California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has proposed a no significant risk level (NSRL) of 16 micrograms per day for 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI), a chemical commonly present in foods such as wine, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce after they have been cooked. The food industry was apparently unable to prevent OEHHA from listing the ubiquitous chemical as a carcinogen under Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) and may now be considering challenging the NSRL. The proposed threshold will reportedly require Prop. 65 warnings on thousands of products. The chemical is also apparently used in the production of some pharmaceuticals. OEHHA requests comments by February 21, 2011. See Inside Cal/EPA, January 13, 2011.
Category Archives Issue 377
A recent study has reportedly questioned the role of HDL cholesterol in lowering heart disease risk, suggesting instead that one specific protein or compound in so-called “good” cholesterol might be better than others at removing bad cholesterol. Amit Khera, et al., “Cholesterol Efflux Capacity, High-Density Lipoprotein Function, and Atherosclerosis,” New England Journal of Medicine, January 13, 2011. According to the study abstract, researchers measured cholesterol efflux capacity—or how well HDL extracted cholesterol from cells—in “203 healthy volunteers who underwent assessment of carotid artery intima–media thickness, 442 patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease, and 351 patients without such angiographically confirmed disease.” The results evidently showed that overall HDL levels were “a less effective” predictor of heart disease than HDL’s ability to remove cholesterol. As one study author noted, these findings could help researchers identify “a particular protein that’s a major determinant” of cholesterol efflux capacity, thus allowing them to test for poor…
“I don’t want any more government interference than the next guy, but I believe that the precedent has already been set for successful government intervention on behalf of improving our health,” writes Hanover College Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology Professor Bryant Stamford in the first of a two-part article comparing obesity prevention tactics to federal curbs on tobacco advertising. Acknowledging the public outcry against fast-food incentive bans, Stamford suggests that the government would not set “a dangerous precedent” insofar as it has already made a concerted effort to stymie youth tobacco use with product warnings and advertisement restrictions. Without these measures, he claims, “the cigarette industry would continue to run roughshod over the American public with the specific purpose of capturing us when we are young, addicting us and ensuring that the majority of the addicted will be customers for life.” For Stamford, the parallels between the tobacco and fast food…
“As crime sagas go, a scheme rigged by a sophisticated cartel of global traders has all the right blockbuster elements: clandestine movements of illegal substances through a network of co-operatives in Asia, a German conglomerate, jet-setting executives, doctored laboratory reports, high-profile takedowns and fearful turncoats,” opens Globe and Mail food reporter Jessica Leeder in this exposé tracing the honey market from Chinese beekeepers, who are allegedly “notorious” for using banned antibiotics and diluting their products, to North America, where they are “baked into everything from breakfast cereals to cookies and mixed into sauces and cough drops.” Leeder claims that imported honey sold in North America “is more likely to be stamped as Indonesian, Malaysian or Taiwanese, due to a growing multimillion dollar laundering system designed to keep the endless supply of cheap and often contaminated Chinese honey moving into the U.S., where tariffs have been implemented to staunch the flow…
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has announced its Spring 2011 Seminar Series featuring the interdisciplinary work of public policy and health advocates, as well as legal and industry insights. Speakers for the series include (i) Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids President Matthew Myers (Advocacy Lessons from the Battle to Reduce Tobacco); (ii) Cornell Food and Brand Lab Director Brian Wansink (Mindless Eating Solutions); (iii) San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar (Creating Access to Healthier Meal Options); (iv) Legacy CEO Cheryl Healton (Lessons Learned from the Tobacco Wars); (v) Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Professor Stephen Teret (Innovative Legal Strategies for Food Policy); and (vi) National Restaurant Association CEO Dawn Sweeney (Today’s Restaurant Industry: Empowering Consumers with Healthy Choices and Nutrition Information). Hosted at the Rudd Center in New Haven, Connecticut, these seminars are open to the public and run from January 19 through April 20.
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has reportedly voted to amend its policy on the expiration of genetically modified (GM) crop patents, calling on industry to develop “a protocol for biotech crops before coming off patent.” With patents set to expire for more than 24 GM varieties in coming years, the 6-million member farmers’ coalition has evidently asked industry to craft a plan aimed at avoiding shortages or trade disruptions. AFBF delegates at an Atlanta, Georgia, meeting apparently discussed grower and seed group concerns about whether generic seed versions will be available and accepted by other nations. “There just needs to be a way to deal with it,” said AFBF Director of International Policy Rosemarie Watkins. See Reuters, January 13, 2011.
The American Heart Association (AHA) is urging the food industry, health professionals, government, and the public to “intensify efforts to reduce the amount of sodium (salt) Americans consume.” Published as a presidential advisory in an upcoming issue of its journal Circulation, AHA says its science-based recommendations advocate no more than 1,500 mg of sodium daily for the general public. The group claims that current sodium intake is more than two times higher, with 77 percent coming from packaged, processed and restaurant foods. “Even a modest decline in intake—say 400 mg per day—would produce benefits that are substantial and warrant implementation,” according to the advisory, which warns that increased sodium consumption can lead to high blood pressure and heart, kidney and blood vessel problems. With its 2020 impact goal aimed at reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease and stroke by 20 percent, the advisory stressed that “the potential health benefits of sodium…
A coalition of pesticide watchdogs and farm workers has filed a petition in a California state court seeking review of a Department of Pesticide Registration (DPR) decision to allow the use of pesticides containing methyl iodide despite evidence that the chemical is highly toxic. Pesticide Action Network N. Am. v. Cal. Dep’t of Pesticide Regulation, No. RG10553804 (Cal. Super. Ct., Alameda Cty., filed December 30, 2010). The chemical is allegedly used in fumigants intended to sterilize soil before planting crops such as strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, fruit and nut trees, grape vines, and ornamentals. The petitioners claim that breathing the chemical causes nausea, slurred speech and vomiting, permanent damage to the lungs, liver, kidneys and central nervous system, as well as fetal miscarriage. They also claim that direct contact with skin causes burns and that the chemical is listed as a known carcinogen under Proposition 65. The petition contends that exposure…
A coalition of food wholesalers and retailers has filed an antitrust lawsuit in a Kansas state court against egg producers and industry trade groups alleging that, by reducing the number of hens, increasing egg exports and decreasing hen lifecycles, the defendants conspired to manipulate egg prices, which have more than doubled in recent years. Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. v. United Egg Producers, No. 10 2181 (Kan. Dist. Ct., Wyandotte Cty., filed December 23, 2010). Similar class-action lawsuits nationwide were consolidated in multidistrict litigation (MDL) proceedings in a Pennsylvania federal court; the Kansas plaintiffs apparently opted out of class to file their own claims. The petition, alleging violations of the Kansas Restraint of Trade Act, discusses the U.S. Department of Justice investigation into industry practices and relies on some documents produced during the MDL proceedings. Several settlements have apparently been reached in the MDL, and one of the defendants apparently agreed to…
According to a press report, an amended putative class complaint has been filed in a Florida federal court against two companies that make and sell apple juice for children’s consumption, alleging that by failing to warn about the presence of lead in the juice the companies have violated state deceptive and unfair trade practices law. Poulis v. Gerber Prods. Co., No. 10-81475 (S.D. Fla., amended complaint filed January 11, 2011). The complaint was originally filed in state court soon after a California nonprofit organization notified the companies in June 2010 that their products contained lead in excess of levels established as safe under that state’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65). It was removed to federal court in November. The plaintiffs have not apparently alleged personal injury from the exposure, but claim they would not have purchased the companies’ products if they had known about…
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