July/August 2007 AFI Newsletter
Register Now for AFI's Town Meeting; Work Continues on AFI Cashew Standard; Plan Now for ANUGA; FDA Announces Public Hearing on Food Labeling; FDA Creates Program to Work with States; Olive Farmers to Earn Record Prices; Deal Sets Raisin Prices for Three Years; USDA Revises Fruits/Vegetables Import Regulations; Plan Developed to Combat Colony Collapse Disorder; Private Labels Impacting Food Industry; and more.
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Friday, September 14, 2007
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— AFI NEWS —
REGISTER NOW FOR AFI’S
TOWN MEETING Registrations are coming in for AFI’s 2007 Town Meeting which will take place September 24-26 at the Doubletree Hotel in Washington, D.C. AFI’s two-day program offers an interactive forum where members are encouraged to ask questions of key officials from Congress, FDA, Customs, USDA and more. With pending legislation that could impose more restrictions and fees on food imports, AFI is providing the platform to have the voice of the food importing community heard!
Those traveling in on the 24th are invited to a reception hosted by Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg at 6 p.m. at the company’s office. The Town Meeting will kick off with an 8 a.m. breakfast, followed by the full day program beginning at 9 a.m. on the 25th. The program will continue on Wednesday, and conclude with a luncheon. Members are encouraged to arrange meetings with their Congressional representatives on the afternoon of the 26th (AFI can help arrange those meetings.).
Complete details were mailed and are available at www.afius.org. Associate members are reminded of the opportunity to display their materials on a table throughout the event. Contact AFI for details.
WORK CONTINUES
ON AFI CASHEW STANDARD Importers of cashews met Aug. 13 to further discuss suggested changes to the AFI Cashew Standard. All input received to date was reviewed. A new document based on discussion at the August meeting will be circulated shortly.
AFI is again hosting a reception during ANUGA in Cologne, Germany. The reception will take place at 6 p.m., Sunday, October 14 in the Kristallsaal I room in the convention center. There is no charge to attend the event, though pre-registration is requested
To help members interact with one another during the show, AFI will distribute a program at the reception in which members will be able to tell others about themselves and how to reach them at the show. For $50, members can have their business card in the program as well as a description of up to 15 words about the company and/or how to contact them in Cologne. If the member has a booth or will be helping to staff a booth at the show, that information can be listed as well.
Complete details, including sponsorship information, are available at www.afius.org. ***Exhibitors, don’t forget to display your AFI or NAOOA member signs.*** AFI is playing a lead role in making sure the food industry’s concerns with proposed legislation targeted at food imports are heard. AFI’s efforts helped create an industrywide coalition that’s looking to address those issues. Additionally, AFI hired Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Bode Matz to work on its behalf. John Bode will spearhead the effort. Part of the effort will consist of educating domestic manufacturers about some of the problems the proposed legislation will cause and getting them to raise those points as well.
The proposed legislation, the recent food safety problems, the media attention to those problems and the growing concern of the general public about food safety are combining to make this one of the most challenging periods in AFI’s century-long existence.
It’s important members remember that unlike other times when issues were directed at all foods, the focus of all the proposals out there is imported food. Given that, it’s going to take unprecedented efforts by the food import industry to rally the entire food industry around its cause. AFI will keep members informed as to what’s taking place and how members can help.
One very effective way to get the facts and help create a face for the food import industry will be to attend the upcoming Town Meeting. Given the timing, this is probably the most important meeting AFI has ever had. FDA ANNOUNCES PUBLIC HEARING
ON FOOD LABELING FDA announced a public hearing to solicit information and comments about programs currently in use regarding the use of symbols to communicate nutrition information on food labels. The hearing will be held on September 10 and 11 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Inn & Conference Center by Marriott, University of Maryland in Adelphi, Md. To register, go to www.cfsan.fda or contact khouston@z-techcorp.com. TRAINING VIDEOS NOW AVAILABLE
ON FDA WEBSITE FDA added a number of training videos to its website including videos on Food Defense, Produce Safety, Requirements for Labeling on Food & Dietary Supplements, Nutrition Labeling, & Allergen Labeling, FDA’s Role in the U.S. Food Safety System, and Application of Risk Analysis to Food Safety. The videos may be downloaded at the following link: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Ecomm/vltfst.html. FDA CREATES PROGRAM
TO WORK WITH STATES FDA launched a national program to bring about the adoption of more-uniform regulatory programs by state agencies responsible for regulating facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food under FDA’s jurisdiction.
