Natural Ingredients and Regulations
For common information relating to all foods, including meat products, please see Common Names and True Nature. The aforementioned exemptions from the labeling requirements do not apply to foods listed under SFCR Section 25, because those are not considered to be meat products. Meat spreads (for which the standard of identity is prescribed in Item 18 of Part A, table 2 of the Canadian Standard of Identity, Volume 7 Meat products) that add tomatoes can no longer use the generic name meat spread as that food does not meet the standard. The statement can usually be added either to the products general name or added to the end of the ingredients list.
When a meat product that contains phosphate salts and/or water is used as a component of the preparation of another food, the common name of that second-generation meat product (the finished product) does not need to reflect that the phosphate salts and/or water were included as part of the meat component, and does not need a meat-protein percentage (%) statement in the common name. Meat products that add phosphate salts and/or water are not one-ingredient foods. Examples of fertilizer products which may be produced by nutrient extraction systems are ammonium sulfate, calcium phosphate, and magnesium ammonium sulfate (struvite) crystals. Nutrient extraction technologies, or nutrient recycling technologies of dung, can extract nutrients from manure to produce fertilizer products.
Using fresh manure as fertilizer for crops to feed to livestock, either directly or as byproducts from additional treatment, is a great way to reclaim nutrients. Farmers, gardeners, landscapers, and others often use animal manure as a fertilizer to supply nutrients needed for crops. Manure solids may be used in bedding or other applications, while remaining manure liquid may be applied on the ground for both irrigation and crop fertilization. Manure contains a number of useful, recoverable components including nutrients, organic matter, solids, energy, and fiber.
Bioconversion involves growing organisms on the manure, or the nutrients from the manure, then harvesting it for use as components in animal feed, fertilizer, or soil amendments. Most manure and animal manure products applied on Virginia farmland are applied using nutrient management plans to minimize nutrients lost to the environment. Nutrient Management Plans are required and assure biosolids are applied at appropriate rates to crops grown and the soils applied. Federal and State regulations outline processes a wastewater treatment facility or other facility must follow in order to be eligible for producing biosolids.
The experimental design shall relate to state conditions under which the regulated products are intended. The Commissioner shall lift the embargo on any lots of the regulated product when requirements under the provisions of this title are met and all costs and expenses incurred under the embargo are paid. Any lot of regulated product that is not complied with by the provisions of this article is subject to seizure upon the Commissioners complaint before a court of competent jurisdiction in the district or circuit in which the product is located.
The Commissioner may adopt such regulations as are necessary, relating to the allowances for investigations, the definitions, records, charges, and the allocation of regulated products, as may be necessary to effectuate the entire purpose and meaning of this article, including environmental protection. If no application is made, the commissioner may require evidence as to the utility and value of a regulated product. Nothing in this article shall be construed to limit or avoid sales or trade in regulated products among importers, manufacturers, or handlers that blend regulated materials for sales, or to inhibit free and unlimited shipments of regulated products to manufacturers or handlers that register their trademarks under provisions of this article. FDA regulates both finished food additive products and food ingredients.
Crop Nutrient Uptake and Removal Total nutrient uptake and removal were estimated for each crop production category analyzed (Table A-1 in Appendix). Nutrient use efficiency factors were based on estimates of the quantity of nutrients that would have been available to plants to take and utilize following application of manure to soil.
METHODS Data from the 1992 agricultural census The 1992 Agricultural Census was used to assess the population of livestock, production of manure, and utilization of nutrients by crops.3 The Census of Agriculture provides the best source of consistent, county-level statistics about farm operations across the U.S. A 1996 report, “Nutrient Use in Cropland Agriculture,” documented information about crop yields, commercial fertilizer sales and usage, animal growth and displacement, trends in the use of nitrogen and phosphorus in select crops, and status of use of nitrogen and phosphorus for 36 crops in 1992, for which detailed information was available (Lander and Moffitt, 1996). The National Academy of Sciences, in a 2002 review of existing practices, public health concerns, and regulatory standards, concluded that biosolids use in crop production poses negligible risks to humans, crop production, and the environment.
Farmers using biosolids are gaining access to a cost-effective fertilizer option, which helps the productivity and profitability of their operations. When applied to cropland, nutrients found in biosolids–primarily nitrogen and phosphorus–replace nutrients found in the commercial fertilizer farmers would use normally. Black soldier fly larvae are a value-added product that can be exported from farms. The outstanding quality of the biosolids is safe to handle and use for the general public, and may be applied as any other registered fertilizer to lawns, gardens, parks, and golf courses in urban areas according to soil nutrient recommendations to promote plant growth. In some cases, treatment may produce a product with a consistent, predictable nutrient profile, making it more affordable for crops production and other uses. Improved approaches to nutrient management, alternatives to on-land applications (e.g., power generation or other products, remediation), and conservation practices will be especially important in reducing contamination opportunities in cases in which the availability of nutrients in the manure is greater than the needs of crops. The Gotland Project is part of a global wave of similar efforts aimed at segregating urine from other wastewater, and recycling it for products like fertilizer.