Reusable grocery bags and packages can apparently contain a high level of bacteria, yeast, mold, and coliform that can pose a significant food safety risk because of cross contamination, claims a new microbiological study funded by the Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC). The study, reportedly the first of its kind in North America, looked at whether reusable grocery bags become an active bacterial growth habitat and breeding ground for yeast and mold after persistent use. Richard Summerbell, former chief of Medical Mycology for the Ontario Ministry of Health and research director of an environmental microbiology lab in Toronto called Sporometrics, was commissioned to evaluate the findings of the EPIC study. He claimed that swab testing of a scientifically meaningful sample of both single-use and reusable grocery bags by two independent laboratories found unacceptable levels of bacteria in the reusable bags, with some bags having detectable levels of fecal intestinal…
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A Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study has reportedly found that “participants who drank for a week from polycarbonate bottles, the popular, hard-plastic drinking bottles and baby bottles, showed a two-thirds increase in their urine of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA).” Jenny L. Carwile, et al., “Use of Polycarbonate Bottles and Urinary Bisphenol A Concentrations,” Environmental Health Perspectives, May 12, 2009. HSPH researchers followed 77 participants who first minimized their BPA exposure for a week, then drank all cold beverages out of plastic polycarbonate bottles for seven days, during which time their “urinary BPA concentrations increased 69 percent.” According to the study authors, their work is the first to show that BPA leached from plastic bottles can result in “a corresponding increase in urinary BPA concentrations in humans.” The study also forbid washing the bottles in dishwashers or putting hot liquids in them, as “heating has been shown to…
“Diacetyl-linked jury verdicts of tens of millions of dollars for injured flavoring workers and diagnoses of lung damage in at least three popcorn-loving consumers forced popcorn packers and other food processors to stop using the chemical butter-flavoring two years ago,” writes investigative journalist Andrew Schneider in a May 28, 2009, article examining claims that possible diacetyl replacements– starter distillate and diacetyl trimmer–still include the “lung-destroying chemical.” According to Andrew Schneider Investigates, scientists with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have published a book, titled Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, that suggests these diacetyl alternatives pose an even greater health risk because they penetrate “the deepest parts of the lung.” Starter distillate is reportedly a product of milk fermentation that contains up to 4 percent diacetyl, while the diacetyl trimmer contains three diacetyl molecules. “The wording here (no added diacetyl) is telling,” said co-author Kathleen Kreiss, who…
Known as outsourcing’s “third wave,” the trend among wealthy nations to buy farmland in developing countries is reportedly raising concerns among those dealing with issues like world hunger and water shortages. When the price of staples like wheat, rice and corn skyrocketed in recent years, food exporting countries, faced with food riots, restricted their exports to limit price increases in their own countries. That led wealthy food importing nations to begin investing in significant land acquisitions or leases on terms not necessarily advantageous to their targets. The food grown on these farms is all sent to the wealthy nations owning them, while the host countries continue to be threatened by hunger and malnutrition. Host governments apparently claim that they are giving up land that is vacant or owned by the state, but empty land may actually be grazing land or farmed under arrangements recognized by local custom but not by…
The director of nutrition at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), a non-profit “consumer education consortium,” recently wrote a letter to the editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer responding to an opinion piece authored by John Banzhaf, an anti-tobacco crusader and law school professor who in recent years has turned his attention to obesity-related issues. Banzhaf suggested on May 15, 2009, that the key to lowering the cost of health care is to “directly attack the major preventable causes” of chronic illness: “smoking and obesity.” He claimed that, at no cost to taxpayers, rates of obesity could be reduced by (i) charging the obese more for their health insurance; (ii) requiring restaurant chains to post the calorie and fat content of their offerings; (iii) mandating health warnings in fast food outlets; (iv) prohibiting deceptive food advertising, especially promotions targeted to children; (v) changing food subsidies to support “healthier…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has targeted a number of restaurants in its Xtreme Eating 2009 report, which also singles out four plates as particularly high in calories, fat and sodium. The public watchdog has lambasted chain establishments for making “already bad foods even worse,” claiming that some appetizers rival entrée-sized portions in terms of daily dietary intake. The report names Applebee’s Quesadilla Burger, Chili’s Big Mouth Bites, Cheesecake Factory’s Chicken and Biscuits, and Red Lobster’s Ultimate Fondue among the dishes that purportedly contribute to “America’s epidemic of obesity and diet-related disease.” Pledging to make its “Xtreme Eating Awards” an annual affair, CSPI has backed legislation pending before the U.S. Congress that would introduce menu labeling laws similar to ones enacted in Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland, California, and Massachusetts. “Ultimately, Americans bear personal responsibility for their dining choices,” stated CSPI director Margo Wootan in…
The National Cancer Institute has awarded a $2.7 million grant to Northeastern University Law School for a five-year project led by anti-tobacco advocate Professor Richard Daynard. “Our goal is to examine how the tobacco industry has used personal responsibility rhetoric to influence courts, legislatures, regulatory agencies and public opinion, and to see to what extent the food and beverage industries have made use of similar strategies,” Daynard said in a press release. “If the burden for addressing the harm is left with the consumer rather than the manufacturer, the manufacturer benefits – often at the expense of public health.” See Northeastern University Press Release, May 28, 2009.
German officials are reportedly considering banning high-energy drink Red Bull Cola® after a food safety institute in North-Rhine Westphalia found traces of cocaine in the beverages. While the levels found did not pose a health threat, cocaine’s presence in a product requires special licensing. German authorities in two states have reportedly ordered retailers to stop selling the beverage. The product’s manufacturer reportedly admitted that it contains de-cocainized extract of coca leaf, but said the leaf “is used worldwide in foods as a natural flavoring.” The drink, which also contains caffeine, vitamins and sugar, is apparently popular in bars where it is often mixed with vodka. Hong Kong officials also found traces of cocaine in the beverage a few days after Taiwanese authorities reportedly confiscated some 18,000 cases of the product. The drink has been removed from the shelves of major supermarkets in Hong Kong, and its commissioner for narcotics is…
According to a news source, a Las Vegas-based company and its co-owners have agreed to plead guilty to charges that they imported from China melamine-tainted wheat gluten used to make the pet food that purportedly sickened and killed thousands of cats and dogs in the United States and Canada in 2007. More details about the criminal indictments appear in issue 247 of this Update. ChemNutra, Inc. and its co-owners, Stephen and Sally Miller, have apparently reached an agreement with federal prosecutors and will enter their pleas during a June 16, 2009, hearing. The export broker, a Chinese company, allegedly mislabeled 800 metric tons of wheat gluten to avoid inspection in China and did not properly declare the contaminated product when it was shipped to the United States for use in pet food. ChemNutra took delivery of the wheat gluten in Kansas City and then sold it to various pet food manufacturers.…
A federal court in California has dismissed a putative class action alleging that the maker of Cap’n Crunch with Crunchberries® cereal misrepresented its product in violation of the state’s Business & Professions Code. Sugawara v. Pepsico, Inc., No. 08-01335 (E.D. Cal., decided May 21, 2009). Plaintiff alleged that the colorful “Crunchberries” depicted on the cereal box, combined with the use of the word “berry” in the product name, convey the message that the product contains fruit. She claimed that she purchased the product for some four years because she had been misled by defendant’s advertising and misrepresentations, never discerning that the product has no berries of any kind and that the only fruit content is “strawberry fruit concentrate, twelfth in order on the ingredient list.” According to the court, “while the challenged packaging contains the word ‘berries’ it does so only in conjunction with the descriptive term ‘crunch.’ This Court…
