June 29, 2018
CapitalPress.com
5
FDA wants a re-do on
‘added sugars’ guidance
Agency heeds
honey, maple
syrup farmers
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Water shoots from a sprinkler in southwest Washington on the first day of summer. The National
Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center says the odds favor a warm growing season followed by
a warm winter in the Northwest as the ocean warms into an El Nino.
Forecasters: Prospects grow
for warm Northwest winter
Hot, dry summer
predicted
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Chances are rising that
next winter will be warm-
er than usual in the Pacif-
ic Northwest, the National
Weather Service’s Climate Pre-
diction Center reports.
The outlook is largely based
on the likelihood that the Pacif-
ic Ocean will heat up to El Nino
conditions by fall, according to
forecasters,
“Odds for above-normal
temperatures continue to in-
crease during the winter 2018-
19 from the Pacific Northwest
east to the Northern Great
Plains and Upper Mississippi
Valley,” according to center’s
new seasonal forecast.
An El Nino generally brings
warmer weather to the North-
west, though the effect on
summer water supplies has
varied. A weak El Nino pre-
vailed during Washington’s
“snowpack drought” of 2014-
15. There was a strong El Nino
the following winter, but the
state’s snowpacks were nor-
mal.
Some forecasting models
show sea-surface temperatures
along the equator peaking at 1
degree Celsius above normal
between November and Febru-
ary, according to the prediction
center. That would put the El
Nino just into the “moderate”
category.
A La Nina — low-
er-than-normal sea tempera-
tures — prevailed last winter.
The ocean has warmed to neu-
tral conditions and likely will
stay that way through the sum-
mer, according to the center.
The outlook for July, Au-
gust and September favors
above-average temperatures
across most of the country. The
odds are especially high for a
warm summer in the Pacific
Northwest and the Great Basin,
including Idaho.
Below-average precipita-
tion is favored for summer for
Oregon, Washington and the
Idaho Panhandle. Northern
California and the southern half
of Idaho have equal chances of
being wet, dry or average, ac-
cording to the center.
Energy regulators to consider new solar rules
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
The Oregon Energy Fa-
cility Siting Council will be
considering new rules to de-
termine whether multiple so-
lar power projects should be
regulated as a single facility.
The seven-member coun-
cil decides whether to ap-
prove the location of large
power-generating facilities,
including solar projects big-
ger than 100 acres of farmland
or 320 acres of other land.
On June 29, the coun-
cil is expected to appoint a
“rulemaking advisory com-
mittee” to consider whether
several smaller solar proj-
ects can “functionally ag-
gregate” to become a facility
that would otherwise come
under its regulatory jurisdic-
tion.
For example: a developer
with two separate projects,
each encompassing 60 acres,
on a 120-acre plot. Could
that be considered one project
subject to regulation?
If so, the committee would
recommend criteria to deter-
mine whether multiple solar
projects have crossed this
threshold and whether specif-
ic rules are necessary for such
situations.
Projects under the EFSC’s
jurisdiction are reviewed
for their impact on fish and
wildlife, potential for noise,
and effects on soil, among
other factors. They’re also
subject to bonding and insur-
ance requirements to ensure
money is available for their
A rush of negative com-
ments has the Food and Drug
Administration rethinking
how to explain what it means
by asserting that pure honey
and maple syrup have “added
sugars.”
The agency issued a state-
ment Tuesday promising to
“swiftly formulate a revised
approach” to informing con-
sumers that naturally sweet
honey and maple syrup add
sugar to diets — though no
sugar is added to the prod-
ucts.
The FDA said it was a
complex issue.
“The agency looks for-
ward to working with stake-
holders to devise a sensible
solution,” according to the
statement.
Beginning in 2020, pure
honey and maple syrup nu-
trition labels must have the
word “added” in front of
“sugar.” Farms and trade
groups complain that cus-
tomers will naturally think
another sweetener is added
to the natural sugars in honey
and maple syrup.
In what the FDA now
describes as a “preliminary
attempt” to the clarify the
rule, the agency suggested
footnotes on labels stating
that the “added sugars” are
natural.
