On June 5, 2018, the California Court of Appeal ruled against private plaintiff Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation (Mateel) and upheld the current 0.5 microgram per day safe harbor for lead, as set in 1989 by the predecessor agency to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). The ruling has since been finalized by the Court. Mateel had sought to force OEHHA to repeal the regulations for setting a “maximum allowable dose level” (MADL) for lead as a reproductive toxicant and to revoke the safe harbor for lead. 

Recent market and import data for hemp products and ingredients show that the U.S. market has a highly dedicated and growing demand base, according to a recent report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

AHPA has been working with an expert advisory committee to review, revise and broaden AHPA's Herbs of Commerce, the standard for common and scientific plant names used for herbal products.

The latest data presented at NBJ Summit shows that herbal and botanical supplements sales grew by 8.5 percent in 2017 and sales of all dietary supplements grew by 5.4 percent.

This issue of the IADSA Newsflash includes an update on the EU considering whether to set limits for 21 pyrrolizidine alkaloids in food supplements

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is proposing an additional 10 percent ad valorem duty on numerous Chinese imports with an annual trade value of approximately $200 billion. The list of products of China identified by USTR as subject to this new proposed tariff includes many herbal and plant-derived substances as well as a number of other ingredients found in dietary supplements.

In an effort to ensure American consumers can discern if their food includes GMOs, AHPA recommended significant revisions to a proposed rule issued by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to establish a mandatory, national bioengineered (BE) food disclosure standard.

American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) Chief Information Analyst Merle Zimmermann, Ph.D., attended the 147th Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel Meeting on the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics held in Washington, D.C., Jun. 4-5. The meeting included discussions of two CIR safety reports being developed on Gingko biloba and eucalyptus cosmetic ingredients.

AHPA Chief Science Officer Holly Johnson, Ph.D., participated in a panel discussion yesterday on testing and labeling standards for cannabis products to increase product safety and decrease producers’ liability at Canna West 2018 held in Los Angeles.