Elana Schor, “Hydrocarbons in Cereal Stoke New Debate Over Food Safety,” The New York Times, July 13, 2010
This article examines the fallout from Kellogg Co.’s recall of 28 million cereal boxes that, according to a public statement, contained “elevated levels of hydrocarbons, including methyl naphthalene, normally found in the paraffin wax and film in the liners.” The company voluntarily pulled the products after receiving complaints about an “off-flavor and smell,” which caused nausea and other gastrointestinal
ailments in some consumers.
Schor highlights the failure of Congress to pass reform measures that would allow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue mandatory recalls. “[T]he legislation sits in limbo in the upper chambers as industry groups chafe at Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) bid to ban another chemical with an unclear safety history, bisphenol A, from food containers,” she writes.
Citing a recent Environmental Working Group (EWG) report that underscores the potential toxicity of methyl naphthalene, Schor raises questions about the overall safety of food packaging. EWG has “urged Kellogg to release its third-party testing of the recalled cereal boxes and recommended stricter food safety laws.” In addition, states Schor, EWG has noted that “U.S. EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have both cited a lack of data in declining to rule on the human carcinogenicity of methylnaphthalene.”
Meanwhile, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has also called on FDA to “take a closer look at the packaging of consumer products and this chemical that’s been identified as a problem.” As EWG Vice President for Research Jane Houlihan added, “There are potentially many thousands of chemicals that could leach out of these materials into our food. In this case, methylnaphthalene and other hydrocarbons are what Kellogg’s is saying publicly about what ended up in their cereal. They need to be more forthcoming about exactly what they found.” See FoodProductionDaily.com, July 13, 2010.
