Legal & Regulatory Briefs

In a National Labor Relations Board hearing, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. (BJICA) employees sought permission to organize 19 maintenance workers in the company’s St. Alban’s, VT, plant. Most of the 19 workers have signed cards showing support for a union, but the company has asked for a vote among all 800 company workers.

FDA is proposing to authorize the use of health claims on food labels citing the association between soy protein and the reduced risk of coronary heart disease. The proposal is in response to a petition filed by Protein Technologies Intl. based on more than 50 studies showing that soy protein included in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease.

The Organic Trade Association decided to continue its strategy of implementing a USDA National Organic Program. It also voted in September to support development of North American organic standards with the OTA’s Organic Certifiers Council and Quality Assurance Committee, the Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, the Organic Farmers Marketing Association, the Independent Organic Inspectors Association, the Canadian Organic Advisory Board, and other organizations.

Twinlab Corp. (TWLB) said it is negotiating with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on a proposed FTC consent order involving TWLB’s herbal phen fuel product. After receiving TWLB’s response to an inquiry from the FTC regarding substantiation of certain advertising claims, the agency prohibited the company from making some claims.

Mothers for Natural Law (MNL), a nonprofit consumer education organization based in Fairfield, IA, is 10% of the way toward its goal: 1 million signatures for its “Consumer Right to Know—One Million in ‘98” campaign to secure rigorous premarket safety testing and mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. As of the end of October the group had gathered more than 100,000 signatures and will continue to collect them until the end of the year. For more information, contact Mothers for Natural Law at 525.472.2809, or visit the organization’s website at www.safe-food.org.