FDA in No Rush to Heighten Regulations on Antibiotics in Animal Feed

The Second Circuit recently held that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not have to take action to regulate antibiotics in livestock feed. The decision reverses a lower court decision, which mandated the FDA proceed with hearings to determine whether to withdraw approval of the use of penicillin and tetracyclines as a ingredient in feed. The Second Circuit decision also reversed the lower courts holding that the FDA actions when it denied two petitions demanding hearings on the matter were arbitrary and capricious.

The FDA approved the use of penicillin and tetracyclines, both antibiotics, in animal feed in 1977. Although expressing some concern about the negative impact of that use--especially in regard to the potential impact of its widespread use on creating antibiotic resistant bacteria that could transfer to bacteria affecting humans-- the FDA decided not to take action. Instead, the FDA decided to await further studies.

Neil Pederson, J.D. expected 2015, William Mitchell College of Law.

Photo Credit: http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/780707.

"The Fate of Our Nation Rests On School Lunches"

Famous chef and activist Alice Waters, recently wrote for Time on the topic of the National School Lunch Program. Her main point, that the foods we choose to provide to children through school lunch is an issue central to confronting America's obesity epidemic.

Data compiled by the USDA's Economic Research Service illustrates just how high the stakes are in terms of the nutrition content of meals we provide at our nation's schools. in 2013, Nearly 50 million children were eligible to receive breakfast and lunch under the National School Lunch Program.

Providing meals to children should be recognized as a huge success in terms of feeding hungry children. With the increasing role of the National School Lunch Program in children's lives, however, it is important to also observe that this means that school lunch provides two out of three meals (or all meals for some children) for millions of children each day--much of it fast food.

As Waters notes: "[b]y allowing fast food culture into the cafeteria, we have effectively endorsed that industry’s values [and] helped facilitate the obesity epidemic."

Neil Pederson, J.D. Expected 2015, William Mitchell College of Law.

Photo: http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/835470