Course Syllabus
FS 440/540 Food Laws
Fall 2025 (2 Credits)
Recommended preparation:
FS 110, FS 201, FS 220, or equivalent.
Course Details
This course is a distance education course. All pre-recorded lectures, course materials, and announcements can be found on Canvas and accessed anytime. All coursework will be submitted through Canvas. Optional student hours (office hours) are offered synchronously (live) and are accessed over Zoom. Please download the Zoom app and create an account to join meetings. Follow the instructions provided to test out Zoom prior to joining meetings.
Instructor Contact Information
Instructor Name: Thuy Bernhard, PhD
Instructor Contact Information: thuy.bernhard@wsu.edu, 509-335-2101
Student Hours: Email instructor to schedule a Zoom appointment.
Course Description
An introduction to food laws and regulations focusing on areas of the law that would impact food science professionals. Students will become familiar with government statutes and regulations that contribute to a safe, nutritious, and wholesome food supply. The course will cover the law and the US legal system relevant to the regulation of the manufacture and sale of food and supplements. This conjoint course includes additional assignments required of students enrolled at the 500-level to meet the graduate standards assigned for graduate-level coursework.
Course Materials
Books:
-
Fortin, N. D. (2017). Food regulation: Law, science, policy, and practice (Second edition.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Link to eBook via the WSU Libraries.
Sanchez, M. C. (2018). Food law and regulation for non-lawyers : A US perspective (Second edition.). Springer. Link to eBook via the WSU Libraries.
- Published scholarly literature, legislation, regulations, government-industry guidance, and cases will be part of the reading for this course and will be provided for you on Canvas.
Weekly Discussions
There are 6 weekly discussion posts. All students will submit their initial response to the prompt by Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. PT, and two response posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. PT each week.
FS 440 Discussion Presentations
In addition to the weekly discussion, undergraduate students will also submit a pre-recorded 10-15-minute discussion presentation on one assigned topic. Undergraduate students may sign up for their discussion topic in the first week of the course.
FS 540 Position Paper Term Project & Oral Presentation
This term paper is a persuasive position paper on a specific topic in food law. Graduate students will work in groups of two to explain a current law, regulation, or agency position and then advocate how such law, regulation, or agency position should be changed to promote either food safety or trade. The law, regulation, or agency position can involve any relevant issue under FDA, USDA, EPA, or FTC. Also, an issue associated with state law or conflicts of laws can be potential topics (e.g., federal vs. state, the U.S., and a trading partner). Each group will submit a pre-recorded 10-minute presentation to share their findings with the rest of the class.
Challenge Assignments
All students will complete four written Challenge Assignments to demonstrate their knowledge of the assigned readings and weekly presentations. Students will work on these assignments individually and submit them by the deadlines noted on the Course Schedule.
Assessments
Quizzes will contain a variety of question types including multiple choice, true/false, matching, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and/or essay. Quizzes will be open note, but will be timed, so studying beforehand is recommended. These must be completed in the same session in which they are started; it is the student’s responsibility to find time to complete the quizzes in one sitting. The quizzes will be taken individually without the help of other people or resources (see the Academic Integrity Statement below).
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Course Learning Outcomes (students will be able to:) |
Activities Supporting the Learning Outcomes | Assessment of the Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
|
Understand Food Laws and Regulations
|
|
Assessment (quizzes, grade feedback) will be provided throughout the course. |
|
Examine Food Law Issues and Implications
|
|
Assessment (quizzes, grade feedback) will be provided throughout the course. |
|
Effectively Communicate Course Concepts
|
|
Assessment (quizzes, grade feedback) will be provided throughout the course. |
| Dates | Lesson Topics | Discussions | Readings | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Week 1 |
Intro to Food Laws and Food Labeling |
Week 1 Discussion (initial post due Aug. 20; response posts due Aug. 24) |
- Fortin book chapters 1, 2, and 3. Ch. 1 Intro to Food Regulation in the US Ch. 2 What is Food? Ch. 3 Food Labeling - "The Federal Food Safety System: A Primer" by Renée Johnson - Read 21 CFR Part 101 Food Labeling (skim the first page)- Position Paper Instructions - Presentation Instructions |
Due Aug. 24
