A provision in the U.S. House of Representatives’ proposed 1,990-page health care legislation (H.R. 3962) requires fast-food chains with 20 or more locations and vending machine owners to conspicuously post calorie counts. Section 2572 apparently goes a step further than menu-labeling initiatives in New York City and elsewhere by also requiring information about how those calorie counts fit into recommended daily guidelines. The provision requires that chain restaurants list the information “on the menu board including a drive-through board” and mandates that vending machine operators provide the data on “a sign in close proximity to each article of food or the selection button.” A spokesperson for the National Restaurant Association told a news source: “We’re very pleased that the nutrition information provision continues to garner bipartisan support, and we’re pleased that the agreement is now moving forward in the House of Representatives.” See Politico, October 30, 2009; Advertising Age, November…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service, (FSIS) will convene a joint meeting to address ways of enhancing current product tracing systems for food intended for humans and animals. FDA and FSIS reportedly intend for the December 9-10, 2009, event to stimulate ideas on improving their ability to “increase the speed and accuracy of traceback investigations and traceforward operations.” More specifically, the agencies want to “identify the source of contamination during outbreaks of foodborne illness and to improve the ability of all persons in the supply chain to more quickly identify food that is (or potentially is) contaminated and remove it from market during traceforward operations.” Public comments will be accepted until March 3, 2010. See Federal Register, November 3, 2009.
According to a news source, research presented this week during a scientific meeting in San Diego, California, found that more than 4,500 adults who ate or drank more than 74 grams per day of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) increased their risks of developing high blood pressure. Apparently, that level of consumption led to a 28 percent, 36 percent and 87 percent increased risk for blood pressure levels of 135/85, 140/90 and 160/100. The authors reportedly concluded, “These results indicate that high fructose intake in the form of added sugars is significantly and independently associated with higher blood pressure levels in the U.S. adult population with no previous history of hypertension.” Additional research will reportedly be needed to learn if low-HFCS diets can normalize blood pressure and prevent the development of hypertension. The findings were presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition. See NutritionHorizon.com, October 30,…
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency has published a survey and health assessment examining the exposure of 2-year-olds to chemical substances in consumer products. The report apparently focused on endocrine disruptors, including phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA), found not only in general consumer products but specifically in food products and food contact materials. The study apparently concluded that (i) “a few exposures to a high content of an endocrine disruptor, such as that of DBP [bibutyl phthalate] in rubber clogs, may result in a critical risk for the 2 year-old”; (ii) “the amounts that 2 year-olds absorb, in particular from the phthalate DBP (mostly from foods) and dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs (mostly from foods, and partly from indoor air and dust), constitute a risk for anti-androgen disruptions to the endocrine system”; and (iii) “the amounts that 2 year-olds absorb from the parabens propylparaben and butylparaben, in particular, can constitute a risk…
The New York Times invited several agriculture experts and activists to participate in its October 26, 2009, “Room For Debate” column, which addressed the potential of genetically modified (GM) crops to alleviate world hunger and protect the environment. Although essays by both Raj Patel of the Institute for Food and Development Policy and North Carolina State University Professor Michael Roberts underscored the political challenges facing the next Green Revolution, Cornell University Professor and 2001 World Food Prize Laureate Per Pinstrup-Andersen remained cautiously optimistic about bioengineering. “While new technology must be tested before it is commercially released, we should be mindful of the risks of not releasing it at all,” he wrote. Oxford University economist Paul Collier echoed this response, describing the GM crop debate as “contaminated by political and aesthetic prejudices: hostility to U.S. corporations, fear of big science and romanticism about local, organic production.” But Vandana Shiva, founder of…
A high tax on meat is needed for meat-eaters to consume less, ultimately resulting in multiple benefits to human health, animal welfare and the environment, writes Peter Singer, a Princeton University bioethics professor and author of Animal Liberation and co-author of The Ethics of What We Eat, in an October 25, 2009, guest column in the New York Daily News. He advocates a 50 percent tax on the retail value of meat, but “if it is not enough to bring about the change we need, then, like cigarette taxes, it will need to go higher.” Singer advocates a tax on all meat, fearing “a tax on red meat alone would merely push meat-eaters to chicken.” Americans, Singer writes, have “been ignoring the cow in the room. That’s right, cow. We don’t eat elephants. But the reasons for a tax on beef and other meats are stronger than those for discouraging consumption…
Pine nuts imported from China have reportedly left some Americans with a bitter, metallic aftertaste, prompting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate the claims. According to a news source, FDA has received about two dozen complaints of “pine mouth” in recent months, but no illnesses have been reported. “Should the FDA find a public health hazard, then we will advise consumers accordingly,” an agency press officer said. The United States reportedly imports some 25 million pounds of pine nuts annually, 90 percent of which comes from China. A Richmond, Virginia, importer of Chinese pine nuts has scoffed at the pine mouth phenomenon, calling it an “Internet sensation” on food websites and blogs. He said he first heard reports of pine mouth a few years ago and had his product tested for heavy metals, Salmonella, yeast, and mold, but that testing revealed nothing unusual. See The Baltimore Sun, October…
Some 40,000 Atlantic salmon have reportedly escaped a fish farm into Pacific Ocean waters off the coast of British Columbia. They apparently slipped through a hole in the net while farm crews removed fish that had died from low oxygen levels. Recovery was apparently delayed, and Atlantic salmon were found some miles away by commercial fishermen. Fish farm critics have called for closed containment systems for the 35 million salmon raised in fish farms, noting that while Atlantic salmon are not supposed to survive in B.C. waters, escaped farm fish have apparently been found in 80 B.C. rivers, and juvenile Atlantic salmon have been found in three rivers. They called the latest escape “another blow to the health of our marine ecosystems and wild-salmon population.” Meanwhile, the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources has apparently approved the nation’s first tuna farm off the coast of the Big Island. The…
Monsanto Co. and farmers who grow genetically modified (GM) alfalfa have reportedly filed a petition seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision barring them from selling or using Roundup Ready® alfalfa seed until the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) completes an environmental impact statement (EIS). Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms, No. 09-475 (U.S., petition for writ of certiorari filed October 22, 2009). The petitioners apparently argue that the lower court ruling “threatens to make blanket injunctions all but automatic in [National Environmental Policy Act] cases arising in that circuit.” Additional details about the litigation appear in issues 274 and 309 of this Update. Environmental groups, farmers and consumers filed the litigation against the USDA in 2006 challenging its decision to approve the Monsanto seed. The Ninth Circuit determined that the agency erred by not completing an EIS, given evidence that GM crops could contaminate…
San Francisco’s city attorney has written to the Kellogg Co. to express “serious concerns about Kellogg’s advertising of sugary children’s breakfast cereals with the claims, ‘Now Helps Support Your Child’s Immunity’ on the front of the package.” The company is apparently promoting its Cocoa Krispies® cereal with this claim. The letter contends that “[t]he Immunity Claims may also mislead parents into believing that serving this sugary cereal will actually boost their child’s immunity, leaving parents less likely to take more productive steps to protect their children’s health.” City Attorney Dennis Herrera also states, “At a time when parents are increasingly worried about the spread of the H1N1 virus (‘swine flu’), it is vitally important that parents receive accurate information about what they can do to protect their children’s health.” He suggests that the company may be violating California’s Unfair Competition Law and that it may be undermining “critical public health efforts…
