A recent New York Times article focused on advances in synthetic biology has claimed that the exponential growth in genetically modified (GM) yeast applications “could revolutionize the production of some of the most sought-after flavors and fragrances,” including vanilla, saffron, patchouli, and stevia. According to the October 20, 2013, article, food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies seeking plant extract alternatives are increasingly turning to GM yeast and other micro-organisms “cultured in huge industrial vats” to synthesize vanillin, valencene, nootkatone, and other chemicals as byproducts of the fermentation process. Proponents of this technique have not only argued that the yeast-made flavorings are less expensive to manufacture than their plant-based counterparts, but that the end result is a natural ingredient because it originates in a living organism. “The need for natural is a key driver,” said Ahmet Baydar, director of research and development at International Flavors and Fragrances, which reportedly hopes that yeast-made…
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“The food industry is spending almost $2 billion a year marketing directly to children and teens,” opines food industry critic Anne Lappé in an October 2, 2013, interview with Mother Jones that focuses on her latest project, Food MythBusters. Discussing a range of topics from genetically modified organ- isms to food marketing and farm labor practices, Lappé not only argues that the food industry “has infiltrated all aspects of our children’s lived experience, including their experience at school,” but claims that legal restrictions on food marketing and advertising are necessary to protect children’s health. She also criticizes the industry’s move toward self-regulation, alleging that such initiatives have already failed. “Diet-related illnesses are causing nearly as many deaths as tobacco-related illnesses, not to mention the impact on quality of life when you start to develop adult-onset diabetes as a child, or all these other diet-related illnesses,” concludes Lappé, whose Food MythBusters…
A recent article detailing the history of food addiction studies has claimed that foods dense in fat and sugar can override our appetite suppressing hormones, activate our neurological reward systems and prompt us to continue eating past the point of satiety. Paul Kenny, “Is obesity an addiction?,” Scientific American, September 2013. According to author Paul Kenny, a neuroscientist with The Scripps Research Institute, obesity in some cases may be caused “by hedonic overeating that hijacks the brain’s reward networks,” thus creating “a feedback loop in the brain’s reward centers—the more you consume, the more you crave, and the harder it is for you to satisfy that craving.” Asking whether this cycle of hedonistic overeating constitutes an addiction, Kenny not only describes several studies that seem to highlight the similarities between drug addiction and obesity, but also explains important differences between the two conditions. In particular, he notes that “research overall indicates…
A recent article in The New York Times reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is set to release a three-year-long study concluding that imported spices, particularly those from India and Mexico, are contaminated with Salmonella—reportedly the most common source of foodborne illness—at twice the rate of all other imported foods. “In a study of more than 20,000 food shipments,” the article states, “[USDA] found that nearly 7 percent of spice lots were contaminated with salmonella, twice the average of all other imported foods. Some 15 percent of coriander and 12 percent of oregano and basil shipments were contaminated, with high contamination levels also found in sesame seeds, curry powder and cumin. Four percent of black pepper shipments were contaminated.” “Salmonella is a widespread problem with respect to imported spices,” Deputy U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Michael Taylor was quoted as saying. “We have decided that spices are…
A recent Alternet.org article titled “23 Gallons a Day from One Cow? Industrial Agriculture Engaged in Extreme Breeding,” has questioned the longstanding practice of selectively breeding livestock to produce animals that are highly efficient and productive. While acknowledging that “breeding animals to exaggerate traits humans find useful is hardly new,” author Jill Richardson claims that industrial agriculture has taken the practice to new extremes that compromise the ability of animals to live natural lives. “Some of these changes are a result of growth hormones, lighting, feed, and (for dairy cows) more frequent milkings,” she writes, “but a lot of t is breeding and industrial agriculture has taken it to an extreme … [A] look at the variety of chicken breeds kept by small farms, hobbyists, nd backyard chicken owners shows just how much humans have successfully meddled in chicken genetics. You can find chickens adapted to iving in hot weather…
