Industry Roundup: No GRAS For PHOs, Pfizer Expands In China, MusclePharm Targets Over-40 Consumers

Partially hydrogenated oils lose GRAS; Pfizer expands consumer product output in China; MusclePharm adding direct sales; U.K. requires registration, logo for online sales; and more news in brief.

FDA finalizes its tentative determination that partially hydrogenated oils are not generally recognized as safe for use in food, an action the agency says is “expected to reduce coronary heart disease and to prevent thousands of fatal heart attacks each year.” According to a June 16 Federal Register notice, FDA set a compliance date of three years to allow food manufacturers “to either reformulate products without PHOs and/or petition the FDA to permit specific uses” of the ingredient. PHOs are the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, with the most common forms partially hydrogenated soybean oil and partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil. The agency solicited data on the substances in November 2013 and received 6,000 comments, most supporting the tentative determination. Previously, PHOs were considered GRAS by the food industry based on a history of use prior to 1958. The Center for Science in the Public Interest and the American Heart Association long have lobbied for FDA to revoke the GRAS status of the substances Also see "CFSAN Priorities: Industry & Consumer Groups Weigh In On NDIs And More" - Pink Sheet, 11 September, 2006..

Pfizer Inc. breaks ground on a $95 million production facility near the company's existing site in Suzhou, China, to...

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