The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) has issued an October 24, 2011, memorandum calling for nationwide testing of pet food “to determine the prevalence of Salmonella” and remove contaminated samples from commerce. According to CVM, regulators are concerned about the transmission of “pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant bacteria to humans and other animals,” as well as the risk that Salmonella-tainted pet food, pet treats and supplements for pets could infect consumers in their homes, where products “are likely to be directly handled or ingested by humans.” CVM has directed investigators to collect and submit non-canned pet food, treats and supplements for analysis, which aims to identify “the serotype, genetic fingerprint, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of each Salmonella found in samples.” The agency will also use these samples for “research purposes” and “providing surveillance information on microbes other than Salmonella.” “Salmonella-contaminated pet foods, pet treats and supplements for pets…
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The American Public Health Association (APHA) has reportedly passed a resolution asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to revoke salt’s status as a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) substance within one year. According to the resolution, which was unanimously approved during APHA’s 139th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., the revocation of salt’s GRAS status would pave the way for FDA regulation and “substantially improve the cardiovascular health of the American public.” Among other things, the resolution recommends that FDA (i) establish a schedule for food manufacturers and preparers to progressively lower sodium levels by 75 percent within the next 10 years; (ii) require front-of-package labels that clearly identify whether products contain high-, medium- or low-sodium levels; and (iii) require the food industry to use 2,300 milligrams (mg) as the current standard of calculating sodium daily values in processed foods and lower the daily values to 1,500 mg by 2017.…
U.S. Representatives Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) have reportedly asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate claims that seafood sold in grocery stores, restaurants and markets is often mislabeled. According to the congressmen’s October 31, 2011, letter, two separate investigative reports used DNA testing to conclude that purveyors frequently sold seafood as more expensive or different varieties. In particular, The Boston Globe reported that 48 percent of fish sampled in the area were sold under the wrong name, while Consumer Reports estimated that more than one-fifth of the 190 pieces of seafood it tested in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York were “mislabeled as a different species of fish, incompletely labeled, or misidentified by employees.” The latter report also noted that all 10 of the “lemon soles” and 12 of the 22 “red snappers” purchased were not the species advertised. “Only four of the 14 types of fish…
A recent study has reportedly associated non-diet soft drink consumption among teenagers with an increased risk for violent tendencies, raising questions about the legitimacy of the so-called “Twinkie Defense” used in the 1979 trial of Dan White for the assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. Sara Solnick and David Hemenway, “The ‘Twinkie Defense’: the relationship between carbonated non-diet soft drinks and violence perpetration among Boston high school students,” Injury Prevention, October 2011. A collaboration between Harvard School of Public Health Professor David Hemenway and University of Vermont Economics Professor Sara Solnick, the study relied on questionnaires completed by more than 1,800 Boston public high school students ages 14 to 18 years. According to an October 28, 2011, Harvard Crimson article, the results evidently showed that “teens who drank more soft drinks were between nine and fifteen percent more likely to be violent” even after researchers accounted for…
A recent study has reportedly claimed that prenatal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) could affect “behavioral and emotional regulation” in girls ages 3 and younger. Joe Braun, et al., “Impact of Early-Life Bisphenol A Exposure on Behavior and Executive Function in Children,” Pediatrics, October 2011. The results appear to confirm earlier research led by Harvard School of Public Health researcher Joe Braun that was covered in Issue 322 of this Update. Using a prospective birth cohort of 244 mothers and their 3-year-old children, the study authors measured gestational BPA exposure at 16 and 26 weeks and birth, as well as childhood exposure at 1, 2 and 3 years of age. Although they detected BPA in more than 97 percent of gestational and childhood urine samples, researchers also found that, especially among girls, “each 10-fold increase in gestational BPA concentrations was associated with more anxious and depressed behavior . . .…
Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, recently authored commentary for Time magazine’s online opinion section, advocating “a penny-per-ounce tax on any beverage with added sugar.” According to Brownell’s October 24, 2011, article, “Nearly 20 states or cities in the U.S. have considered or are considering the possibility of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs),” but their efforts have allegedly been thwarted by the beverage industry “in ways reminiscent of the tobacco industry when it came under attack in the 1950s.” Drawing parallels between the two products, Brownell dismisses claims that SSB taxes would be “discriminatory” and ineffective by pointing to successful government efforts to reduce smoking. He also calls out groups such as Americans Against Food Taxes for seeking to emulate grassroots movements and contribute to obesity-related research. In particular, Brownell criticizes the Foundation for a Healthy America for purportedly donating $10 million…
The nonprofit organization Common Sense Media (CSM) has issued a report titled Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America that documents how infants, toddlers and young children are exposed to media “on everything from television to mobile devices to apps.” Billed as the first national research study to examine young children’s use of iPads and other new devices “along with older media platforms such as television, computers and books,” the report concludes that digital media “has become a regular part of the media diet of children ages 0 to 8, with four in 10 2- to 4-year olds and half (52%) of 5- to 8-year-olds using smartphones, video iPods, iPads or similar devices.” Working on CSM’s behalf, the research consultant Knowledge Networks “used a probability-based online panel designed to be representative of the United States” to survey 1,384 parents from May 27-June 15, 2011. Building on previous studies conducted…
A recent study analyzing federal oversight of substances added to food has reportedly concluded that the current program, while expediting the review process, both inhibits transparency and delegates critical food safety decisions to manufacturers. Thomas Neltner, et al., “Navigating the U.S. Food Additive Regulatory Program,” Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, October 2011. Based on research conducted by the Pew Health Group, the study was designed “to assist food science and technology professionals and others to navigate the food additive regulatory program to more fully understand the program’s structure and operation.” In particular, the authors examined how FDA has used the Food Additives Amendment Act of 1958 to categorize and regulate (i) food additives, (ii) substances generally recognized as safe (GRAS), (iii) pesticide chemicals or residues, (iv) substances sanctioned before the Act came into effect, (v) color additives, (vi) drugs in animal feed, and (vii) dietary supplements. The researchers reported…
The Canadian Wheat Board, which apparently serves as the marketing organization for western Canadian wheat, durum wheat and barley farmers, has filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, in his capacity as Minister Responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board, alleging that he failed to consult with the board as required by law before “causing to be introduced in Parliament on October 18, 2011,” a bill that would create an open market and essentially eliminate the board’s “exclusive statutory marketing authority in respect of wheat and barley.” The board claims to have “a legal mandate to extract the highest overall returns for farmers by effectively leveraging the powers of the single desk.” According to a news source, the board narrowly approved the legal action; directors elected by farmers, for the most part, supported it, while those appointed by the government voted against it. Opposition farmer Henry Vos, calling…
The European General Court (ECG) has determined that the European Commission (EC) erred in removing the antibacterial chemical 2,4,4’-tricihloro2’-hydroxydiphenyl ether (triclosan) from the list of additives that may be used to make plastic materials and other articles that come into contact with foods. Microban Int’l Ltd. v. EC, No. T-262 (ECG, decided October 25, 2011). The court first determined that the EC’s action constituted a regulatory act of direct concern to the applicants, companies that make the additive. The court then ruled both that the EC based its decision on the wrong law and failed to follow the correct procedures in removing triclosan from the list. The court noted that the chemical was previously included on the provisional list of additives which can continue to be used subject to national law on the basis of a European Food Safety Authority determination in 2004 that “although triclosan was a substance for which an…