In an August 3, 2013, Washington Post article, writer Kimberly Kindy suggested that some of the chemicals—notably cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), a purportedly common finishing rinse—used in U.S. poultry processing plants may be masking the presence of Salmonella and other pathogens that remain on the birds that are sold to consumers. Titled “USDA Reviews Whether Bacteria-Killing Chemicals are Masking Salmonella,” Kindy reports that academic researchers agree that “the chemicals could be overwhelming an antiquated testing process,” and she states that several of the scientists have been enlisted by U.S. Department of Agriculture food safety experts to investigate the matter. At issue, Kindy contends, is whether CPC, or other antimicrobials, might remain on the samples collected for pathogen testing at a high enough concentration to kill the bacteria on the way to the lab. If so, Food Safety and Inspection Service experts could perceive a false negative test result when the chicken may…
An August 7, 2013, Slate article by Genetic Literacy Project Executive Director Jon Entine has criticized a recent magazine story allegedly linking eosinophilic disorder—“a multisystemic condition in which white blood cells overproduce in response to allergens”—to genetically modified (GM) corn, calling out Elle writer Caitlin Shetterly for stoking “conspiratorial fears that the government is covering up evidence that GMO foods can damage the public health.” According to Entine, the article in question “was particularly appalling” insofar as it failed to produce any evidence or tests to confirm the “unusual diagnosis” that GMO foods caused Shetterly’s autoimmune disorder. Instead, Entine argues, Shetterly relied on a “journalistic trick… to frame a settled issue in the scientific community as a mystery or a controversy.” “There has not been one study that links the genetically engineered corn or any approved genetically modified food on the market to allergies,” University of California, Davis, plant geneticist…
“It seems like every time I study an illness and trace a path to the first cause, I find my way back to sugar,” opines University of Colorado-Denver nephrologist Richard Johnson in an August 2013 National Geographic special feature examining the history of sugar consumption. Titled “Sugar Love: A Not So Sweet Story,” the article authored by Rich Cohen traces the spread of sugar from its New Guinea origins throughout the world, in the process raising questions about the sweetener’s impact on heart disease, diabetes and obesity in modern populations. As Johnson asks, “Why is it that one-third of adults [worldwide] have high blood pressure, when in 1900 only 5 percent had high blood pressure? Why did 153 million people have diabetes in 1980, and now we’re up to 347 million? Why are more and more Americans obese? Sugar, we believe, is one of the culprits, if not the major culprit.” In particular, the article…
A pair of recent articles in The New York Times has raised questions about the tracking and surveillance practices used by marketers to gather information about consumers shopping in stores and online. The first article, “Attention, Shoppers: Store is Tracking Your Cell,” discusses new technology that allows retailers “to track customers’ movements by following the Wi-Fi signals from their smartphones.” According to Times writers Stephanie Clifford and Quentin Hardy, these stores are experimenting with a combination of smartphone tracking, video surveillance and apps to glean data about shoppers “as varied as their sex, how many minutes they spend in the candy aisle and how long they look at merchandise before buying it.” “But while consumers seem to have no problem with cookies, profiles and other online tools that let e-commerce sites know who they are and how they shop, some bristle at the physical version, at a time when government…
Recapitulating the neuroendocrinologist Robert Lustig’s arguments for regulating sugar based on its alleged ubiquity, toxicity, addictiveness and “negative impact on society,” a recent article in The Atlantic considers whether the sweetener meets these four criteria for government intervention. According to staff writer Megan Garber, Lustig in a June 29, 2013, interview at the Aspen Ideas Festival pointed to research linking sugar to increased liver fat, insulin resistance and other ailments as evidence that regulation is overdue. But Garber notes that only “sugar’s utter ubiquity” is beyond argument, raising questions about what it would mean to regulate the substance “like alcohol.” “[I]f Lustig gets his way—if people do come to see sugar as substance that can be abused—public awareness might offer its own kind of regulation,” writes Garber. “Sugar, Lustig put it, is ‘great for your wallet, but crappy for your health.’ The companies that profit from its sales might not,…
