Food Safety Week
Volume 2, Number 2
January 12, 1994
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HEADLINES:
- DEPARTMENTS OF AG GROUP SAYS NO BGH LABELING NECESSARY
- INDUSTRY WARNS AGAINST ACTIVIST WITCH HUNTS
- COOL COW SOYBEAN MILK PRODUCT STIRS LABELING DISPUTE
- TEAMSTERS WIN BATTLE TO GET CUSTOMS TO ENFORCE ORIGIN
LABELING LAW
- QUORN EXPECTED TO HIT U.S. MARKETS IN 1995
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News Summaries
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DEPARTMENTS OF AG GROUP SAYS NO BGH LABELING
NECESSARY
Documents obtained recently by consumer activist John Stauber
under Wisconsin's freedom of information law indicate that the
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) is
gearing up to fight labeling and other anti-bovine growth hormone
(BGH) efforts. NASDA testimony submitted to the Senate Agriculture,
Nutrition and Forestry committee states, "[M]any advocates have
suggested the use of voluntary labeling to inform the consumer that
BST supplementation was not used in the production of the so
labeled product. NASDA strongly opposes this concept. We are
encouraging [Food and Drug Administration] FDA to disallow the use
of voluntary labeling and would oppose any legislation which would
allow this practice."
A second memo by Mark Nestlen, legislative and regulatory affairs
manager for NASDA, to all involved state commissioners of
agriculture sought to survey recipients about their attitudes toward
labeling. In addition, it asked for recommendations of people who
could act as spokespersons on behalf of BGH to be trained at the
January 20-21, 1994 NASDA conference in Chicago. Tracy
Dvoraczky, an employee of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture
under Secretary Alan Tracy, is signed up to attend the spokesperson
training, prompting some to pose conflict of interest questions. The
memo also reveals that NASDA will target school districts with an
education campaign. School districts in Wisconsin and Los Angeles
recently passed resolutions stating they will seek BGH-free milk
supplies. Said Stauber, "Governor [Tommy] Thompson should
immediately direct Secretary Tracy to stop harassing rBGH-free
companies. If Thompson and Tracy persist, they will simply fuel the
consumer boycott of rBGH milk by denying consumers the choice of
dairy products labeled free of rBGH."
The socio-economic impact study on the effects of BGH is available to
the general public from the Office of Management and Budget. For a
copy, call OMB at (202) 395-7332.
Source: John Stauber, "Internal Documents Reveal Tracy's Hidden
Agenda in Harassing rBGH-Free Dairy Companies and Opposing rBGH-
Free Labels," PRESS RELEASE, January 10, 1994; Mark Nestlen,
NASDA POSITION STATEMENT, June 21, 1993; Mark Nestlen, NASDA
MEMORANDUM, November 29, 1993.
INDUSTRY WARNS AGAINST ACTIVIST WITCH HUNTS
At the Texas Cattle Feeders Association annual convention last
month, participants were encouraged to overcome the environmental
and food safety agendas set by activist groups. "Activists are going
after everything we breathe, drink and eat in an attempt to advance
their agenda," said Margaret Maxey of the Center for Free Enterprise
at the University of Texas. "We are being persuaded that our health
and safety have never been so threatened." Maxey likened activists
to so-called witch hunters of the 16th and 17th centuries. She
recommended that the public take a look a scientific facts which will
dispel the myth that the current food production system is damaging
environmental health and public safety as put forth by activists.
Bob Messenger, publisher of the journal Food Trends, told cattle
producers that they will eventually win out over activists even
though public interest groups are masters at media manipulation.
The beef industry, he said, "must stay ever alert" to activist attempts
to discredit the industry and legislators' attempts to police the
production system. These interests "must be fought every inch of
the way," he said. He also recommended that processors take steps
to bring the products consumers want to the market. The features
consumers desire include taste, texture and price -- "in that order."
Otherwise, "you're going to be in a losing situation."
Source: Rod Smith, "Industry Urged to Pursue Course Set to Deal
With, Overcome Activists' Agenda," FEEDSTUFFS, December 20, 1993.
COOL COW SOYBEAN MILK PRODUCT STIRS LABELING
DISPUTE
Cass Clay Creamery of Fargo, ND is test marketing a product in
Minnesota it says has no cholesterol and is low in fat. Calling it Cool
Cow, the co-op substitutes a soybean oil for the usual butterfat found
in dairy products. According to Bill Coleman of the Minnesota
Department of Agriculture, Cool Cow is therefore a dairy beverage,
not milk. "We've informed Cass Clay that we don't consider it milk
under Minnesota law and we have some question if it's milk under
federal law." The company uses a product known as Farmelle,
developed by a company in New York, as a substitute for butterfat,
which gives milk its taste. The content of Farmelle includes soybean
oil, lecithin, Vitamin E, emulsifiers and stabilizers. The state of North
Dakota allows processors to label similar products as milk because
the state has been involved in the development of markets for such
products. However, the state of Minnesota's law differs and "they
may have to label it a 'liquid dairy beverage' -- 99 percent milk
might not be close enough to call it milk," according to David Smith, a
food scientist at the University of Minnesota. The Cass Clay co-op is a
member-owner of Land O'Lakes, whose rival no-cholesterol products
are widely available on grocery shelves in Minnesota.
