PLMA Washington Conference Covers Key Issues

Private Label Manufacturers Association members who attended the
annual PLMA Washington Conference, October 15-16, 2001, at the
Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, received detailed briefings on a
number of economic and industry issues confronting the country
today.

â?¢ At the opening session Breakfast Briefing, Frank J.
Fahrenkopf, Jr., president, American Gaming Association, gave an
inside look at the role and contributions of lobbyists in the
legislative process in Washington. As a former national chairman
of the Republican Party, Fahrenkopf also provided a behind-the-
scenes look at the planning and operation of a presidential
election.
â?¢ In the succeeding session Product Recalls & Crisis
Management,Larry L. Smith, president, Center for Crisis
Management, provided business executives with concrete advice on
they could minimize the negative public reaction to a company
crisis.
According to research provided by Smith, the three fastest
growing crisis ctegories are:
â?¢ Workplace Violence,
â?¢ Racial Discrimination, and
â?¢ Product Defects and Recalls.

The last category continues to be the second most frequent
organizational crisis, according to the 2000 Crisis Report from
the Institute for Crisis Management. Almost 17 percent of the
Year 2000 crises fell within this category. Class action
lawsuits and defects and recalls seem to track together; as
defects and recalls rise so do lawsuits. Customers expect
purchased products and services to work. When they dont,
customers sue to recoup their lost investment in dollars and
time and to \"punish\" the company, according to the report.

In the session on Food Allergens: A Regulatory Update, Debra
White, regulatory affairs counsel, for the Food Marketing
Institute, stood in for Dr. Kenneth J. Falci,, director of
Office of Scientific Analysis & Support, Center for Food Safety
& Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, who was
called away in connection with the Anthrax crisis.

According to the USDA, the most common allergens (90%) are
linked to eight foods: 1. Milk, 2. Fish, 3 Peanuts, 4. Tree
Nuts, 5. Eggs, 6 Wheat, 7. Soybeans, and 8. Crustacea--lobster,
shrimp, crab.

According to the results of a public meeting held by the USDA on
August 13, 2001, the following recommendations were made:

â?¢ Allergen Food Labeling reform is needed,
â?¢ Cross-contact issues need attention,
â?¢ Precautionary statements get mixed reviews
â?¢ Plain Language on food label needed, and
â?¢ 800 numbers on food packages required.

Regarding allergen thresholds, the USDA report says: \"Current
available data indicate that it is not possible to set a limit
to the amount of allergenic protein there must be in a food to
elicit an allergic reaction.\"

As a result, under consideration is: \"Full ingredient labeling
for products being manufactured and sold to retailers.\"

In his session on Business as Usual in Times that Arent, Delos
R. Smith, senior business analyst for The Conference Board,
disdained from using the word recession, but he admitted to the
audience that there was a long list of leading indicators that
are down in the U.S. economy. One bright spot on the otherwise
gloomy economic landscape is in automobile sales which were up
for the month of September. If this positive sales trend
continues, it will lead to increased auto production and have a
stimulating affect on the economy.

He recommended that companies continue to conduct business as
usual and look upon the current bad economic numbers as the
bottom on which to build more positive numbers in the months
ahead.