Friday, September 4, 2009

Food Industry Ramifications of the FDA Cheerios Warning Letter

Sarah Sunday writes this excellent legal opinion explaining the background and ramifications of the FDA's warning letter to the makers of Cheerios, Is FDA Warning Letter An Ominous Signal To Food Industry? This is all about the FDA objecting to the statement that Cheerios can lower cholesterol levels. In a nutshell, she says:

"FDA's Warning Letter is a slap on the wrist in terms of the potential regulatory consequences. However, the letter could have a significant legitimizing effect on the pending California lawsuit, and in that way, could have costly implications for both General Mills and the food industry as a whole."

Previous Posts: And The Top 10 Food Stories Of 2008 Pet Food Sickened People - Did they eat it? . . . Time To Talk About Turkey Cooking and Food Safety FDA CFSAN - Food Safety and Nutrition Video Library (free) 

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Monday, August 31, 2009

FDA To Share Nanotoxicology Information

According to this FDA Law Blog post, Nanotech Update: FDA Enters Into MOU With Air Force Research Laboratory to Facilitate Sharing of Nanotoxicology Information, "FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research (“NCTR”) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) that provides for the sharing of nanotoxicology information with the Air Force Research Laboratory, 711 Human Performance Wing, Human Effectiveness Directorate, Biosciences and Protection Division (“AFRL”). " 



Saturday, August 29, 2009

New Technique Might Help Diagnose Mesothelioma

Pleural effusion Chest x-ray of a pleural effu...Image via Wikipedia

This Medical News Today article reports a new technique that might be helpful in diagnosing mesothelioma, New Technique Can Help Diagnose Mesothelioma. A new technique may help clinicians diagnose patients presenting with a pleural effusion (accumulation of fluid in the pleural cavity) of unknown cause. One of the causes of pleural effusion is malignant pleural mesothelioma, a relatively rare cancer. Currently, the first-line test for mesothelioma in patients with a pleural effusion is pleural fluid cytology, but this test isn't very sensitive. The research study results demonstrate that pleural fluid mesothelin levels were over six times greater in patients with mesothelioma than in patients with metastatic carcinomas, and ten times greater than in patients with benign effusions. This means serum mesothelin is a diagnostic biomarker for mesothelioma. Pleural fluid values are significantly higher than serum levels and may offer additional value over pleural fluid cytology for diagnosis of pleural malignancy. Additionally, pleural fluid mesothelin is a valuable adjunct to cytological examination in patients with an undiagnosed pleural effusion. Read the research study abstract: Clinical Impact and Reliability of Pleural Fluid Mesothelin in Undiagnosed Pleural Effusions 


Friday, August 28, 2009

FDA Announces Doubling Of Foreign Inspections

According to this FDA News article, FDA to Double Foreign GMP Inspections This Year, the FDA is going to double its inspections of facilities for good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliance this year. 


Wednesday, August 26, 2009

FDA Launches New Tobacco Products Center

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has launched its new FDA Center for Tobacco Products. The Center will oversee the implementation of the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act signed by President Obama in June 2009. The FDA's responsibilities under the law include setting performance standards, reviewing premarket applications for new and modified risk tobacco products and establishing and enforcing advertising and promotion restrictions.

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