Researchers at the University of Hawaii have tested 160 fast-food products purchased from outlets throughout the United States and reportedly found that “not 1 item could be traced back to a noncorn source.” A. Hope Jahren & Rebecca A. Kraft, “Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotopes in Fast Food: Signatures of Corn and Confinement,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 18, 2008. According to the researchers, “Ingredients matter for many reasons: U.S. corn agriculture has been criticized as environmentally unsustainable and conspicuously subsidized.” Sampling the ratios of different isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in the meat and chicken samples tested, the researchers were able to determine what the animals were fed and the level of fertilizer used on the feed crops. They also found that higher levels of nitrogen isotope in the meat, from the ammonia emitted in their manure, could be linked to meat coming from animals raised in confined conditions.
Category Archives Issue 282
The International Council on Nanotechnology (ICON) has announced the launch of a database analysis tool that enables nanotechnology research comparisons. The tool is used in conjunction with ICON’s database of citations to peer-reviewed publications addressing the environmental, health and safety impacts of nanomaterials. According to ICON Director Kristen Kulinowski, “In addition to returning a list of abstracts that meet the criteria chosen by the user, the database now allows the user to analyze research trends across time and by category.” The comparisons are presented as pie charts and bar graphs. Intended users are researchers at universities, non-governmental organizations, government, and industry worldwide. They will be able to (i) “Compare categories within a specific time range, e.g., selecting papers published between 2000-2007 and requesting the number that studied nanoscale carbons, oxides, metals and semiconductors”; (ii) “Track the progression of publications in a given category by month or year, e.g., plotting the number…
According to news sources, scientists attending the American Heart Association conference in New Orleans released the results of several studies including one showing that the artery walls of children who are obese or have high cholesterol are as thick as those of adults who are 30 years older. Led by Geetha Raghuveer, a cardiologist and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, this small study of 70 children used ultrasound to measure artery wall thickness. While no one apparently knows how thick a 10-year-old’s blood vessels should be, the researchers reportedly used tables for 45-year-olds and found the thickness comparable. Other research presented during the conference showed that 991 obese Australian children had a greater enlargement of their hearts and that 150 Australian children with a higher body-mass index had left ventricles that were slower to untwist in the heart pumping process, thus impairing the…
Researchers in Canada have published a warning in Science about the leaching of bioactive contaminants from disposable laboratory plastic ware such as test tubes, pipette tips and culture plates. They demonstrated that some lubricating, or slip, agents (“exemplified by oleamide”) and cationic biocides (DiHEMDA) used in manufacturing the plastics “leach from laboratory plasticware into a standard aqueous buffer, dimethyl sulfoxide, and methanol and can have profound effects on proteins and thus on results from biossays of protein function.” These agents are apparently used in products from yogurt containers to clothing. Biochemistry Professor Andrew Holt, who was apparently studying how an enzyme that plays a role in Parkinson’s disease is affected by different compounds, found widely and inexplicably varying results that were ultimately traced to the polypropylene tubes used to prepare the solutions. His team reportedly found a clear correlation between the particular test tubes used and their unusual results. According to…
The public interest group Food & Water Watch has urged consumers to contact the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to oppose the use of the “USDA Organic” label for farmed fish. Food & Water Watch has accused industrial fish farmers of attempting to “greenwash” aquaculture practices that, according to the group, disrupt ocean ecosystems “by wiping out the fish on the bottom of the food chain” and increase “the amount of dangerous pollutants like mercury and PCBs” that wind up in farmed fish products. The organization warns consumers that feeding wild fish to farm-bred fish in deep-water open pens is not “consistent with [the] organic principles that you have come to trust and that require minimal impact on the environment, control of input and outputs, and animals to be raised on organically-raised feed.” Food & Water Watch recently initiated several action calls to counteract the final directives of the Bush…
SHB Tort lawyers James Andreasen and Christopher McDonald have co-authored an article that discusses developments in the drafting of an agricultural sustainability standard under the auspices of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Noting that the initial draft, “if finalized, could have broad-reaching impact,” the authors observe that a number of stakeholders have already “expressed concerns about certain aspects of the draft,” which is intended to cover agricultural activities “from seed to store.” Among the draft’s requirements for agricultural producers would be (i) the adoption of organic practices, (ii) limitations on and phase-out of “synthetic” pesticides and fertilizers, and (iii) employment practices in the areas of collective bargaining rights and union organizing activities “that may go beyond existing legal requirements.” The article notes that voluntary ANSI standards are often adopted by governments as legal requirements and indicates how interested parties can become involved in the standard’s development.
With more than 54,000 Chinese children sickened by the melamine contamination of milk and infant formula products in recent months and the government stalling over compensation of their families, some 15 lawyers have reportedly decided to file the claims of nearly 100 families in a single lawsuit against the Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co. The lawyers have not apparently set a date for its filing and intend to hold discussions with the dairy company at the heart of the alleged scandal. According to a news source, they are hoping to force a settlement by grouping a large number of claims. China’s government has ordered hospitals to order free treatment for the sick infants, but not all costs have been covered, and at least a dozen individual cases have already been filed. These suits are in a “legal limbo” because the courts have neither accepted nor refused them. See Associated Press, November…
The Philadelphia City Council this week adopted menu labeling laws that will require chain restaurants with more than 15 outlets to provide extensive nutritional information on printed menus and to list calories on menu boards. Starting January 1, 2010, national and local chains must disclose calories, saturated and trans fats, sodium, and carbohydrates on printed menus in the same typeface used for food descriptions and price. Opposed by the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association for its “one-size-fits-all” approach, the regulation also drew criticism from some council members who viewed the bill as an unnecessary burden on the restaurants. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, however, praised the new rules as a “useful incentive to the restaurant industry to expand the number and variety of healthy choices on their menus.” See CSPI Press Release, November 6, 2008; Philadelphia Inquirer, November 7, 2008; Meatingplace.com, November 10, 2008. In a related development, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported…
The Chinese government has reportedly arrested the owner of a poultry feed operation implicated in a nationwide scandal involving melamine-tainted animal products. The manufacturer apparently confessed to using the industrial chemical in 212 tons of chicken feed sold to Dalian Hanovo Enterprise Group, which then distributed adulterated eggs to Chinese consumers. The government also destroyed an additional 75 tons of contaminated feed seized from the owner as part of its crackdown on the widespread practice of adding melamine to feed and dairy products to artificially boost protein counts. State media sources have indicated that inspectors have shuttered 238 illegal farms and 130 dairy farms since melamine-laden infant formula first sickened thousands of children. The scandal has closed approximately 20 percent of China’s dairy industry. See What Not To Eat: Marion Nestle, November 12, 2008. Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has apparently issued a detention order for milk-containing products imported…
The European Commission this week abolished more than 100 pages of rules and regulations governing the size, shape and color of various vegetables and fruits sold in member countries. The rules reportedly included prescriptions dictating that green asparagus must be green for 80 percent of its length and a cauliflower head must exceed 11 centimeters in diameter. Although it retained the marketing standards for apples, pears, citrus fruits, strawberries, and tomatoes, the commission repealed those pertaining to apricots, artichokes, asparagus, avocados, beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, cherries, chicory, courgettes, cucumbers, cultivated mushrooms, eggplant, garlic, hazelnuts in shell, headed cabbages, leeks, melon, onions, peas, plums, rubbed celery, spinach, walnuts in shell, and watermelon. Organic farmers have greeted the demise of the regulations as a boon to their niche market, which is “about inner quality, not outer appearance,” according to Soil Association Director Patrick Holden. Large retailers like Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda also…
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