The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is holding a public discussion about economically motivated adulteration of food, and the USDA has announced a change to a regulation that affects retailer exemptions.

The FDA is announcing a public meeting pertaining to economically motivated adulteration (EMA). The meeting is intended to stimulate and focus a discussion about ways in which the food (including dietary supplements and animal food), drug, medical device, and cosmetic industries, regulatory agencies, and other parties can better predict and prevent economically motivated adulteration with a focus on situations that pose the greatest public health risk.

FDA invites interested individuals, organizations, and other stakeholders, including industry representatives, to present information pertaining to predicting and preventing EMA. The Natural Products Association will be attending the meeting.

The meeting is scheduled for Friday, May 1, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA, Rockville, Md. The agency also requests interested parties to submit comments on this issue to the public docket by August 1, 2009.? For full details, go to?http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-7843.htm.