The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has released a report, “Driving the Fox from the Henhouse: Improving Oversight of Food Safety at the FDA and USDA,” that provides the results of a March 2010 survey of 8,000 food safety agency employees. Conducted at Iowa State University’s Center for Survey Statistics, the questionnaire solicited responses from 1,700 workers at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), who evidently reported that corporate and government interference “remains strong” in agency decision-making. The report highlights the 54 percent of respondents who reported “that the weight agencies give to political interests… is ‘too high,’” as well as the 34 percent who made similar statements about business interests. The findings also note that approximately one-quarter of respondents claimed to have “frequently or occasionally” experienced situations where either corporations or members of Congress “have forced the withdrawal or significant modification of [an…
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The American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section’s Animal Law Committee will convene a teleconference on September 28, 2010, to discuss farmed animal welfare and related labeling issues. Temple Grandin, a Colorado State University professor well-known for her work in animal science, will be among the panel of experts to discuss (i) “commercial speech and the role of liability for false advertising under federal and state law in the labeling of food products”; (ii) “the movement to promote more detailed labeling regarding animal welfare and to create verifiable compliance”; (iii) “what, if any, legal meanings are ascribed to terms such as ‘humane,’ ‘cage-free,’ ‘free-range,’ ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ and how are they used in practice vis a vis animal welfare”; and (iv) “the rapidly shifting world of scientific awareness and consumer perceptions regarding what constitutes satisfactory animal welfare, and its impact on producers’ ability to provide accurate labeling.”
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s (IATP’s) Food and Society Fellows and Healthy Food Action project have announced a September 16, 2010, webinar titled “Superbugs, Super Problems: Agricultural Antibiotics and Emerging Infections.” Three presenters who recently testified before Congress will address “[t]he new scientific consensus . . . that routine, unnecessary use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry contributes significantly to a costly epidemic of antibiotic resistance” in diseases such as Salmonella, E. coli, and MRSA. Speakers will include University of Minnesota Professor of Medicine James Johnson; Gail Hensen, a senior officer of the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industry Farming; and Maryn McKenna, author of Superbug: The Fatal Menace of MRSA. To register for the program, please click here. Meanwhile, a coalition of agricultural and consumer groups has reportedly hand-delivered 180,000 letters to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in response to the agency’s call for comments…
Consumer groups recently released a report urging the U.S. Senate to pass its version of a food safety bill (S. 510) in light of a recent egg recall linked to foodborne illness. Published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Consumer Federation of America, the report examines “85 recalls that have taken place in the year since food safety reform moved to the U.S. Senate.” The U.S. House of Representatives passed its food reform bill (H.R. 2749) on July 30, 2009. “The recalls involved tons of foods, including many name-brand products from more than 150 companies,” according to the report, which purportedly found that a majority of the recalls involved Salmonella and Listeria. “While most of the recalls were not connected to outbreaks, illnesses were associated with nine recalls that together were associated with 1,850 reported illnesses.” “Recalls and…
For the second time in less than a month, Heartland Sweeteners has apparently been told by an advertising industry self-regulatory body that the company should not promote its Nevella with Probiotics® artificial sweetener with immune system and digestive health claims unless it can support them with “competent and reliable evidence.” Information about action taken against the company in August 2010 by the appellate arm of the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus appears in Issue 362 of this Update. NAD apparently took its latest action in response to a challenge filed by Heartland rival McNeil Nutritionals, LLC, which makes Splenda®. Among Heartland’s claims were that its product “Provides digestive and immune system health benefits in every packet,” “Promotes digestive health” and “Supports a healthy immune system.” According to NAD, the company based its claims on studies about the benefits of individual ingredients. “[W]hen the substantiation…
An Italian agronomist, frustrated by the government’s refusal to approve the planting of genetically modified (GM) crops, has apparently engaged in an act of civil disobedience by planting two fields of GM corn and publicizing his action with a news conference and YouTube® video. Environmentalists reportedly responded by descending on the fields near Vivaro, which had been seized by government officials; Greenpeace activists cut off the tassels in an effort to prevent the dissemination of pollen, and environmentalists with Ya Basta trampled the crop leaving signs stating “Danger—Contaminated—G.M.O.” According to a news source, while the European Union has approved the use of this particular seed, Italy requires farmers to submit any request to plant GM crops for government approval. To date, the Ministry of Agriculture has not apparently approved any GM crop for planting. The GM debate is particularly heated in Italy, where farmers are known for their specialized organic…
The National Advertising Review Board (NARB) has reportedly recommended that Heartland Sweeteners cease advertising its Ideal® sweetener as “more than 99 percent natural,” after finding that the claim could be misleading to consumers. The board, an appellate arm of the advertising industry’s self-regulatory system, apparently agreed with the National Advertising Division of the Council for Better Business Bureaus that the message conveyed by Heartland’s advertising is that most of the product’s sweetness comes from natural ingredients, when, in fact, the ingredient responsible for 80 percent of its sweetness is the artificial sweetener sucralose. The company issued a statement indicating that it “respectfully disagrees with the NARB’s decision and maintains that its ‘more than 99 percent natural’ claim is clear, truthful and not misleading.” Less than 1 percent of the sweetener consists of sucralose. Still, the company has reportedly indicated that it is reviewing its advertising and packaging and will take…
The National Academies’ Institute of Medicine Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention will convene a public workshop on October 21, 2010, in Washington, D.C., to “highlight the evidence on current and potential legal strategies and their outcomes” in the prevention of childhood obesity. The gathering of researchers, policy makers, legal scholars, industry representatives, and public health advocates will discuss (i) “current legal strategies in use at national, state, and local levels and their outcomes”; (ii) “other public health initiatives that have used legal strategies to elicit societal and industry changes”; (iii) “the challenges involved in implementation”; (iv) “when legal strategies are needed and effective”; and (v) “opportunities for coordination and sharing information on the success of existing and future legal strategies."
The U.K. Royal Society has published 21 papers addressing concerns that climate change, water shortages and increased demand will disrupt the global food supply in coming decades. Titled Food Security: Feeding the World in 2050, the compendium challenges citizens, politicians and scientists “to increase food production, but to do so in a way that is sustainable, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and preserving biodiversity.” To meet these objectives, the papers recommend several low-tech solutions, such as better storage facilities to reduce food waste, as well as novel technologies. The latter include (i) artificial meat “grown in a vat,” and (ii) increased use of nanotechnology, which paper author Philip K. Thornton said “is expected to become more important as a vehicle for delivering medication to livestock.” As Chief Scientific Advisor John Beddington urges in the volume’s preface, “The need for action is urgent given the time required for investment in research to…
Chinese health experts have reportedly estimated that “at least 30,000 children developed early maturity” in Shanghai alone, raising concerns about food additives and pesticides allegedly laden with sex hormones. According to an August 18, 2010, China Daily article, one doctor with the Beijing Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital has suggested that “early maturity in Chinese children is as high as 1 percent, nearly 10 times the rate in most Western countries.” The physician apparently attributed the condition “to the rising amount of estrogen in the food chain as the result of pesticides being sprayed on fruit and vegetables.” Although China Daily noted the 2009 Food Safety Law and other attempts to regulate food additives, it also suggested that enforcement has been difficult if not “impossible.” As one researcher with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention purportedly said, “China has 200 million scattered rural households that produce food, and…
