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Regulators
Consumers Union Documents
- CU comments to the FDA on GE salmon environmental impact
Consumers Union (CU) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Draft Environmental Assessment and Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) Concerning a Genetically Engineered (GE) Atlantic Salmon. For reasons articulated below, we strongly urge FDA not to approve the application for AquaBounty’s AquAdvantage Salmon (AAS) at this time and Continue Reading
- Comments to the USDA regarding Country of Origin Labeling of Beef, Pork, Lamb, Chicken
In January of 2009, USDA published a final rule on COOL that covered Beef, Pork, Lamb, Chicken, Goat Meat, Wild and Farm-Raised Fish and Shellfish, Perishable Agricultural Commodities, Peanuts, Pecans, Ginseng, and Macadamia Nuts. Almost immediately, a number of countries challenged the COOL requirements for muscle cut meat commodities, saying that the US COOL regulations discriminated against the importing country’s product.
- CU letter to FDA to revoke approval for use of ractopamine in pork
FDA should prohibit the use of antibiotics in livestock except for treatment of disease
- CU letter to USDA Secretary Vilsack regarding pork safety
CU informs the USDA of new findings on pathogens in pork products appearing in the January 2013 issue of CR
- The Overuse of Antibiotics in Food Animals Threatens Public Health
Experts weigh in on the connection between antibiotic use in animals and the loss of effectiveness of these drugs in human medicine
- CU letter to USDA regarding arsenic in rice
Consumer Reports released an article involving findings on arsenic levels in rice and rice-based products
- CU letter to the EPA regarding arsenic in rice
Consumer Reports released an article involving findings on arsenic levels in rice and rice-based products
- CU letter to the FDA regarding arsenic in rice
Consumer Reports released an article involving findings on arsenic levels in rice and rice-based products
- What should the government do to regulate antibiotics?
Consumers Union recommends government take the following actions to end the overuse of antibiotics in livestock production. Congress While consumer pressure may be a more immediate catalyst for moving livestock producers away from using antibiotics, a long-term and more permanent legislative or regulatory solution would be ideal. A bill that has been introduced in Congress, the Preservation Continue Reading
- Consumer Opinion Poll on Antibiotics in Animal Feed
Survey Research Report, Consumer Reports® National Research Center
Press Releases
- CU urges Congress to stop superbugs and make ground turkey safer
Consumers Union is also asking members of Congress to support legislation that would address these issues
- Nearly 2 million people tell FDA not to approve GE salmon
Over 1.8 million people sent comments vehemently opposing the approval of a genetically engineered salmon by the FDA
- Consumer Reports: Bacteria on turkey raised without antibiotics showed significantly less antibiotic resistance than bacteria on conventional turkey
Ninety percent of samples had one or more of the five bacteria for which CR tested
- Top grocery stores: We won’t sell genetically engineered seafood
Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Whole Foods, Marsh among stores that will reject GE fish
- Consumers Union calls on EPA to ban arsenic-containing pesticides
Congress-directed review could delay needed action for years; Public still waiting for guidance on arsenic in apple juice
- New rules “go to the heart” of food safety problems
The FDA releases long-awaited rules to improve food safety.
- CU Says FDA Assessment of GE Salmon Is Flawed and Inadequate
CU raises concerns about FDA’s failure to adequately assess potential allergic reactions and other risks
- Consumer Reports investigation prompts letter to USDA on pork safety
CU informs the USDA of new findings on pathogens in pork products appearing in the January 2013 issue of CR
- CU praises FDA shutdown of Sunland plant, presses for futher implementation of federal food-safety rules
The FDA’s action marks the first time the agency has used its new authority it gained in a 2011 food safety law
- CU Highlights Overuse of Drugs in Food Animals for “Get Smart About Antibiotics Week”
Consumers Union Urges Major Reduction of Antibiotics in Food Animal Production To Protect Public Health Consumer Group Highlights The Overuse of Drugs In Food Animals During CDC’s “Get Smart About Antibiotics Week” YONKERS, NY — Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, today called for a major reduction in the Continue Reading
Blog Posts
- Consumer Reports turkey tests find fewer superbugs in ‘no antibiotics’ meat samples
The meat industry wants us to believe that routinely feeding antibiotics to animals is nothing to worry about. But a new investigation from Consumer Reports found plenty of reasons to be concerned. The study analyzed 257 samples of both conventional and ‘no antibiotics’ ground turkey from supermarket shelves and found widespread bacterial contamination. But the bacteria in Continue Reading
- More evidence shows animals spread antibiotic-resistant infections to humans
Evidence of the passing of the potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant infection MRSA from animals to humans just grew stronger according to a new study out of the University of Cambridge. The Cambridge scientists, using DNA fingerprinting, matched MRSA superbugs in two different people to MRSA in the cows and sheep on the farms where they lived. Continue Reading
- Pork Production Must Address Safety Issues
by Jean Halloran, Director, Food Policy Initiatives, Consumers Union Consumers Union thinks government regulators and pork producers need to take some additional steps to insure the safety of pork. Last month, Consumer Reports released a major new study on the safety of pork that found that 69 precent of the pork chops and ground pork tested contained Yersinia Continue Reading
- Fast action on arsenic in food!
