A federal court in Maryland has permitted groups representing environmental and fishing interests to intervene in litigation filed by Dow AgroSciences LLC and two other pesticide manufacturers against the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), seeking to overturn the agency’s opinion that three insecticides threaten the Pacific salmon. Dow AgroSciences LLC v. Nat’l Marine Fisheries Serv., No. 09-00824 (D. Md., order entered August 23, 2011). In March 2011, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that NMFS’s biological opinion on the effects of chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion was judicially reviewable action under the Administrative Procedure Act, thus allowing the companies, which hold registrations for the insecticides from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to challenge the action before the district court. NMFS apparently provided the biological opinion to EPA in 2008 as part of EPA’s process of reregistering the insecticides for sale and use; they were first registered in the 1950s and…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued its “Strategic Plan for Regulatory Science,” a document deemed to be the agency’s “blueprint for overhauling the science it uses to develop and evaluate food, medicines, and medical devices.” In a section underscoring the agency’s emphasis on food safety, the document focuses on prevention and risk-based priorities required by the Food Safety Modernization Act. “To effectively implement this new food safety mandate, it is imperative that FDA ensures a strong science infrastructure, clearly identifies its research needs, and collaborates with other public health and research agencies in the [f]ederal government, state government agencies, academia, and private industry,” states the document, which details FDA’s Regulatory Science Initiative outlined in October 2010. Regarding food science, FDA plans to (i) “[e]stablish and implement centralized planning and performance measurement processes,” (ii) “[i]mprove information sharing internally and externally,” (iii) “[m]aintain mission critical science capabilities,” and (iv) “[c]ultivate…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has rejected New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (I) plan to prohibit residents from using food stamps to buy sugar-sweetened beverages and soda. In October 2010, Bloomberg and state officials had proposed a two-year experiment that would exclude the drinks from USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in an effort to reduce obesity. In an August 19, 2011, letter to a state official, SNAP’s associate administrator Jessica Shahin wrote that the waiver was denied because of concerns that the “scale and scope” of the plan were “too large and complex” to implement and evaluate. Asserting that it would be too difficult to assess the ban’s effectiveness, Shahin instead suggested that USDA collaborate with the city on “anti-obesity intervention targeting consumption and associated behaviors while encouraging healthy choices.” Expressing disappointment with the decision, Bloomberg said, “We think our innovative pilot would have done more to…
A Finnish study has allegedly confirmed an association between adult-only exposure to certain pesticides and type 2 diabetes. Riikka Airaksinen, et al., “Association Between Type 2 Diabetes and Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants,” Diabetes Care, August 4, 2011. Researchers reportedly analyzed data from 1,988 adults born in Helsinki during 1934-1940, finding that just over 15 percent had type 2 diabetes. The results evidently indicated that “for participants with the highest exposure to oxychlordane, trans-nonachlor, 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis-(p chlorophenyl)-ethylene (p,p’-DDE), and polychlorinated biphenyl 153, the risk of type 2 diabetes was 1.64-2.24 times higher than that among individuals with the lowest exposure.” In addition, “the associations between type 2 diabetes and oxychlordane and trans-nonachlor remained significant and were strongest among the overweight participants.” According to the authors, these findings suggest that organochlorine pesticides and body fat “may have a synergistic effect on the risk of type 2 diabetes.” Although lead author Riikka Airaksinen also…
A recent study has claimed that after adopting organic practices and ceasing the use of antibiotics, large-scale poultry farms had “significantly lower levels” of antibiotic-resistant and multidrug resistant (MDR) Enterococcus than their conventional counterparts. Amy Rebecca Sapkot, et al., “Lower Prevalence of Antibiotic-resistant Enterococci On U.S. Conventional Poultry Farms That Transitioned to Organic Practices,” Environmental Health Perspectives, August 2011. Researchers apparently sampled poultry litter, feed and water “from 10 conventional and 10 newly organic poultry houses in 2008,” finding that the percentages of resistant E. faecalis and resistant E. faecium “were significantly lower (p<0.05) among isolates from newly organic versus conventional houses for two (erythromycin and tylosin) and five (ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, nitrofurantoin, penicillin and tetracycline) antimicrobials.” They also reported that 42 percent of E. faecalis isolates and 84 of E. faecium isolates from conventional poultry houses were multidrug resistant, compared to 10 percent of E. faecalis isolates and 17 percent of E. faecium…
