CLFP will hold its 2020 Annual Board of Directors Meeting April 30 – May 1 at the Andaz Hotel in Napa, CA. During the meeting outgoing chair Ross Siragusa will be honored and incoming chair Michael Mariani will be welcomed.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that there have been no reports that suggest COVID-19 can be transmitted through food or food packaging. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom joined state health officials in recommending the cancellation of gatherings of 250 or more people across the entire state, escalating the effort by his administration to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

The California Legislature reconvened on January 6 to begin the second half of a two-year session with legislators facing a large stack of work left from the first half of the session. More than 1,100 proposals introduced in 2019 were designated “two-year” bills and had a narrow window to be approved in their house of origin by the end of January. The key issues to food processors emerging for this session include labor mandates, energy efficiency, utility rates, recycling infrastructure funding and more.

The FDA is trying to educate the public about bioengineered food with a new information initiative.
“Feed Your Mind,” which launched earlier this month, seeks to furnish information and combat misconceptions about genetically modified organisms. The program comes in advance of the 2022 deadline for mandatory national label identification of bioengineered food.