The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has published the results of an investigation “examining the authenticity of a number of beef burger, beef meal and salami products available from retail outlets in Ireland.” According to a January 15, 2013, FSAI press release, the agency’s study revealed “the presence of horse DNA in some beef burger products,” raising concerns about “the traceability of meat ingredients and products entering the food chain.” After testing for horse and pig DNA in 27 beef burger products, investigators evidently reported that 10 (37 percent) of the samples contained horse DNA and 23 (85 percent) contained pig DNA. The study also found that all 19 salami samples and 21 of 31 beef meal products contained pig DNA, though none of these items contained horse DNA. In addition, notes FSAI, “[t]races of horse DNA were also detected in batches of raw ingredients, including some imported from…
According to a notice published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), several Codex Alimentarius committees have invited member countries and observer organizations to join electronic working groups (eWGs). The Food Hygiene Committee seeks participation on a parasites eWG to further develop proposed draft guidelines on controlling the zoonotic parasites Trichinella spp. and Cysticercus bovis. The Fish and Fish Products Committee seeks participation on a food additives eWG “to prepare proposals for food additives in the standards for fish and fishery products, following the approach taken for the Standard for Smoked Fish and to focus on technological justification for those food additives.” This committee also seeks participants for fish sauce and scallop meat eWGs. The Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses Committee seeks participation on a nutrient reference values eWG and an addition of essential nutrients to foods eWG. Deadlines for and more details…
Democratic U.S. Sens. Edward Markey (Mass.), Richard Durbin (Ill.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) have issued letters to 14 energy drink companies, including Red Bull, Pepsi Co. Inc. and Monster Energy, seeking answers to more than a dozen questions. Responses are requested by February 1, 2013. Noting that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating the industry, the senators contend that “[t]he blurred distinction between supplements and conventional foods or beverages combined with recent published reports by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and FDA regarding consumption of energy drinks has led to significant consumer confusion and concern about the safety and use of these products.” Among other matters, the senators ask (i) whether each company’s product is a “supplement, conventional food/beverage or neither,” (ii) how each company presents nutritional information on product labels, (iii) how much caffeine is present in the company’s product and whether this…
A recent study targets the alleged health effects of two food and beverage dyes—Brilliant Blue (E133) and Patent Blue (E131)—after systemic absorption. Marianna Lucová, et al., “Absorption of triphenylmethane dyes Brilliant Blue and Patent Blue through intact skin, shaven skin and lingual mucosa from daily life products,” Food and Chemical Toxicology, February 2013. A particular focus of the study was to “assess the potential for lingua mucosa absorption of the dyes from human saliva as a consequence of licking lollipops.” The findings were “troubling,” the study noted, “particularly with regard to the repeated licking of lollipops by children.” The study concludes that because both dyes can potentially enter the bloodstream through the dorsum of the tongue and cause adverse health effects, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, allergies and asthma, neither dye should be used in the manufacturing of lollipops and hard candies. Brilliant Blue is used as food additive…
A recent study using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has allegedly suggested that compared with glucose consumption, fructose consumption resulted “in a distinct pattern” of cerebral blood flow (CBF) in brain regions linked to appetite and reward pathways, and “a smaller increase in systemic glucose, insulin, and glucagon-like polypeptide 1 levels.” Kathleen Page, et al., “Effects of Fructose vs Glucose on Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in Brain Regions Involved With Appetite and Reward Pathways,” JAMA, January 2013. Researchers relied on 20 adult volunteers who underwent to MRI sessions “together with ingestion of either a fructose of a glucose drink in a blinded, random-order crossover design.” The MRIs evidently showed that within 15 minutes, “glucose significantly reduced hypothalamic CBF, whereas fructose did not.” As the authors explained, “[I]ngestion of glucose but not fructose reduced cerebral blood flow and thus activity in specific regions that regulate appetite and reward processing. In keeping with…