Source: "Soybean-Based Milk Causes Labeling Debate," AGWEEK,
January 3, 1994.
TEAMSTERS WIN BATTLE TO GET CUSTOMS TO ENFORCE
ORIGIN LABELING LAW
Since 1988, the Teamsters union has been trying to get U.S. Customs
officials to enforce a law that requires food processors to inform
consumers where the products within their packages originated.
Earlier this month, the union announced that Customs officials agreed
to enforce the law which calls for conspicuous labeling on the front of
frozen packages. The service ordered companies marketing imported
frozen foods to display the country of origin on the front of the
package "in conspicuous and easily legible boldface upper case
Roman or sans serif print or type which shall be in distinct contrast
to its background."
The Teamsters were pleased with the ruling. "Companies don't want
consumers to know that their food is being produced in countries like
Mexico where workers are paid as little as $4 a day and rules on
water quality and pesticide use are not enforced," said Teamsters
President Ron Carey. "This ruling will help bring their shameful
cover-up practices out in the open."
In making their case, the union presented customs officials with
packages of many food processors where the contents originated in
other countries but were not labeled as such. The most famous
example is Pillsbury's Green Giant American Mixtures vegetables,
which are produced in Mexico.
Source: "Customs Service Rules Against Frozen Food Cover-Up,"
TEAMSTERS PRESS RELEASE, January 4, 1994.
QUORN EXPECTED TO HIT U.S. MARKETS IN 1995
Quorn, a meatless high-protein product made by Marlow Foods, a
subsidiary of the British pharmaceutical company Zeneca, is expected
to hit U.S. grocery shelves in 1995. Quorn is made from a process
that involves the fermentation of sugars extracted from corn and
wheat and is mixed with egg whites and thickeners. It has very little
fat and cholesterol and can be flavored with almost any spice or
sauce. The product is selling well in Europe, despite its expense, and
consumer research in California and Massachusetts indicates the
product will do well in the U.S. too.
Source: "The Brits Invent a New Food," FORTUNE, January 24, 1994.
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Resources
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HUNGRY FOR WHAT IS RIGHT is a publication of FIAN
International, an organization concerned with the human right to
food and nutrition and local self-reliance. The November 1993 issue
addresses issues related to indigenous land rights, food self-reliance
and the existence of indentured servitude in some countries. For
more information about FIAN and its activities, contact them at P.O.
Box 10 22 43, D-69012 Heidelberg, Germany, Tel: (49) 62 21
830620, Fax: (49) 62 21 830545.
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Conferences/Events
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FOOD BIOTECH FORUM: FOCUS ON THE CONSUMER, January 20,
1994, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. FFI, contact: Rick Walter, Canadian
Institute of Biotechnology, 130 Albert Street, Suite 420, Ottawa,
Ontario K1P 5G4, Canada, Tel: (613) 563-8849, Fax: (613) 563-8850
or Randy Goodfellow or Gordon Harrison, Goodfellow Agricola
Consultants, 90 Sparks Street, Suite 514, Ottawa, Ontario L1P 5B4,
Canada, Tel: (613) 235-5360, Fax: (613) 235-5866.
UPPER MIDWEST ORGANIC FARMING CONFERENCE, March 4-5,
1994, Sparta, WI. FFI, contact: CROPP, P.O. Box 159, LaFarge, WI
54639, Tel: (608) 625-2602.
ORGANIC COFFEE PRODUCTION, April 11-16, 1994, Chiapas,
Mexico. FFI, contact: AMAE c/o Jose Dardon Hernandez, Calle Central
Pontiente No. 14-A, Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, CP 30700, Tel: (52)
962-51682, Fax: (52) 962-60455.
CUISINE, AGRICULTURE AND SOCIAL CHANGE, June 9-12, 1994,
Tucson, AZ. FFI, contact: Gerry Walter, 59 Mumford, 1301 West
Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, Tel: (217) 333-9429, Fax: (217)
244-7503, email: walter@cc-mail.agcomed.uiuc.edu.
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Produced by: Michelle Thom, Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy, 1313 5th Street SE Suite 303, Minneapolis, MN 55414, Tel:
(612) 379-5980 Fax: (612) 379-5982 EMail: mthom@igc.org or
mmthom@alex.stkate.edu. In addition to this news bulletin, the
Institute publishes a variety of news bulletins on agriculture, the
environment and international trade. All bulletins may be
reproduced and distributed freely without prior permission as long
as proper attribution is included. A copy of any publication in which
an IATP bulletin is cited would be appreciated.