The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued an August 2, 2010, report urging member states to increase their monitoring of furan, a compound with aromatic properties that can form in a variety of heat-treated commercial foods and which has purportedly been shown to be carcinogenic in animal experiments. EFSA intends to use the report to support a dietary risk assessment on furan. It updates data submitted by 18 member states on furan levels in 4,186 foods sampled and analyzed between 2004 and 2009, with 8 percent of the samples reported as foods consumed. The report sorted data into 21 different food categories (five coffee and 16 noncoffee categories), with the highest levels of furan found in the five coffee categories compared to other food groups. The highest non-coffee maximum concentrations were found in the “baby food” and “soups” categories. “ Jarred baby food and infant formula are of particular…
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the availability of a draft compliance policy guide for FDA staff that provides direction on Salmonella in animal feed or feed ingredients that come into direct contact with people, such as pet food and treats, or that are “contaminated with a Salmonella serotype that is pathogenic to the target animal for which the animal feed is intended.” The guide “proposes criteria that should be considered in recommending enforcement action against animal feed or feed ingredients that are adulterated due to the presence of Salmonella.” FDA will accept comments until November 1, 2010. See Federal Register, August 2, 2010.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has released statements to support the reopening of Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi state waters to commercial fishing. According to Hamburg, “we are confident all appropriate steps have been taken to ensure that seafood harvested from waters being opened today is safe and that Gulf seafood lovers everywhere can be confident eating and enjoying the fish that will be coming out of this area.” Meanwhile, some are questioning whether inspector sniff tests are sufficient to ensure the safety of seafood from Gulf of Mexico waters. Experts reportedly say that the smell tests are an efficient and inexpensive way to test for fish safety and claim they are currently the only way to test fish for chemical dispersants. At least one oysterman and shrimp and crab fisherman was not convinced, saying, “If I put fish in a barrel and poured oil and Dove detergent…
Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has introduced a bill (H.R. 6024) that would require stricter testing procedures designed to eradicate “the dangerous Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria” from meat and meat-processing facilities. The E. coli Traceability and Eradication Act would also establish a tracking procedure to enable the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement faster recalls. According to a DeLauro press statement, the proposal would require meat, slaughterhouse and grinding facilities to have ground beef and “beef trim” tested multiple times throughout the manufacturing process by an independent USDA-certified testing facility. In the event E. coli were detected, the bill would require the slaughter facility to immediately report contamination to USDA. The agency would then test the facility’s products for 15 consecutive days following the positive test and establish a “traceback procedure” to the original source of contamination for quicker product recalls and illness prevention. “By the end of this year, an estimated…
U.S. Representative Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has requested that the Kellogg Co. provide documentation to the Committee on Energy and Commerce concerning the possible contamination of millions of cereal boxes with the chemical 2-methylnaphthalene. In his August 2, 2010, letter, Waxman refers to the June recall of more than 25 million boxes of “Corn Pops, Honey Smacks, Fruit Loops, and Apple Jacks cereal” and notes that while at least one study has shown the chemical at issue “may cause lung injuries in adults[, t]here are no studies indicating whether children are more susceptible.” Waxman cites a news article indicating that Kellogg destroyed tainted packaging before issuing the recall, and he seeks documents relating to (i) the company’s food safety policies and procedures; (ii) “any assessments of the health risks posed by 2-methylnaphthalene conducted by, commissioned by, or requested by your company, including a copy of the health risk assessment created by…
“Caffeine-loaded energy drinks have now crossed the line from beverages to drugs delivered as tasty syrups,” opines a July 26, 2010, Canadian Medical Association Journal editorial, which recommends “strict regulations” and warning labels comparable to those required for caffeine tablets. According to the authors, these sweetened beverages pose a unique health risk to adolescents, 73 percent of whom reported consuming at least 100 mg of caffeine per day, and college students who “often mix energy drinks with alcohol, a potentially hazardous combination because the high levels of caffeine can mask the perception—but not the consequences—of acute alcohol intoxication.” Moreover, claims the editorial, these products “are often targeted toward children and youth through carefully designed advertising campaigns as well as sponsorship of events such as snowboarding and skateboarding competitions.” The editors thus call for “government-mandated restrictions on labeling, sales and marketing, or self-imposed industry standards with clear labeling accompanied by public education.”…
A recent editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine has warned that health care reform, rising medical costs and childhood obesity have overtaken tobacco as the top public health priorities, even though smoking “remains by far the most common cause of preventable death and disability in the United States.” Titled “Don’t Forget Tobacco,” the opinion piece claims that federal, state and private efforts to reduce smoking “have seen their assets dwindle or their priorities change” as obesity comes to dominate the discourse. “Lack of insurance, childhood obesity and tobacco use are very different public health challenges, requiring different solutions. All three threaten the most vulnerable Americans,” opine the authors. “By assuming that the tobacco war has been won, we risk consigning millions of Americans to premature death.” Meanwhile, a July 27, 2010, New York Times article fleshes out this trend, tracking the dollars diverted from anti-tobacco campaigns to address…
Two recently released studies have purportedly found high concentrations of bisphenol A (BPA) in the thermal paper used by many retailers to print cash register receipts. Researchers with the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry in Massachusetts tested 10 blank cash register receipts from Boston-area businesses and found some had BPA concentrations as high as 19 mg on a 12-inch long receipt. Ted Mendum, et al., “Concentration of bisphenol A in thermal paper,” Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews, July 28, 2010. They suggest that businesses avoid an potential health risks by using BPA-free receipt paper. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) also apparently studied BPA concentrations in cash register receipts, submitting 36 samples from fast food restaurants, large retailers, grocery stores, gas stations, and post offices to a lab for testing. According to EWG, 40 percent of the samples had high BPA levels, in some instances 250 to 1,000 times greater than…
In this literature review, The New Yorker’s Elizabeth Kolbert recounts the decline of bluefin tuna and other aquatic species due to overfishing, technological advances and lukewarm governance by authorities like the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). According to Kolbert, the world passed “the point of what might be called ‘peak fish’” in the late 1980s, when the global catch topped out at 85 million tons. “For the past two decades, the global catch has bee steadily declining,” she warns. “It is estimated that the total take is dropping by around five hundred thousand tons a year.” Kolbert thus turns to several books on aquatic ecosystems and ocean sustainability to explain the confluence of cultural, historical and technological factors that have brought whole fisheries to the brink of extinction. To this end, she trawls such watery tomes as (i) Saved by the Sea: A Love Story with…
DTC Perspectives Inc. has announced the 2010 Marketing Disease Prevention in America (MDPA) Conference, which will discuss how health care marketing can effectively address obesity prevention. Slated for October 19-21 in Atlanta, Georgia, the conference is designed for advertisers, health and wellness marketers, media representatives, pharmaceutical marketers, public health advocates, and those in the food, beverage and weight loss industries. MDPA will provide participants with information on the increasing prevalence of obesity; the latest legislative, regulatory and voluntary efforts to limit food and beverage marketing; consumer behaviors and attitudes toward healthy living; the role of retailers and manufacturers in preventing obesity; and the impact of new technologies on public health. Speakers will include David Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, as well as representatives from the American Beverage Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Action Against Obesity, and Trust for America’s Health.