The latest issue of Consumer Reports features a powerful report on the presence of arsenic in rice and makes recommendations to both consumers and the government. Almost immediately, the FDA took steps to address the problem and lawmakers filed bills. We’re a long way from real reform, but this was a big first step. This Continue Reading
- USDA will investigate unapproved antibiotics labels
Just two weeks after Consumer Reports issued our Meat on Drugs report criticizing, among other things, USDA’s system for overseeing labels on meat and poultry products that are raised without antibiotics, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack sent a letter to Consumers Union indicating that the agency plans to establish a new standard and investigate the Continue Reading
- FDA says no more BPA in baby bottles
New parents have one less thing to worry about after the FDA’s announcement today that baby bottles and kids’ sippy cups can no longer contain bisphenol A, or BPA, a common chemical in plastic products. Consumers Union has long advocated for banning BPA from baby bottles (and other products such as infant formula containers and Continue Reading
- 220K people (including Giada DeLaurentiis) tell the FDA to reign in animal antibiotics
When the FDA released new guidelines in April on the use of antibiotics in livestock, Americans were given 90 days to tell them what we thought. By the time the comment period closed last Thursday, July 12, over 220,000 people had already written in to tell the agency: you can do better. The new guidelines Continue Reading
- FDA ordered to follow its own orders, 35 years later
On May 21, the Food and Drug Administration filed an appeal to overturn a decision by a federal court judge ordering the agency to take action on its own 35-year-old proposal that would ban the use of certain antibiotics in animal feed. If the decision is upheld, FDA will be required to hold hearings to determine Continue Reading
- FDA says no to ‘corn sugar’ name
The FDA today rejected a petition filed two years ago by the Corn Refiners Association to rebrand High Fructose Corn Syrup as ‘corn sugar’. In a letter to the trade group, the FDA states that the association gave insufficient grounds for the name change, and contends that “sugar is a solid, dried, and crystallized food; Continue Reading
- FDA pushes voluntary plan for reducing antibiotics in animal feed
In a new plan released yesterday, the FDA is asking companies to voluntarily reduce some uses of antibiotics in the raising of livestock. Animals grown for meat are commonly given low doses of antibiotics in their feed and water to help promote growth and prevent the spread of illness in living quarters that are often Continue Reading
News Articles
- Foreign Food Inspections on Decline as Illnesses From Imported Goods Rise Source: New York Times (Tuesday May 7, 2013)
- Senators Ask FDA to Be More Transparent with Food Animal Antibiotics Data Source: Food Safety News (Friday April 26, 2013)
- FDA Breaks Food Safety Law With Rule Delays, Judge Finds Source: Bloomberg Businessweek (Monday April 22, 2013)
- Whole Foods, Trader Joe's ban GMO salmon Source: San Francisco Chronicle (Wednesday March 20, 2013)
- FDA Data: Slight Uptick in Animal Antibiotic Use, Resistance Remains Issue in Meat Source: Food Safety News (Wednesday February 6, 2013)
- Food Sickens Millions as Company-Paid Checks Find It Safe Source: Bloomberg News (Thursday October 11, 2012)
- Arsenic in Rice: New Report Finds 'Worrisome Levels' Source: ABC News (Wednesday September 19, 2012)
- Imported cheese linked to 3 deaths, 14 hospitalizations Source: CNN (Wednesday September 12, 2012)
- Food safety law is being delayed Source: Washington Post (Friday August 24, 2012)
- Resistance to antibiotics is becoming a crisis Source: Washington Post (Tuesday July 10, 2012)