“A third or more of all the honey consumed in the U.S. is likely to have been smuggled in from China and may be tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals,” writes reporter Andrew Schneider in an August 15, 2011, Food Safety News article investigating the U.S. honey trade. Building on earlier media stories such as a January 5, 2011, Globe and Mail exposé covered in Issue 377 of this Update, the latest feature includes U.S. Customs import data indicating, for example, that the United States “imported 208 million pounds of honey over the past 18 months,” with almost 60 percent or 123 million pounds coming “from Asian countries—traditional laundering points for Chinese honey,” and “45 million pounds from India alone.” “This should be a red flag to FDA [the Food and Drug Administration] and the federal investigators. India doesn’t have anywhere near the capacity—enough bees—to produce 45 million pounds…
The New York Times “Room for Debate” series recently tackled illegal farm labor, with six labor policy and economic experts discussing whether “strict enforcement of immigration laws would drive up prices for fruits and vegetables.” According to the commentators, eliminating undocumented workers in the agriculture sector, if possible, would have far-reaching consequences for growers, consumers and other economic sectors. As agricultural and resource economist Michael Roberts explains, the strict enforcement of immigration laws would not only raise domestic fruit and vegetable prices and likely increase cheaper imports, but “the employment effect for citizens could be smaller than some might expect, because illegal immigrants don’t just fill jobs; they also buy stuff with the money they earn, spurring demand and creating jobs in other parts of the economy.” Tamar Jacoby, president of ImmigrationWorks USA, also agreed that expelling immigrant farm laborers would affect “whole sectors of the economy,” since “every farm…
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has published a study claiming that parents misinterpret nutrition-related health claims used on children’s cereal boxes. Jennifer L. Harris, et al., “Nutrition related claims on children’s cereals: what do they mean to parents and do they influence willingness to buy?,” Public Health Nutrition, August 2, 2011. Researchers asked 306 parents with children between ages 2 and 11 to view images of “box fronts for children’s cereals of below-average nutritional quality, as assessed by a validated nutrient profiling model,” featuring claims such as “supports your child’s immunity,” “whole grain,” “fibre,” “calcium and vitamin D,” and “organic.” The study authors provided “possible meanings for these claims” and asked participants “to select any that applied with the option to write in additional meanings,” as well as “indicate how the claim would affect their willingness to buy the product.” According to the study, “the majority of…
In an August 17, 2011, letter to the U.S. Department of State filed on behalf of more than 400 foreign guest workers recruited by the Council for Educational Travel, USA (CETUSA) to work for the Hershey Chocolate Co., the National Guestworker Alliance seeks the revocation of CETUSA’s sponsor status as a provider of J-1 visas, which allow foreign students to enter the United States for work, training and internships. According to the Alliance, the university students recruited to work for Hershey paid $3,000-$6,000 in pre-employment expenses and expected to receive wages and benefits comparable to U.S. workers and be provided with educational and cultural opportunities. Instead, they were paid $7.85 to $8.35 per hour, but after automatic weekly deductions for “above-market rent and other expenses, they net[ted] between $40 and $140 per week for 40 hours of work.” They were apparently “offered no cultural exchange of any kind.” Some of…
Sara Lee Corp., which makes Ball Park® franks, and Kraft Foods, Inc., which makes Oscar Mayer® hot dogs, have reportedly brought their marketing dispute to a Chicago courtroom where trial recently began on claims each company brought against the other over ad campaigns that sought to distinguish their brands. Stating “let the wiener wars begin,” U.S. District Judge Morton Denlow apparently opened the bench trial on August 15, 2011. Sara Lee takes issue with Kraft claims that its hot dogs beat Sara Lee’s in a national taste test and that its hot dogs are “100 percent pure beef.” According to Sara Lee, the taste test was flawed because the products were not served with condiments or buns, and hot dogs containing filler and chemicals cannot be called 100 percent pure. Kraft defends its testing and asserts that consumers understand that “pure beef” means that the products do not contain other…
