Raisin d'État

In response to a petition filed with the Agricultural Marketing Service ("AMS") of the United States Department of Agriculture ("USDA") by Little People of America ("LPA"), "a nonprofit organization that provides support and information to people of short stature and their families", the AMS announced on June 23, 2016, that it plans to amend its federal regulations on raisin nomenclature,

removing five references to the term ‘‘midget’’ in the following sections: 52.1845(b) and (c), 52.1850(a)(2) and (a)(3), and Table I.

As its reasoning, the AMS states,

The revisions will modernize and help clarify the language of the standard by removing dual terminology for the same requirement.

Once the rule is final, on July 23, 2016, the AMS plans to use the descriptor "small" to describe diminutive raisins.

Congratulations to the LPA for achieving this regulatory redress.