amounted to a preview of the next state budget proposal for Evers, who also called for a dramatic overhaul in the way the state pays for local governments, a change he said would increase their funding by another half-billion dollars each year. It was Evers' first State of the State speech since he was elected to a second term in November. But as he did in his first four years in office, Evers, a Democrat, will have to deal with a GOP-led Legislature that blocked most of his policy agenda in his first term, and it is unclear how much of this vision he will achieve. Evers' promises on Tuesday included $270 million to expand mental health care for Wisconsin students, $50 million in grants to small businesses, and $100 million to mitigate PFAS — sometimes called "forever chemicals" — in Wisconsin waterways. MORE

Source: WisPolitics

The 2023 WI Supreme Court Race Will Decide Control of the Bench

Three judges and a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice are running for a seat on the state's highest court in a race that will decide control of the court at a time when legal challenges over the state's abortion ban and the Republican-favored legislative maps could come before court. Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow, former state Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly, Dane County Judge Everett Mitchell and Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz will meet in a Feb. 21 primary election. The two candidates who receive the most votes will advance to the April 4 spring election. Though the races are officially nonpartisan, candidates typically run as conservatives or liberals. MORE

Source: WisPolitics

Senator Says Broadband Funding Offers Chance for Bipartisanship

The chair of the state Senate Utilities and Technology Committee says the unprecedented level of broadband funding coming to Wisconsin presents a chance for bipartisanship. Speaking Friday at a conference, Sen. Julian Bradley noted the state could see as much as $1.2 billion for broadband from one element of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. MORE

Source: WMC

TOMRA Appoints Marketing Veteran to Newly Created Position

TOMRA Food’s Processed Food business area has appointed its first global category director for vegetables and fruit. The role, created as part of the company’s efforts to tailor solutions to specific food categories, has been filled by international marketing veteran Jacob Hobbel. Hobbel joined TOMRA after eight years as sales manager for Greenyard Frozen, a European market leader in fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, where he oversaw market strategy and commercial development of the North American, EMEA and African regions. Prior to that, he was sales manager at Belgium-based frozen vegetable producer Pasfrost, responsible for Central Europe, Scandinavia and Japan. MORE

Source: ProduceProcessing.net

Shifting Purchasing Patterns for Meat, Poultry on The Horizon

In 2023 US consumers can anticipate greater availability of pork, broiler meat and turkey but less beef, which they will have to pay more for than last year. Demand for all animal-based proteins will largely depend on consumer concerns about inflation and whether the US economy has moved into a recession. Beef demand at retail and foodservice is robust. Beef currently has an advantage over pork and chicken at retail as average retail prices in the second half of 2022 trended below year-ago levels, while pork and chicken prices trended higher. Pork prices even hit a record $5.05 per lb in October, up 4.8% from a year earlier. Beef prices are currently at their most competitive in relation to the competing meats since 2017, but that is likely to change this year. MORE

Source: MBS

February 15th - Safety Seminar

www.mwfpa.org/events/safetytraining

Glacier Canyon Conference Center, Wisconsin Dells

February 27-28th - OSHA 10-HOUR

Registration link HERE - only 12 seats left!

Glacier Canyon Conference Center, Wisconsin Dells

March 16th - MWFPA/WCMA Environmental Committee Meeting with WI DNR

Registration link HERE

Hilton, Sun Prairie

March 23rd - Energy Management Seminar

Glacier Canyon Conference Center, Wisconsin Dells

March 31st - MWFPA Scholarship applications due

https://mwfpa.org/scholarships

April 20th - Friday/Weckel Scholarship applications due

https://mwfpa.org/scholarships

April 27th - Sanitation Seminar

Glacier Canyon Conference Center, Wisconsin Dells

June 1st - MWFPA Annual Summit & Scramble

Trappers Turn, Wisconsin Dells

October 10th - Sporting Clays Classic

Woods & Meadow Hunting Preserve

Warrens, Wisconsin

November 28-30th - 2023 Convention & Processing Crops Conference

Kalahari Resort & Convention Center, Wisconsin Dells

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