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently highlighted energy drinks in its December 19, 2012, online issue, where two commentaries discussed caffeine-related adverse events and the risks of mixing energy drinks with alcohol. Authored by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center infectious disease specialist Kent Sepkowitz, the first viewpoint article notes that “the swift change in public perception of energy drinks from harmless mild stimulant to lethal, unregulated drug is unprecedented.” Summarizing recent cases of unintentional caffeine overdoses and caffeine poisoning, the article claims that “a person would need to ingest at least 12 of the highly caffeinate energy drinks within a few hours” to reach a lethal dose of caffeine. Sepkowitz argues, however, that this estimate does not take into account variables such as medications that may slow the metabolism of caffeine or preexisting cardiac or liver conditions “that could increase susceptibility to caffeine-related adverse events.” “The appropriate…
A recent study has reportedly concluded that bisphenol A (BPA) exposure is associated with low-grade albuminuria in U.S. children, suggesting they may be at a greater risk for kidney and heart disease as adults. Leonardo Trasande, et al., “Bisphenol A exposure is associated with low-grade urinary albumin excretion in children of the United States,” Kidney International, January 2013. Using data from 710 children enrolled in the 2009-10 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers reported that those “with the highest as compared to the lowest quartile of urinary BPA [uBPA] had a significant 0.91 mg/g higher albumin-to-creatinine ratio, adjusted for urinary BPA concentration.” These results were evidently consistent with previous studies associating BPA exposure with low-grade albuminuria in Chinese adults. “Long-term observational studies will be needed to ascertain whether uBPA-associated changes in low-grade albuminuria potentiate the features of the metabolic syndrome—hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or insulin resistance— and augment the risk of…
In a University of Oxford Press (UOP) blog post titled “From cigarettes to obesity, public health at risk,” University of Florida Psychiatry Professor Mark Gold advances his food addiction hypothesis and suggests, “If overeating is due to food acquiring drug-like or tobacco-like brain reinforcement properties, then the current globesity and overeating-related health crisis might have lessons to learn from tobacco.” Gold recently co-edited a book of essays, Food and Addiction, and claims that taxes on soft drinks, like taxes on cigarettes, could reduce consumption. According to Gold, animal tests show “that sucrose and fructose corn syrup are self-administered as if they were drugs and that an opiate-like abstinence syndrome could be produced by detoxification or antagonist administration.” He claims that new treatments based on the addiction hypothesis should address food preferences “and not just appetite.” He concludes, “New approaches, evidence-based approaches, like those that have been used successfully to develop…
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) are petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an immediate reduction in the allowable levels of ractopamine—a controversial drug used to boost growth and leanness in meat production—and to study the drug’s potential effects on human health and animal welfare. The petition was reportedly filed days after Russia announced that it would require meat it imports to be tested and certified free of ractopamine—a move that jeopardizes the more than $500 million worth of U.S. beef and pork exported to that country annually. According to CFS staff attorney Elisabeth Homes, “The continued use and abuse of ractopamine in our food supply needs to be put in check. FDA must do its job of assessing risks, questioning health impacts, and providing better solutions for our food system. American families and, potentially, the nation’s economy are at…
The Council of Better Business Bureaus’ National Advertising Division (NAD) has reportedly decided to review “no crash later” claims made by Living Essentials LLC about its caffeinated energy supplement 5-Hour Energy® after The New York Times published a January 2, 2013, article questioning the scientific evidence behind such assertions. According to media sources, NAD ruled in 2007 that Living Essentials could not support its unequivocal “no crash” claims, even though its product evidently causes less of an energy level reduction than beverages made by its competitors. As a result, Living Essentials modified its labeling to include an asterisk on its “no crash later” declaration, but NAD has apparently advised the company to drop the claim altogether or submit to a compliance review. See Law360, January 3, 2013. The claim now facing NAD scrutiny also caught the attention of Times writer Barry Meier, who noted that energy drink manufacturers demand premium prices…
