Lawmakers in Mexico have reportedly proposed a tax on all sugar-sweetened beverages in an effort to curb the nation’s obesity and Type 2 diabetes epidemics. According to a news source, the proposed legislation, intended for flavored beverages, concentrates, powders, syrups, and essences or flavor extracts, would apply a tax of one peso (US eight cents) for each liter of sugar-sweetened beverage. Soft drinks sold at movie theaters would evidently be exempt. Consumer advocacy groups support a tax on sugary beverages, but argue that it should be higher to have a greater impact on public health. “It’s good that there would be a tax. We have to acknowledge that. But to have a significant impact on consumption of sugary drinks, assessments show that it should be a 20 percent tax,” said Alejandro Calvillo, head of the consumer watchdog group Consumer Power A.C. Calvillo, who has linked the consumption of sugary drinks…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended until November 12, 2013, the period for submission of comments, scientific data and other information related to its draft guidance titled “Arsenic in Apple Juice: Action Level.” Originally published in the July 15 Federal Register, the guidance proposes an action level of 10 parts per billion for inorganic arsenic in apple juice, which FDA considers “protective of human health and achievable with the use of good manufacturing practices.” The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set the same level for arsenic in drinking water. FDA extended the deadline in response to a request “to allow interested persons additional time to submit comments.” More details about the proposed rule appear in Issue 490 of this Update. See Federal Register, September 13, 2013.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported that after testing 1,300 samples of rice and rice products for the presence of arsenic, the agency has determined that although the levels varied significantly depending on the product tested, the amount of detectable arsenic is “too low” to cause any “immediate or short-term adverse health effects.” The new findings represent the latest of the agency’s ongoing efforts to manage possible arsenic-related risks associated with the consumption of rice in the United States. FDA has apparently been monitoring arsenic levels in rice for more than 20 years and has seen no evidence of change in levels of total arsenic in rice. The agency’s next step will be to use new tools that provide greater specificity about different types of arsenic present in foods to analyze the effect of long-term exposure to low levels of arsenic in rice. It plans to conduct…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agricultural Marketing Service has announced an October 22-24, 2013, public meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) in Louisville, Kentucky. The meeting will address “several petitions pertaining to changes to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, including several substances for use in aquaculture, streptomycin for use to control fire blight in pears and apples, and glycerin,” in addition to featuring updates from the NOSB subcommittees on Compliance, Accreditation, and Certification; Crops; Handling; Livestock; Materials; Policy Development; and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). In particular, the GMO Ad-Hoc Subcommittee will discuss how to ensure and enforce the genetic purity of seed used in organic crop production. NOSB will accept written public comments on the meeting agenda and registrations for oral public comments by October 1, 2013. See Federal Register and NOSB Press Release, September 5, 2013.
According to news sources, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently withdrew two draft rules, including one that would have designated bisphenol A (BPA) and certain phthalates as “chemicals of concern,” submitted for approval in 2010 and 2011 to the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) where they remained beyond their prescribed 90-day period of review. The other rule would have clarified that health and safety studies on pre-market chemicals submitted to EPA would not have been deemed confidential business information and would have been made publicly available. The proposed rules were opposed by the chemical industry, which has praised EPA’s decision to abandon the rulemaking. According to an Environmental Defense Fund scientist, OIRA’s failure to act “has effectively denied the public its voice in the rulemaking process.” Richard Denison also said, “By blocking EPA from even proposing the rules and taking public comment—which…
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report finding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) did not adequately evaluate the impact of proposed poultry and hog inspection changes that would replace some USDA inspectors on slaughter lines with plant personnel tasked with ensuring quality and safety standards. According to the report, USDA implemented several pilot projects at poultry and hog processing plants over the past decade but ultimately failed to gather enough data to assess the effectiveness of these new systems. Nevertheless, the agency has since proposed an optional inspection scheme for both poultry and hog operations “based on its experience with the pilot projects at young chicken and young turkey plants.” Asked to review these pilot projects by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), GAO determined that the proposed changes would give production plants more flexibility and responsibility while allowing inspectors to focus…
The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has published a study that criticizes cereal companies for allegedly promoting high-sugar products to children and portraying “unhealthy eating behaviors” in TV advertisements. Megan LoDolce, et al., “Sugar as Part of a Balanced Breakfast? What Cereal Advertisements Teach Children About Healthy Eating,” Journal of Health Communication, August 2013. According to the study’s authors, who reportedly analyzed 158 cereal advertisements that aired between 2008 and 2009 for messaging type, creative techniques and the eating behaviors modeled, 87 percent of ads viewed by children promoted high-sugar products and “were significantly more likely to convey unrealistic and contradictory messages about cereal attributes and healthy eating.” In particular, the analysis suggested that 91 percent of high-sugar cereal ads directed at children “ascribed extraordinary powers to these products,” while 67 percent “portrayed healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors.” “These findings also raise ethical and public health concerns about…
A recent study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has claimed that fast food TV advertisements directed at children have allegedly failed to abide by Children’s Advertising Review Unit and Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative recommendations that food products—as opposed to toys, movie tie-ins and brands—should be the focus of youth marketing messages. Amy Bernhardt, et al., “How Television Fast Food Marketing Aimed at Children Compares with Adult Advertisements,” PLoS One, August 2013. After reviewing all nationally televised advertisements for the top 25 quick service restaurants (QSRs) in the United States, researchers with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and Public Health Advocacy Institute reported that 99 percent of the 92 QSR children’s meal advertisements that aired between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010, were attributable to either McDonald’s or Burger King. They also purportedly found that—compared with adult advertisements over the same period—visual branding, food…
Boston University School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers have identified the alcohol brands most frequently mentioned in popular music, raising questions about whether public health efforts should focus on reducing youth exposure “to these positive messages about alcohol use.” Michael Siegel, et al., “Alcohol Brand References in U.S. Popular Music, 2009 2011,” Substance Use & Misuse, August 2013. Relying on Billboard Magazine’s most popular song lists in the urban, pop, country, and rock categories for 2009, 2010 and 2011, the study’s authors found that 23 percent of the 720 surveyed songs mentioned alcohol and 6.4 percent included a mention of a specific alcohol brand, with four brands alone—Patron tequila, Hennessy Cognac, Grey Goose vodka, and Jack Daniel’s whiskey—accounting for more than half of all alcohol brand mentions. “Even in cases where alcohol companies are not directly promoting the mention of their brands in music…
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…
