The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has reportedly issued a temporary stay of a district court order mandating the destruction of 256 acres of genetically engineered (GE) sugar beet seedlings that were, according to the lower court, planted illegally in September 2010. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Vilsack, No. 10-04038 (N.D. Cal., decided November 30, 2010). Press sources indicate that the Ninth Circuit’s postponement is scheduled to expire December 23, when the court will either allow the crop destruction to proceed or extend the stay until it can thoroughly review an appeal from the lower court order granting the plaintiffs’ motion to remedy violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by pulling the seedlings out of the ground. The seedlings were being grown to produce seed for future Roundup Ready® sugar beet crops, which are resistant to glyphosate, an ingredient in a popular herbicide. GE sugar beet critics contend…
Category Archives Issue 374
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has overruled Mayor Gavin Newsom’s (D) veto of a bill prohibiting restaurants from offering toy giveaways in children’s meals deemed too high in calories, salt or fat. Under the law, which takes effect in December 2011, restaurants can only provide toys with meals containing fewer than 600 calories and 640 milligrams of sodium, and if fat makes up less than 35 percent of the total calories. In vetoing the measure, Newsom called the legislation an “intrusive and ineffective approach” to combat the problem and “unprecedented governmental intrusion into parental responsibilities and private choices.” But Supervisor Eric Mar (D) told a news source after the November 23, 2010, veto override that parents and health advocates support the measure to help curb childhood obesity. “From the Institutes of Medicine to the World Health Organization, we know that reducing the consumption of junk food by kids could spare…
The United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) board has reportedly changed its position to agree with the European Commission (EC) that food from the offspring of cloned cattle and pigs does not require authorization as “novel foods.” Meeting December 7, 2010, to discuss animal cloning for food production, the FSA board also agreed that “for food safety purposes, mandatory labeling of meat and milk obtained from the descendants of cloned cattle and pigs would be unnecessary and disproportionate, providing no significant food safety benefit to consumers.” According to an FSA press release, the food safety watchdog agreed to advise European Union ministers that “the marketing of products obtained from cloned animals should be subject to authorization as novel foods,” but that it was prepared to adopt EC’s position that offspring of cloned cattle and pigs does not require such authorization. FSA announced that it will seek views from interested parties…
The European Commission (EC) has announced a ban on bisphenol A (BPA) in plastic baby bottles. According to a November 26, 2010, press release, the decision was reached at a meeting of European Union member states that followed “months of discussion and exchange of views between the Commission’s services, the European Food Safety Agency, member states and the industry.” The measure prohibits member states from manufacturing the bottles with BPA starting on March 1, 2011, and selling and importing them as of June 1. John Dalli, commissioner in charge of health and consumer policy, reportedly raised concerns after recent studies claimed to show BPA could be harmful to infants. “The decision is good news for European parents who can be sure that as of mid-2011 plastic infant feeding bottles will not include BPA,” he was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, a UK expert has criticized the move, telling a news source…
The European Commission’s (EC’s) Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks has approved a definition for “nanomaterial” as a basis for future regulatory safety evaluations and risk assessments. The committee concluded that size is the most relevant consideration in defining the term, and that no scientific justification exists to prefer any specific size limit other than the range from 1 to 100 nanometers. According to the committee, “size influences bio-distribution (and distribution kinetics) in an organism or in an ecosystem which should be taken into consideration in the risk assessment of nanomaterials.” The committee decided not to distinguish between natural and manufactured nanomaterials in its definition.
Saying the European Union’s (EU’s) citizen initiative procedure, created under the Lisbon Treaty, is “not yet valid,” EU Health Commissioner John Dalli has reportedly dismissed on procedural grounds the submission of 1.03 million citizens taking part in a campaign to compel the European Commission (EC) to prohibit genetically modified (GM) crops until an “independent ethical, scientific body” assesses their impact. This first effort to activate the Lisbon pact’s rules allowing one million citizens to propose legislation was apparently initiated in May 2010 after the EC decided to grant the first EU GM cultivation approval. According to one of the organizations responsible for the anti-GM campaign, “European citizens have given the Commission more than a million reasons to listen to the public and act with precaution rather than cave to the private interests of a handful of GM companies who are influencing Europe’s agricultural future.” Dalli indicated that he would take…
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has issued a report revising the dietary reference intakes (DRIs) for vitamin D and calcium, while warning that “too much of these nutrients may be harmful.” At the request of the U.S. and Canadian governments, the IOM Food and Nutrition Board assessed more than 1,000 vitamin D and calcium studies related to a range of health outcomes, “including but not limited to cancer, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, falls, immune response, neuropsychological functioning, physical performance, preeclampsia, and reproductive outcomes.” Although evidence apparently substantiated “the importance of vitamin D and calcium in promoting bone growth and maintenance,” it did not confirm any “benefits beyond bone health—benefits often reported in the media.” The new DRIs provide nutrient guidelines based on estimated average requirements, recommended dietary allowances and upper level intakes for different age groups. According to IOM, “Most Americans and Canadians up to age…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has reportedly been asked by a Canadian biotechnology company to approve its genetically modified (GM) apple, which resists browning after it is sliced. The British Columbia-based company apparently licensed the non-browning technology from an Australian company that developed it for potatoes. Approval of the GM technology could take several years, and U.S. apple growers have reportedly expressed concerns about cross-pollination with conventional apple trees as well as the cost of replanting apple groves with the “Arctic” apples, a figure estimated at $10,000 to $20,000 per acre. Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety, criticized the proposal, apparently claiming, “A botox apple is not what people are looking for. I’m predicting failure.” Yet, the sliced apple market has increased in recent years, with suppliers relying on calcium and ascorbic acid to maintain product freshness. The company seeking the GM apple’s approval claims that the…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced an advisory committee meeting to “discuss whether available relevant data demonstrate a link between children’s consumption of synthetic color additives in food and adverse effects on behavior.” FDA plans to provide background material no later than two business days before the March 30-31, 2011, public meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland. Calling the news “welcome and overdue,” Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) Executive Director Michael Jacobson said that the meeting was in response to CSPI’s 2008 petition calling for FDA to ban Yellow 5, Red 50 and six other food dyes. The dyes “have long been shown in numerous clinical studies to impair children’s behavior,” Jacobson said. “But for years—FDA— which actually commissioned one of the first controlled studies—dismissed the mounting evidence against the dyes.” See Federal Register and CSPI News Release, December 1, 2010.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a preliminary staff report that proposes a framework for businesses and policymakers to protect the privacy of consumers using the Internet. FTC staff seeks stakeholder comments on the proposed framework until January 31, 2011, and a final report will follow. The report coincides with a recent congressional hearing during which FTC officials testified that a “persistent” browser setting could allow consumers to choose whether companies can collect data about their online searching and browsing. According to an agency press release, although online tracking can help targeted advertising efforts, FTC “supports giving consumers a ‘Do Not Track’ option because the practice is largely invisible to consumers, and they should have a simple, easy way to control it.” The option could be accomplished through legislation or “potentially through robust, enforceable self-regulation,” FTC said. “The advantage of industry doing something themselves is that they can move much…
