FDA Petition

Dear Victoria,
The petition submitted by the Attorneys General, which was the subject of the FDA's August 13 meeting, seeks much the same relief as Ms. Reinhard's petition and additionally proposes that manufacturers be required to list their telephone numbers on food labels. Moreover, (and I hope Ms. Reinhard does not take this remark personally) there is a good chance that the FDA may reject Ms. Reinhard's petition on procedural grounds since it does not contain some of the required components of a petition, as set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations (see "Making Your Voice Heard at FDA: How to Comment on Proposed Regulations and Submit Petitions" [url="http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/voice.html)."]http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/voice.html).[/url] If we want the FDA to mandate changes in the way manufacturers produce and label allergenic foods, it would be far more effective to throw our support behind the Attorneys General petition. The AG's petition is available at the following address:
[url="http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/00/may00/053100/cp001.pdf"]http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/00/may00/053100/cp001.pdf[/url]
You may mail your comments to the following address:
Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
You may also send comments to the Dockets Management Branch at the following e-mail addresses: [email]FDADOCKETS@oc.fda.gov[/email] or
[url="http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/oc/dockets/comments/commentdocket.cfm"]http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/oc/dockets/comments/commentdocket.cfm[/url]
Remember, the deadline for submitting comments is October 29, 2001. Please write your letter today!!!!

CLARIFICATION NEEDED!
You have misinterpreted the type of document here. This is NOT a citizen petition which would be required to satisfy several regulatory requirements. THis is just a plain old fashioned national grass roots petition to let the FDA know the public's concerns. THe public hearing on food labeling and allergens held on August 13, however was for the public to speak. NO regulatory requirements need to be followed. And I confirmed with the FDA prior to going forward with this petition whether such petition would be admissable for the purpose of comments from the public. They said it was absolutely fine.
SORRY about any confusion. Hope you'll sign onto it. THe record remains open until Oct 29.

FURTHER CLARIFICATION
One need not be limited to supporting only the AG's petition. THey are very different creatures. ONe is a formal legal submission, the other is a national grassroots campaign expressing public comment-- the goals and objectives are the same. BY supporting both, we are sending a message to the FDA (and industry) where we stand.

Dear JMR,
I apologize for any misunderstanding. I agree that one need not be limited to supporting only the AG's petition. However, if the grassroots petition is intended to supplement the record of the August 13 hearing, then a clear statement to this effect, along with the designated docket number, should be included within the petition itself. Otherwise, some clerk in the Dockets office may mistake it for a formal Citizen's Petition and file it away without adding it to the meeting record. To prevent any such occurrences, I suggest that you add the following sentence:
We the undersigned submit this petition in connection with the August 13, 2001 Public Meeting on the Labeling of Foods Containing Allergens (Docket No. 00P-1322) and request that this petition be included as part of the record of this meeting.

Dear Colleen's Mom:
Good idea! Also, the address on the envelope tells the administrative staff that it is to be part of the record re: food labels and allergens as the docket number is included in the address posted above. It won't hurt to add language to the actual sheet to insure against any confusion. Thanks.

While trying to get up to speed on these labeling issues, I see that many of you have spent tremendous time and energy to improve labeling which will benefit us all. I am very grateful for all of your incredible work! I would lilke to do what I can to help. (I hope I'm not getting into the game too late).
I saw the petition posted by Vic, writen by Julie. I made copies and have been explaining the problems associated with food labeling to friends, coworkers, relatives and anyone who will listen! I have since gotten approx. 160 signatures which I plan to mail into the FDA next week. While speaking with others, I found that many had no idea of the problems with food labeling, while others knew of some of the issues. Most people were extremely interested and often shocked. I believe that all of them are now more aware of what we go through on a daily basis and the importance of improved labeling.
I have also reviewed the Attorney's General petition. I see that it was writtten in May of 2000. Forgive my ignorance, but has this petition just been ignored for the past 16 months? I realize that the FDA has been working with food manufacturers, but I haven't seen most of the things in the petition addressed. What is the best way to show my support for this document? Write directly to the FDA at the above address?
Lastly, how does the Food Allergen Consumer Protection Act that Chris is talking about come into play?
It seems to me that it would be beneficial to support all of these efforts since I believe we are all trying to achieve a similar goal.
Thanks again to all of you, I'm glad we're on the same team!
DD

Please sign both of them! This is so important!!!

TO DD--
All of these initiatives are interrelated and support each other. THe AGs Petition is to the FDA for them to implement and clarify food labeling regulations. THe petition presented at the public hearing was for the FDA to do the same thing and it endorsed the AGs petition, too.
The Food Allergen COnsumer Protection Act is Congress' attempt to weigh in on the issue so that perhaps areas of the law could be changed faster than waiting for the regulatory process to be completed. All of the above initiatives seek mandatory improvements on food labels.
The important distinction b/t these efforts and those of the FOod Allergy Issues Alliance is that although they appropriately call for better labeling, their call is purely for voluntary change and is therefore unenforceable. That is the fatal flaw in their approach.
FOr these reasons, it is important to write to the FDA prior to Oct 29 and support the AGs petition and the grassroots one as well as write to Senators and Members of Congress seeking their support of the legislation proposed by Sen Kennedy.

Thanks for the explanations, JMR. I will get the info. into the FDA at the end of this week. Does anyone have a website where I can get the addresses of the Members of Congress and the Senate?
Thanks

I got 293 signatures and will be sending them in tomorrow. Hope it helps.