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Weekly Newsletter | January 25, 2024

Food & Nutrition


2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Hosts Fourth Public Meeting

Last week, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) concluded its fourth public meeting to inform the development of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. During the meeting, the DGAC discussed revisions to protocols, the addition and removal of protocols, and shared new systematic review draft conclusions. Key updates from the meeting included the introduction of a new protocol on diet simulations for the first time in the DGA process, a new protocol to examine how foods lower in nutrient density can fit into dietary patterns, as well as new protocols on vegetables, fruits, and vegan dietary patterns. The Committee also shared several protocol revisions, including to its systematic review to examine dietary patterns varying in ultra-processed food (UPF) and growth, body composition, and risk of obesity, noting that the Committee will be reviewing UPF classifications systems outside of the NOVA classifications system. The next public meeting is scheduled for May 30, 2024, with updated protocols to be posted online by next month.


FDA Releases Updated List of 2024 Priority Guidance Topics for Foods Program

FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) released an updated list of priority draft and final guidance topics that the FDA Foods Program plans to publish by December 2024. The updated list outlines new guidance topics added to the agency’s agenda since the list of guidance topics was last updated in July 2023. The updated priority topic list now includes guidance on action levels for lead in food intended for babies and young children, draft guidance on the food traceability final rule, draft guidance on voluntary sodium reduction targets for processed, packaged and prepared foods, draft guidance on notifying the agency of a permanent discontinuance in the manufacture of infant formula, and draft guidance on hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls for human food. Additionally, FDA published a new website listing regulations the agency plans to publish by October 2024, and longer-term regulations the agency is prioritizing for publication at a later date. This list includes regulations announced in the HHS Fall 2023 Unified Agenda, released in December 2023.


USDA FNS WIC Food Package Final Rule at OMB for Review

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) final rule, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC): Revisions in the WIC Food Packages, is currently at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The final rule would update the WIC food packages to align with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) and recommendations of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) 2017 scientific report, Review of WIC Food Packages: Improving Balance and Choice. The proposed rule, released in November 2022, proposed changes to increase benefits for fruits and vegetables, reduce the amount of juice allowed, adjust whole grain options and requirements, and allow for more non-dairy options, among other items. According to the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda, the agency intends to formally publish this final rule in April 2024. 

Food Safety


FDA Launches Tech-Enabled Food Traceability Video Series 

FDA published the agency’s first video in its educational series on how food companies’ use of tech-enabled traceability can enhance food safety and protect consumers from foodborne illness. The first episode addresses supply chain technology and builds on key themes from the 2021 FDA New Era of Smarter Food Safety Low- or No-Cost Tech-Enabled Traceability Challenge. The video features demonstrations of various approaches to low- or no-cost traceability technologies across the food supply chain and showcases how the food industry can help create a more digital, efficient, and safe food system that will benefit both consumers and food producers.


FDA and STOP Foodborne Illness to Host Tenth Webinar on Food Safety Culture 

FDA, in partnership with STOP Foodborne Illness, a non-profit public health organization, are co-hosting the tenth webinar of its ongoing webinar series, Collaborating on Culture in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety, on February 14, 2024. The webinar will address the importance of building and reinforcing a strong food safety culture, in line with the agency’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative. The event will feature speakers from FDA, STOP Foodborne Illness, and General Mills. This webinar series is intended to engage experts from the public and private sectors related to the importance of a robust food safety culture in helping to ensure safe food production in the U.S. 


House E&C Requests FDA Briefing on Investigation of Lead Levels in Applesauce

House Energy and Commerce Committee lawmakers sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf urging the agency to hold a briefing regarding the investigation on the contamination of lead and chromium in applesauce pouches. In the letter, lawmakers request a briefing no later than February 2, 2024, detailing why the agency’s investigators believe the contamination was intentional. Specifically, the lawmakers request that the FDA briefing address 1) a timeline of events leading to the discovery of lead contamination, 2) how FDA determined that the adulteration of raw cinnamon may have been intentional, 3) steps taken to determine if other foods have been contaminated as a result of this supply chain vulnerability, and 4) additional resources or authorities needed to better detect and prevent intentional acts of lead contamination along the supply chain, including along international supply chains, among others.

Agriculture


USDA Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee to Host Public Meeting

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced that the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee (FVIAC) is hosting a two-day virtual meeting on March 4-5, 2024, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (EST). During the meeting, the FVIAC will examine various fruit and vegetable industry issues and provide recommendations and ideas on how USDA can tailor programs and services to better meet the needs of the U.S. produce industry. The deadline to submit written comments and register for public oral comments is February 21, 2024.

Global


Good Food Institute India Publishes Consumer Report on Plant-Based Foods

The Good Food Institute India released a report to examine consumer awareness and purchasing behaviors within the plant-based meat and dairy sector to further innovate and enhance the smart protein landscape in India. The report highlights the growing awareness of plant-based meat and dairy products among Indian consumers and its high repeat purchase intent, finding that 72% of plant-based meat consumers and 82% of plant-based dairy consumers are willing to re-purchase these products. The study also found that protein content, health, and convenience were attributed to the repeat of consumer purchases of plant-based meat and dairy products, as well as a lack of relevance, taste, and accessibility as some of the key reasons for consumers not trying or regularly using these plant-based products.

Fun Fact: The first recorded recipe for a sandwich was in 1762.

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