- Sign Up for Project Topics |
| Week 2 August 25-31 |
Food Label Claims and Advertising |
Week 2 Discussion (initial post due Aug. 27; response posts due Aug. 31) |
- Fortin chapters: Ch. 4 Nutritional Labeling & Nutrient Level Claims 4.2. The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) 4.7 Nutrient Content Claims Ch. 5 Health Claims Ch. 6 Credence Claims & Conditional Labeling Ch. 7 Advertising & Other Regulation of Labeling Ch. 7.1 Intro Ch. 7.2 Federal Trade Commission Ch. 11.7 DSHEA Specially Authorized Health-Related Claims - National Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS) Programs and Initiatives. - "Report to Congressional Requestors" on "Date Labels on Packaged Foods” by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, pp. 1 -13, 28. |
Due Aug. 31
- Challenge Assignment #1 |
|
Week 3 Labor Day Sept. 1 |
Food Safety Modernization Act |
Week 3 Discussion (initial post due Sept. 3; response posts due Sept. 7) |
- Fortin chapters 8 and 9. Ch. 8 Economic & Aesthetic Adulteration Ch. 9 Regulation of Unintentional Poisonous or Deleterious Substances in Food |
Due Sept. 7
- Challenge Assignment #2 |
| Week 4 September 8-14 |
Civil Court Actions |
Week 4 Discussion (initial post due Sept. 10; response posts due Sept. 14) |
- Fortin sections 18.1 through 18.3.2 in chapter 18 (pages 409 – 413) Ch. 18 State Laws & Their Relationship to Federal Laws Ch. 18.1 Intro Ch. 18.2 State Inspection and Enforcement Powers Ch. 18.3 Federal Preemption of States Ch. 19.3 Products Liability - Washington Chapter 7.72 RCW Product Liability Actions |
Due Sept. 14 - Challenge Assignment #3 - Quiz 1 |
| Week 5 September 15-21 |
Criminal Court Actions | Week 5 Discussion (initial post due Sept. 17; response posts due Sept. 21) |
- Fortin sections 16.6 and 16.7. Ch. 16.6 Criminal Actions Ch. 16.7 Other Remedies and Concerns |
None |
| Week 6 September 22-28 |
Food Defense, Imports under FSVP, & Bioengineered Foods | Week 6 Discussion (initial post due Sept. 24; response posts due Sept. 28) |
- Fortin chapters 13, 14, and 21. Ch. 13 Food Defense Ch. 14 Importation & Exportation Ch. 21 International Food Law- Skim Codex Principles for the Risk Analysis of Food Derived from Modern Biotechnology |
Due Sept. 28 - FS 540 Position Paper and Presentation - FS 440 Presentation - Challenge Assignment #4 |
| Week 7 September 29-October 5 |
Position Paper Presentations | None | None |
Due Oct. 5 - Peer-Assessments of Position Paper Presentations - Quiz 2 |
“Fortin” refers to the book Food Regulation: Law Science, Policy, and Practice, 2nd ed. by Neal D. Fortin
Expectations for Student Effort
Academic credit is a measure of the total minimum time commitment required of a typical student in a specific course. For the WSU semester system, one semester credit is assigned for a minimum of 45 hours of student effort (See Academic regulation 27). For a 7-week course, students should expect to spend a minimum of 13 hours per week for each online 2-credit course engaged in activities including, but not limited to reading, listening to/viewing media, completing assignments and reviewing instructor feedback, contributing to discussions, conducting research, studying for and completing assessments, etc.
Grading
| FS 440 Coursework | Percent of Overall Grade | FS 540 Coursework | Percent of Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly Discussions | 25% | Weekly Discussions | 25% |
| Presentation | 20% | Paper & Presentation | 30% |
| Challenge Assignments | 25% | Challenge Assignments | 20% |
| Quizzes | 30% | Quizzes | 25% |
| Total | 100% | 100 |
| Grade | Percent | Grade | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| A |
>95 |
C | 73.0-75.9 |
| A- | 90.0-94.9 | C- | 70.0-72.9 |
| B+ | 86.0-89.9 | D+ | 66.0-69.9 |
| B | 83.0-85.9 | D | 60.0-65.9 |
| B- | 80.0-82.9 | F | <59.9 |
| C+ | 76.0-79.9 |
[Grades will be rounded to the nearest tenth of a percentage (e.g., 89.98% earns an A-)]
Make-Up Policy
Due dates for all coursework are noted on the Course Schedule. Late work will receive a 10% grade deduction after the deadline and for each day thereafter, unless excused with written documentation. Please contact the instructor at least 48 hours before the due date to make alternative arrangements if there is an unavoidable conflict that prevents the student from meeting the deadlines. Unexcused missed quizzes will yield a score of zero.
Academic Integrity Statement
You are responsible for reading WSU's Academic Integrity Policy, which is based on Washington State law. If you cheat in your work in this class you will:
-Receive a zero on the assignment, and may fail the course.
-Be reported to the Center for Community Standards
-Have the right to appeal my decision
-Not be able to drop the course of withdraw from the course until the appeals process is finished
If you have any questions about what you can and cannot do in this course, ask me.
If you want to ask for a change in my decision about academic integrity, use the form at the Center for Community Standards website. You must submit this request within 21 calendar days of the decision.