The FDA advisory group receives information on current methods for detecting contaminants in agency-regulated products and plans to discuss a subcommittee's review of bisphenol A use in food contact applications at an upcoming meeting. Although FDA has determined that BPA lining food containers is safe, a September study in the Journal of American Medical Association found higher concentrations of the substance in human urine is associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and liver-enzyme abnormalities (1"The Tan Sheet" Sept. 22, 2008, In Brief). In an Oct. 9 Federal Register notice, FDA says the board also will discuss its 2009 agenda topics during the meeting scheduled for Oct. 31 at the Washington, DC North/Gaithersburg Hilton in Gaithersburg, Md. The agency says background material on the topics should be available at least two days before the meeting

Marissa Smith, senior regulatory toxicologist in the Washington Department of Ecology’s Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction program, discusses what’s next for the state’s inaugural Safer Products go-round. “How we define ‘safer’ is really going to be the lynchpin of this whole process,” she says.

Class action complaints filed in 2020 against food, dietary supplement and beverage firms should pass 2019’s total as COVID-19 has not slowed litigants but has given plaintiffs’ council more time out of court to shop for new cases.