Food safety

November 14, 2009 -- AUGUSTA – Two more deaths have been reported linked to H1N1 influenza in Maine, bringing the total to five since August, and a Kennebec County long-term care facility is experiencing an outbreak of H1N1, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control.

A Hancock County resident between the ages of 25 years old and 50 years old and a Kennebec County resident older than 65 years old died last week. Both had H1N1 and both had underlying conditions.    » read more »

Nov 13, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine today applauded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to delay a proposed plan banning the interstate sale of untreated raw Gulf oysters in warm months. Both the Governor and Secretary had previously expressed their concerns with the proposal directly to the FDA, which has now agreed to commission a study on both the economic impact of any decision for the oyster industry and how to decrease the incidence of vibrio vulnificus infection.

Governor Jindal sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg on Tuesday, outlining the effects of its proposed regulations on the state’s oyster industry.    » read more »

Panenza®, non-adjuvanted pandemic vaccine, licensed for use in adults and children 6 months of age and older

Lyon, France – November 16, 2009 - Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) announced today that the French drug agency Afssaps (Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des produits de santé) has granted marketing authorization in France for Panenza®, its non-adjuvanted Influenza A(H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine, produced at Sanofi Pasteur’s facility in Val de Reuil, France. The vaccine was made available to French health authorities.    » read more »

Swissmedic approval allows Novartis to begin shipments of Celtura to Switzerland, providing supplies of A(H1N1) vaccine immediately

Basel, November 13, 2009 - Novartis announced today that Celtura®, the company's adjuvanted cell culture-based Influenza A(H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine, has received approval in Switzerland from Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products.

This is the second marketing approval for the cell-culture based A(H1N1) pandemic vaccine in Europe. Celtura was approved in Germany earlier in November 2009. The company also has submitted a registration for Celtura in Japan, and will seek approval in a number of other countries.    » read more »

FDA to Study Consequences of Proposal

November 13, 2009 -- WASHINGTON— U.S. Congressman Charlie Melancon (LA-03) announced today that the Food and Drug Administration has halted movement on a proposed ban of the sale of fresh Gulf oysters during warm weather months, pending the results of a feasibility study.

After Congressman Melancon and U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu organized a meeting earlier this week with Gulf Coast members of Congress and senior officials at the FDA, the agency decided to study the possible effects of the ban before moving forward.    » read more »

Asks IG to investigate scientific merits and potential shortcomings of industry testing method adopted by FSIS

November 12, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) today, in light of the recent E. coli outbreak involving ground beef, sent a letter to the USDA Office of the Inspector General (IG) calling for an investigation into the scientific merits and potential shortcoming of the N-60 testing protocol, which is a beef testing protocol promoted by the meat industry and relied upon by USDA. The N-60 testing protocol is used by most of the largest beef trim manufacturers to verify that product is free from E. coli.    » read more »

11/13/09 -- Washington, DC -- Yesterday, Congressman Tim Bishop (NY-1) and members of the New York Congressional Delegation sent a bipartisan letter to federal, state and city officials expressing outrage over reports that over a dozen Wall Street firms were approved to receive some of the limited H1N1 vaccines available to the public. According to BusinessWeek, these private companies have received as many as 1200 units each in recent weeks as colleges, nursing homes and schools face severe shortages.    » read more »

"Co-Sponsors the Growing Safe Food Act to Protect Families by Strengthening Food Safety Practices"

November 13, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley announced today that he has co-sponsored legislation to increase food safety by assisting local farmers and processors with new food safety regulations. The Growing Safe Food Act will help educate and train farmers and food processors about the best safety practices to ensure that the nation’s food supply is safe for citizens.    » read more »

Senator Landrieu gets commitment from FDA Commissioner Dr. Hamburg in phone call today.

11/13/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to halt a proposed plan to ban Gulf Coast oysters that are not subject to post-harvest processing. Sen. Landrieu received the news in a phone call with FDA Commissioner Dr. Peggy Hamburg earlier today.

Sen. Landrieu has been a staunch opponent of the FDA regulation, and has organized several calls and meetings urging top FDA officials to reconsider their proposed action.    » read more »

10 November 2009, London UK & Philadelphia US -- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for its unadjuvanted influenza A (H1N1) pandemic vaccine. The approval of the sBLA, which was filed as a strain change supplement to GSK’s FluLaval seasonal flu vaccine, allows the company to manufacture a flu vaccine for use in adults to prevent influenza caused by the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza A strain.    » read more »

10 November 2009, London, UK -- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced that it has signed an agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO) to donate 50 million doses of its adjuvanted pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccine to WHO for distribution to developing countries most in need. GSK is working with WHO and health authorities to prepare for initial shipments of the vaccine to developing countries by the end of November.    » read more »

Announces Obama Administration endorsement of Healthy Families Act

11/10/2009 -- WASHINGTON — Deputy Secretary of Labor Seth Harris today testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Children and Families regarding workplace flexibility and paid leave in the context of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic. Harris expressed the administration's strong support for the Healthy Families Act as a way to provide workplace flexibilities and increased economic security.    » read more »

Preparing For A Safe And Easy Thanksgiving Dinner - One Day At A Time

WASHINGTON, November 10, 2009 – Preparing Thanksgiving dinner can be a wonderful experience, yet daunting for those planning it. The goal is to have a safe and delicious turkey dinner, and if planned one day at a time, it can be a fun and memorable experience.    » read more »

November 10, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. today introduced S. 2758, the Growing Safe Food Act, to help farmers and food processors ensure the safety of our nation’s food supply. The bill was introduced with six co-sponsors: Sens. Bingaman, Boxer, Gillibrand, Leahy, Merkley, and Sanders.

The Senate is currently considering food safety reform proposals that would increase FDA food inspections and improve our food safety system. This bill will provide small and medium sized farmers, food processors, and wholesalers technical assistance and education to effectively implement these new reforms.    » read more »

November 10, 2009 -- (Washington D.C.) –Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) attended a Senate hearing examining the problem of H1N1 being spread by workers who can’t afford to miss work when they are sick. Senator Murray gave an opening statement pushing for passage of the Healthy Families Act that would allow workers to earn up to 56 hours of paid leave to care for themselves or their family. This would benefit workers and businesses and help prevent the spread of H1N1 by ensuring that employees have the ability to stay home when they are contagious.

This is especially important for workers who may interact with individuals who are particularly vulnerable to the flu, such as those with underlying health conditions or women who are pregnant.    » read more »