“This risk-based program represents a significant step in further integrating our food safety system,” said Margaret O’K. Glavin, FDA’s associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. “We realize it will be several years before it’s fully implemented, but we’re confident this program will bring great benefits to the public health.”
FDA says adoption of voluntary standards for state regulatory programs will establish a uniform basis for measuring and improving the performance of state programs for regulating manufactured food and help the state and federal authorities reduce foodborne illness hazards in food facilities.
The Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards are the result of five years of intensive cooperative effort by federal and state regulators. The standards define best practices for the critical elements of state regulatory programs designed to protect the public from foodborne illness and injury, including: the program’s regulatory foundation; staff training; inspection; quality assurance; food defense preparedness and response; foodborne illness and incident investigation; enforcement; education and outreach; resource management; laboratory resources; and program assessment.
Each standard has corresponding self-assessment worksheets. Several standards have supplemental worksheets and forms to assist state regulators in determining whether their state program addresses all of the elements in the standards.
The Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards have been approved by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and will be pilot-tested in New York, Oregon, and Missouri before Sept. 30. OLIVE FARMERS TO EARN
RECORD PRICES California olive farmers will earn a record price for their crop this year, after a small harvest last year and an increase in overall demand, reported California Farm Bureau Federation. The Olive Growers Council and olive canners agreed on prices that will earn farmers an average of $1,000. Because of last year’s small crop, stocks of canned olives are at a low point. UNPRECEDENTED DEAL SETS RAISIN
PRICES FOR THREE YEARS An unprecedented three-year agreement on minimum field prices to be paid by packers for the next three years was announced by the Fresno-based Raisin Bargaining Association.
Each year of the agreement, prices for raisins will be paid on a sliding scale based on availability. As supplies dwindle, the price will go up.
The minimum price for the 2007 crop will remain at $1,210 per ton – the 2006 price. A minimum price for 2008 of $1,310 per ton has been agreed to by several packers according to the association’s CEO, Glen Goto. In 2009 the sliding scale would be set between $1,123 and $1,723 and in 2010 between $1,123 and $1,798. USDA REVISES FRUITS/VEGETABLES
IMPORT REGULATIONS USDA issued a final rule, effective August 17, that revises the structure of the fruits and vegetables import regulations and establishes a new process for approving certain new commodities for importation into the U.S. The changes are intended to simplify and expedite USDA’s processes for approving certain new imports and pest-free areas. Complete details are available at: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/E7-13708.htm.
PLAN DEVELOPED TO COMBAT
COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) – a significant disappearance of honeybee colonies that may be affecting bees in more than 22 states – threatens the production of crops dependent on bees for pollination as well as honey production. The honeybee adds $15 billion in value to agricultural crops each year and the demand for honeybees is growing. Honeybee health has been in decline for several years and a concerted, well-funded research and extension effort is urgently needed to ensure the viability of these essential pollinators in U.S. agriculture, reported the National Academy of Sciences in a recent study. In addition to several potential causes of CCD, the most likely cause is a potential immune-suppressing stress on bees caused by one or a combination of several factors. Stresses may include poor nutrition (due to apiary overcrowding, pollination of crops with low nutritional value, or pollen or nectar dearth), drought, and migratory stress brought about by the increased need to move them long distances to provide pollination services. Researchers suspect that stress could be compromising the immune systems of bees, making colonies more susceptible to disease. PRIVATE LABELS IMPACTING
FOOD INDUSTRY While private labels have penetrated almost every consumer group in the U.S., the market share in the food industry – at about 16 percent – has been the strongest, reported the Associated Press. High commodity costs and thin margins have made it harder for traditional makers to innovate in recent years, making their brands more vulnerable. In Europe, where a fewer number of retailers have a dominant market share, private labels’ presence in some parts is in the range of 30 percent.