Honey and maple syrup
farmers and trade groups
said that would only add
to the confusion. The FDA
received more than 3,000
comments on the footnote
suggestion. Almost all com-
ments were sharply critical
of the FDA and many were
filed just before the comment
period ended June 15.
“The feedback that FDA
Capital Press
Maple syrup producers complain that a Food and Drug Adminis-
tration labeling requirement will mislead consumers into thinking
sugar is added to their product. The FDA said June 19 that it will
work on trying not to confuse the public.
has received is that the ap-
proach laid out in the draft
guidance does not provide
the clarity that the FDA in-
tended,” the agency said.
Margaret Lombard, chief
executive officer of the Na-
tional Honey Board, said
June 21 that she was thrilled
by FDA’s decision to try
again.
The honey board submit-
ted surveys to the FDA that
suggested consumers think
“added sugars” means hon-
ey has been sweetened with
something else.
“People are very con-
fused,” Lombard said. “We
certainly don’t want to label
honey as having ‘added sug-
ar.’”
FDA overhauled the rules
for nutrition labels in 2016.
The rules were originally
scheduled to take effect in
July, but FDA pushed the
date back. Foodmakers with
sales of more than $10 mil-
lion are expected to have
new nutrition labels by Jan.
1, 2020. Smaller foodmakers
are expected to comply one
year later.
The FDA singled out hon-
ey and maple sugar for the
“added sugars” rule. Accord-
ing to USDA dietary guide-
lines some natural sugars,
such as in fruit, are not “add-
ed sugars” because those
calories contribute essential
nutrients to diets.
The FDA will require
cranberry juice and dried
sweet cranberries to list
“added sugars.” The cran-
berry industry complained
that the label would mis-
lead consumers into think-
ing cranberry products have
more sugar than competi-
tors such as apple and grape
juices that are naturally
sugary.
Ocean Spray Cranberries
supported FDA’s suggestion
to explain in a footnote that
sugar is added to sweeten tart
cranberries. An Ocean Spray
spokeswoman said Thursday
that the farmers cooperative
looks forward to working
with the FDA.
FDA gave no indication it
intended to eliminate the re-
quirement that honey, maple
syrup and cranberry products
inform consumers about the
sugar the products add to di-
ets.
“It is important to FDA
that consumers are able to
effectively use the new Nu-
trition Facts label to make
informed, healthy dietary
choices,” according to the
agency.
Capital Press File
New regulations may be considered for multiple solar projects in
Oregon that “functionally aggregate” to operate as one facility.
eventual decommissioning.
The “rulemaking project”
is getting underway at a time
of increasing scrutiny of so-
lar projects on farmland in
Oregon, with new proposals
encountering opposition and
county governments enacting
restrictions on siting.
Some of the controversy
has centered on solar projects
outside the Energy Facility
Siting Council’s jurisdiction,
such as a 70-acre project that’s
being appealed in Clackamas
County and an 80-acre project
that was blocked in Jackson
County.
Two standalone solar proj-
ects currently under consider-
ation by EFSC are substantial-
ly larger: one would top 5,000
acres while the other would be
as large as 7,000 acres. Both
are in Lake County in south-
central Oregon.
It’s currently an “open
question” whether an addi-
tional regulatory structure is
needed for multiple facilities
that aggregate into a larg-
er project, with members of
EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL
the rules advisory committee
likely having differing opin-
ions on the issue, said Todd
Cornett, Oregon Department
of Energy’s assistant director
for siting.
A similar question arose in
the past regarding wind ener-
gy projects, but the issue nev-
er led to a formal rulemaking
process, Cornett said.
Instead, wind projects are
evaluated based on 15 ques-
tions that probe proximity,
ownership and other factors,
with ODE offering an opinion
on whether they would come
under EFSC jurisdiction, he
said.
It’s not uncommon for de-
velopers to adjust projects so
they’re subject to regulato-
ry processes that are seen as
more advantageous, said Jim
Johnson, land use specialist
with the Oregon Department
of Agriculture who’s involved
in the solar issue.
“Some people would argue
historically that’s happened
with a lot of land uses, not just
solar,” he said.
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