Comments

On June 10, 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (“FSIS” or “the Agency” ) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule entitled “Descriptive Designation for Needle- or Blade-Tenderized (Mechanically Tenderized) Beef Products” (the “Proposed Rule”).² In conjunction with this proposed rule, FSIS also posted a compliance guideline to assist establishments in developing validated cooking instructions which would be required by the produced rule. On August 9, 2013, the comment period was extended to October 8, 2013.³ The following are FMI's public comments on this issue.

On December 14, 2012, the Food and Drug Administration announced in the Federal Register the establishment of a docket to obtain comments relevant to conducting a risk assessment to establish regulatory thresholds for major food allergens as defined in the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (“FALCPA”) (the “Notice”). The following are FMI's public comments on this issue.

On March 12, 2013, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule to amend the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) regulations to change the labeling provisions for muscle cut covered commodities among other things (Proposed Rule). The following are FMI's public comments on this issue.