Private labels’ share in the U.S. food market has been almost flat for the last few years, but that could change as a flood of more-sophisticated store-branded offerings hit the shelves. And private labels are already strong in categories like milk, cheese and eggs, which are harder to differentiate.
A recent McKinsey & Co. report done in partnership with the Grocery Manufacturers Association found some retailers have managed to achieve much higher-than-average private-label dollar share, even in categories once thought to be strictly branded territory. In spaghetti sauce, industry average private-label dollar share is around 5 percent, but Wegmans made this category a priority, driving its private-label dollar share above the industry average to beyond 20 percent. FOOD LABEL WARNINGS
ADDING CONFUSION Food labels help the allergic avoid ingredients that could sicken them. But with more and more foods bearing a mishmash of warnings, there are signs that the labels are creating confusion among families that should heed them, reported the Associated Press.
The disconnect is sparking calls for standards on what are now voluntary warning labels. FDA plans to seek advice from consumers and food makers before considering whether to intervene.
Worried the labels may be losing credibility, the Grocery Manufacturers/Food Products Association already is preparing to update its own guidelines on when foods should carry the warnings.
A law that took effect last year requires foods that intentionally contain highly allergenic ingredients such as peanuts, shellfish or eggs to disclose that in plain language. However, the accidental-allergy warnings are different: They’re aimed at foods that aren’t supposed to contain a particular allergen but might become contaminated with it. They may be made in the same factory, or on the same machines as allergen-containing goods. In a report to Congress last year, FDA said a quarter of recently inspected food factories had the potential for such a mix-up.
The warnings are voluntary, so different companies use different, sometimes vague, wording. Nor does anyone count how many foods bear them, although all sides agree more are.
A warning’s wording determined if some parents ignored it: “May contain peanuts” sounds scarier than “packaged in a facility that processes peanuts” and thus 88 percent said they heeded the first warning while just 64 percent heeded the latter. That echoes an FDA experiment that found wording matters in persuading allergic consumers to believe the warning.
But contrary to some parents’ beliefs, peanuts were in some products with every version of the label, including two of 51 foods that bore a “may contain” warning and seven of 68 labeled “made in the same facility.” On the other hand, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network is increasingly concerned foods that never before carried warnings suddenly are getting them, including puzzling ones such as canned vegetables with nut warnings – a trend perhaps fueling confusion.
The industry is “troubled by what appears to be an increased use of ‘may contain’ labeling,” says Regina Hildwine, labeling policy chief for the grocery manufacturers. “This is not just something that you should put on a package without thinking.”
The ad for Ibericos Canned Foods, S.A. on page 97 of the AFI 2007 Annual was missing its e-mail and web site addresses. Please update your listing to include e:mail: ibericos@icafsa.com and web: www.icafsa.com. We apologize for this omission. Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Bode Matz PC is the new name for the Washington, D.C. law and lobbying firm previously known as Olsson, Frank and Weeda. The 28-year-old firm serves clients in food, drug, medical device, agriculture and health care policy. The firm has been an associate member of AFI for many years and has worked on AFI’s behalf on a number of projects.
Richard Frank, founder and senior principal, Olsson Frank, said, “The change reflects the overall growth of the firm - growth that's in large measure due to the outstanding contributions from Steve Terman, John Bode and Marshall Matz.” John Bode is one of the most popular speakers at AFI conventions and meetings and is currently working with AFI to address the food import legislative proposals. He’ll be speaking at the upcoming Town Meeting. AFI’s Town Meeting will take place September 24-26 at the Doubletree Hotel Washington, D.C.
AFI’s ANUGA Reception will take place 6 p.m., October 14 in the Kristallsasl I room of the convention center housing ANUGA in Cologne. Details are on the AFI Website, www.afius.org.
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