Industry Objects to Budget’s Tobacco Tax
President Obama’s budget plan would increase taxes by $1 trillion over the next decade, reported the Associated Press, including a new tax on cigarettes and familiar proposals to increases taxes…
President Obama’s FY2014 Budget Supports Nutrition Programs
With nearly one in five Americans saying they struggle to afford enough food for their households, President Barack Obama’s FY2014 budget, released last week, protects and proposes to further strengthen…
Senators Question FDA Commissioner on Menu Labeling
At a U.S. Senate Appropriations hearing on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed FY2014 budget last week, Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) asked Commissioner Margaret Hamburg…
Senators Urge FDA to Restrict Electronic Cigarettes
Calling electronic cigarettes a possible pathway to traditional cigarettes and other tobacco products, five U.S. senators are calling on the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to issue “deeming regulations”…
News Bulletins from FRAC
Rep. DeLauro Speaks Out for Strong Safety Net in Farm BillU.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) has urged her colleagues working on the Farm Bill to stop looking to the SNAP/Food…
Federal Legislation Calls for 5-Cent Bag Tax
U.S. Rep. Jim Moran has introduced a measure that would put a 5-cent tax on plastic and paper bags given out at all retail locations, including convenience stores. Fee revenue…
FDA ‘Very Interested’ in E-Cigs
Tobacco retailers, suppliers, and other NATO Show attendees crowded the general session, eager to hear whether Mitch Zeller, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s newly appointed director of the Center…
Contempt Charge Looms Over Swipe Fee Website
A federal judge overseeing a pending $7.25-billion class-action settlement involving Visa and MasterCard ordered merchant trade groups opposed to the deal to show why they should not be held in…
FDA Taking Closer Look at Caffeine-Enhanced Products
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is closely watching the marketing of a growing number of caffeine-enhanced food products on the market and wants to know more about their…
Senators Introduce Bill to Stop Tobacco Smuggling, Increase Federal Tobacco Tax
U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have introduced the Tobacco Tax and Enforcement Reform Act, legislation that would reduce illegal tobacco…