National Ag Law Center Helps Decipher Code

The National Agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas’ law school launched the world’s only student-produced food-law journal in July.

The inaugural issue of the Journal of Food Law & Policy contained essays, articles on food labeling in the U.S. and abroad, and food liability.

The second issue is due out in March, said Michael Roberts, director of the center. The journal will be published twice annually beginning this year.

Roberts spearheaded the effort when he came to the UA center from the Salt Lake City law firm of Van Cott, Bagley, Cornwall & McCarthy in 2003. He said the journal has more than 100 non-law- school related subscribers so far, and a staff of 15 law students produces the journal.

Daily hits to the center’s Web site have increased from 200 in January 2005 to about 900 in January 2006.

Roberts said the journal helps his mission to make the center more useful to outside businesses, large and small. Roberts recently presented a three-hour program on food law to the legal team at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Bentonville, and he has given a presentation at Tyson Foods Inc. in Springdale.

He also works closely with the general counsel for the European Food Safety Authority and the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which is an international authority that develops food standards.

Roberts said there are many food law concerns — from obesity to organics — coursing through international waters.

For example, the European Union regulates advertising of junk food products to children, and the United States doesn’t, Roberts said.

Food law, historically designed as a response to food safety concerns, is constantly changing. There are 15 different agencies and 30 different laws regulating food in the U.S.

“The law has never been developed in an organized way,” Roberts said. “Today, nutrition is a big concern. Are our laws helping to solve the problem or are they contributing to it?”

Labels

The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, which went into effect Jan. 1, is a big issue for food companies, Roberts said. The act requires food companies to label the eight most common allergenic substances that products could contain, which are milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts and soybeans.

Also within the labeling realm is the area of qualified health claims.

Roberts said more than ever, companies are trying to get qualified health claims on products because it’s a good selling technique.

The Food and Drug Administration issued the first qualified health claim for a conventional food in April 2004.

“The direction of the courts has forced the FDA to be more liberal with qualified health claims because of First Amendment considerations,” Roberts said. Over time, the FDA had to include conventional food along with dietary supplements.

Historically, the FDA denied qualified health claims, Roberts said.

“The court is sort of forcing the FDA’s hand,” he said. “The business community is looking to the government to provide guidance on what it can and can’t say.”

So the FDA established a ranking system, which came out in 2005.

“The ranking system helps whether to determine if there needs to be a disclaimer and what kind of disclaimer language it needs to be,” Roberts said.