A California organization has reportedly gathered enough signatures to put a genetically modified organism (GMO) labeling initiative on the state ballot during the November 6, 2012, general election. According to a May 2, 2012, press release, the Committee for the Right to Know has registered 971,126 signatures, of which 555,236 must prove valid for the initiative to be included on the ballot. Submitted to the state attorney general as an initiative measure, the proposed California Right to Know Genetically Modified Food Act would require (i) raw agricultural commodities produced with genetic engineering to bear “clear and conspicuous” labels conveying this information, and (ii) all processed retail foods to display labels stating “Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering” or “May be Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering.” The act would also prohibit such foods from being marketed as “natural,” but would not apply to prepared meals sold in restaurants and intended for immediate…
The European Parliament recently adopted a resolution setting priorities for the Seventh Environmental Action Program (7EAP) and urging the Commission to present a 7EAP proposal “without delay.” Set to expire July 22, 2012, the Sixth EAP (6EAP) aimed to provide “an overarching framework for environment policy” and substantially consolidated environmental regulations, although it failed to fulfill several of its objectives and did not account for new challenges such as those concerning mixed chemicals, pesticides and water. The latest resolution calls for 7EAP to improve implementation, enforcement and integration of the policies laid out in 6EAP and to address additional goals in the following areas: (i) climate change; (ii) sustainability; (iii) biodiversity and forestry; and (iv) environmental quality and human health. In particular, the European Parliament has asked the next program to develop measures to counter “emerging human and animal health threats” as well as “examine the effects of new developments…
In response to “thousands of comments expressing concerns about the effect of the proposed rules on small family-owned farms,” the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has withdrawn a proposal intended to reduce injuries among children working on farms by, among other matters, prohibiting them from using certain equipment. Instead, the Departments of Labor and Agriculture “will work with rural stakeholders—such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union, the Future Farmers of America, and 4-H—to develop an educational program to reduce accidents to young workers and promote safer agricultural working practices.” Information about the proposed rule and a proposed “parental exemption,” that did not apparently satisfy critics, appears in Issue 425 of this Update. See DOL News Release, April 26, 2012.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has issued a proposed rule that would amend the standards of identity for distilled spirits to include Cachaça as a type within the class designation for rum. Responding to two petitions from the Brazilian Embassy, TTB has concluded that it is appropriate to recognize Cachaça, which derives from cane sugar, “as a distinctive product of Brazil” provided it is manufactured “in compliance with the laws of Brazil regulating the manufacture of Cachaça for consumption in that country.” The proposed rule would apparently allow the distilled spirit to be marketed as “Cachaça” without the term “rum” on the label, “just as a product labeled with the type designation of ‘Cognac’ is not required to also bear the class designation ‘brandy.’” In keeping with Brazilian regulations, TTB would also refuse the Cachaça designation to distilled spirits that use any corn or corn syrup…
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 14 people in nine states have purportedly been stricken with a Salmonella strain identical to that found in “multiple brands of dry pet food produced by Diamond Pet Foods at a single manufacturing facility in South Carolina.” CDC’s May 3, 2012, announcement indicates that the strain, Salmonella infantis, is rare and could have infected humans after contact with dry pet food or with an animal that has eaten it. Five of those afflicted have apparently been hospitalized. The Salmonella was first detected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development during a routine retail testing of dry pet food, and the company has voluntarily recalled three of its dry dog food products since then.
California Senator Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) has sent a May 3, 2012, letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service, asking the agency to investigate the restaurant industry’s use of transglutaminase or “meat glue” to allegedly bind together “disparate parts of meat products to form a larger piece of meat.” Citing unnamed media reports, Lieu claims that caterers and other facilities sometimes use transglutaminase to combine meat scraps into whole steaks, which are then sold as more expensive cuts like filet mignon. According to the letter, this practice not only deceives customers who believe they have purchased a higher quality product, but purportedly poses a health risk insofar as “reformed” steak may contain contaminated meat that is not thoroughly cooked or served rare. “I respectfully request the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to thoroughly investigate the industry’s use of meat glue, the possible dangers posed…
Researchers with the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention have published an article discussing the development of a database that compiles reports on food fraud and highlights those ingredients most prone to fraud in the food supply. Jeffrey Moore, et al., “Development and Application of a Database of Food Ingredient Fraud and Economically Motivated Adulteration from 1980 to 2010,” Journal of Food Science, April 2012. The database “provides baseline information and data useful to governments, agencies, and individual companies assessing the risks of specific products produced in specific regions as well as products distributed and sold in other regions.” Among other matters, the information collected shows that olive oil, milk, honey, saffron, orange juice, coffee, and apple juice “were the most common targets for adulteration reported in scholarly journals.” They are represented in more than 50 percent of the scholarly records in the database. Other “potentially harmful issues identified include spices diluted with…
A recent study has claimed that sodium intake exceeding the 1,500 mg per day recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA) was “associated with an increased risk of stroke independent of vascular risk factors.” Hannah Gardener, et al., “Dietary Sodium and Risk of Stroke in the Northern Manhattan Study,” Stroke, April 2012. Researchers evidently relied on data from 2,657 Northern Manhattan Study participants, of whom only 12 percent met the AHA-recommended levels for sodium. In particular, the 21 percent of subjects who consumed more than 4,000 mg sodium daily based on self-reported food surveys had an increased risk of stroke compared with those who consumed less than 1500 mg. Although the study authors also identified “a 17 percent relative increase in the hazard of stroke for every 500-mg/day increase in dietary sodium intake,” their findings did not suggest “a linear dose-response relationship between sodium consumption and stroke risk.” “Our study…
“Ready-to-eat cereals are the fourth biggest source of added sugars in Americans’ diets, behind sugary drinks, desserts, and candy,” opine Center for Science in the Public Interest Director of Nutrition Policy Margo Wootan and New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center Director David Ludwig in this article, disputing claims that children who eat sugary cereals for breakfast are less likely to be overweight than those who do not eat breakfast at all. According to Wootan and Ludwig, the research supporting such claims “cannot prove cause and effect, and most have been funded or conducted by the industry.” They argue instead that manufacturers should market their lower-sugar offerings to children as well as adults, citing studies conducted by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity that show such products “are well accepted by children” even though cereals targeted to youth typically “contain 85 percent more sugars and 65 percent less…
The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) executive officer has co-authored a book examining America’s obesity epidemic. Judith Salerno’s The Weight of the Nation: To Win We Have to Lose was published to complement a four-part HBO documentary on obesity debuting May 14-15, 2012, and a national campaign to curb obesity rates, both of which were featured in Issue 423 of this Update. The book was co-written by the documentary’s executive producer, John Hoffman, and its co-producer, Alexandra Moss. According to IOM, the book explores “the array of factors that feed America’s obesity problem—from the human body itself, which evolved to crave more food than it needs, to restaurant portion sizes that pack a day’s worth of calories into one meal, to neighborhoods and workplaces that encourage little physical activity.” IOM also plans to release a report titled “Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention” at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Weight of…
