What do Curious George and Dick Van Dyke have in common? Spokesmen for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), of course!* They educated the public about nutrition labeling as a tool for a healthy lifestyle. Although public education has always been a part of FDA’s mission, nutrition labeling has had some different looks over the…
When Santa was on FDA’s Naughty List
Santa must have a robust regulatory affairs and quality team to manage all of the requirements for his global operation. However, he once ran into an FDA problem when his candy canes contained an unlawful colorant: Red Number 2. This lead to a plant inspection, which discovered additional problems. Take a look: Source: FDA Consumer…
Every Plant can be a Weed and a Pest too … Federal Law Says So
I love to garden. But weeds, along with deer, cause me great pain and toil. I hate weeds, but what exactly is a weed? Let’s turn to the law (I am a lawyer after all). Pesticides are nationally regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). This law, like any good law, contains…
BB Guns: An Ineffective Rat Control Program
FDA once seized food from a warehouse that had a rat infestation problem, which unsurprising violates the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. A food is adulterated “if it has been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with filth, or whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health.”…
Love Potion # 9 Unlawful … Or Maybe Not?
Good thing that Madame Ruth on Thirty-Fourth and Vine never mass produced her famed Love Potion # 9 or she may have had an issue with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In 1989, FDA concluded that all aphrodisiacs are unapproved new drugs and thus are prohibited from being sold without first obtaining FDA premarket approval…
Where is This from Anyways?
“Made in …” or “Product of …” these declarations are quite common on everyday products. This requirement is from the Tariff Act of 1930, which requires “every article of foreign origin (or its container …) … imported into the United States shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the…
Sharks with Lasers: Dr. Evil’s FDA Regulatory Concern
Dr. Evil had one simple request, “And that is to have sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads!” However, complying with endangered species laws prevented this and he had to settle for ill tempered mutated sea bass (until the third movie). Alas, I wonder if Number Two remember the FDA regulatory compliance issue….
Valentine’s Day is for Kisses
A kiss is a “caress with the lips,” but it is also “a bite-size piece of candy often wrapped in paper or foil.” Merriam-Webster, definition of “kiss.” While some may focus on lip caresses, there’s a story to be told about pieces of chocolate wrapped in foil that involve trade complaints and shortages in weight….
The Fussy, Fastidious, Finicky Fellow Standard
“Eww, that’s not food!” has exclaimed countless kids over the centuries, including my own recently. Like my kids and Calvin, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act protects the American consumer from things that are simply unfit for food. Under this provision, a food can be unlawful if it is too rubbery, woody, hard, or the…
Regulatory Nonsense: Frozen Lemonade Concentrate
FDA recently announced that it may delete some outdated food standards — these are legally mandated recipes that FDA created to “promote honesty and fair dealing in the interest of consumers.” On FDA’s list is frozen cherry pie and I’d like to propose another one from the frozen food isle: frozen lemonade concentrate. That’s correct,…
FDA Storytime 