Food Safety Week
Volume 2, Number 3
January 20, 1994
------------------------------------------------
HEADLINES:
- WI DEPARTMENT OF AG ACTIONS QUESTIONED
- ESPY SAYS MEAT PRODUCTS TO BE LABELED SOON
- ISU STUDY SAYS IRRADIATION MAY BE EFFECTIVE IN KILLING E
COLI
- GROUP BEGINS CAMPAIGN AGAINST PESTICIDE RESIDUES
------------------------------------------------
News Summaries
------------------------------------------------
WI DEPARTMENT OF AG ACTIONS QUESTIONED
A recent article in the CAPITAL TIMES questions the actions of the
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and its opposition to labeling
products derived from cows treated with synthetic bovine growth
hormone (BGH). First, the Department forced Cedar Grove Cheese
processor Bob Wills to stop labeling his products "producer certified
rBGH-free," stating the label was misleading as BGH is not yet on the
market. Second, the department is sending a representative to a BGH
spokesperson training session this weekend -- courtesy of the
Wisconsin taxpayer. The training session will take place at a meeting
of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
(NASDA) and Monsanto, maker of Posilac, the version of BGH which
recently received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, will
do many presentations. State Agriculture Secretary Alan Tracy is the
vice president of the NASDA, which has opposed the labeling of BGH
products and is funded by agribusiness.
Tracy called charges that he is leading an anti-labeling effort "utter
nonsense." The FDA, however, said it has never backed Tracy or
other officials from preventing labeling such as the one used in the
Cedar Grove case. In a recent letter to Tracy, Linda Suydan, FDA
associate commissioner for operations, said, "The FDA has not
completed its evaluation of the issues you have asked us to consider
or the situation involving this product," referring to Cedar Grove
cheese. She also said Tracy's assertion that the label was misleading
because BGH is not yet available for commercial sale is incorrect as
BGH is being used in test herds. Tracy insisted that he is not opposed
to labeling, stating, "I'm sure they are going to label [after February
4] and just hope they can do it in a way we can support."
NASDA has long been a proponent of BGH. In congressional
testimony last summer, one NASDA official said, "We are encouraging
FDA to disallow the use of voluntary labeling and would oppose any
legislation which would allow this practice." The group has since
toned down its opposition to labeling. Mark Nestlen, a spokesperson
for NASDA, said, "We're not comfortable in using that statement
today." A department spokesperson defended the involvement of a
paid staffperson in the BGH training sessions, saying, "As a public
agency, we need to be able to translate technical information to best
serve the interest of the public."
A recent memo from the Food Marketing Institute says that the FDA
is working on clarifying its position on voluntary labeling. And
Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) recently wrote to Jerald Mande,
associate commissioner of legislative affairs at the FDA, asking him to
clarify the labeling question. He also asked Mande to attend a public
meeting where citizens of the state of Minnesota could discuss and
clarify any questions they may have related to the marketing of BGH
and BGH-free dairy products.
In response to calls for a boycott of dairy products once the
moratorium is lifted on February 4, the Food Marketing Institute
reminded retailers that it has a manual for dealing with boycotts or
demonstrations. The manual is entitled Social, Economic, Political
Protests Situation Management.
Source: Mike Ivey, "Actions Speak Louder Than Words on BGH,"
CAPITAL TIMES, January 19, 1994; "BST Activities Update," FOOD
MARKETING INSTITUTE MEMO, January 18, 1994; Senator Paul
Wellstone, LETTER TO JERALD MANDE, January 14, 1994.
ESPY SAYS MEAT PRODUCTS TO BE LABELED SOON
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy said safe cooking and handling
instructions will appear on uncooked meat and poultry products
soon, declining to be more specific. The new labels were to have
gone into effect last October but a lawsuit by industry groups
prompted a judge to place an injunction on the labeling rules. Espy
praised stores who went ahead and voluntarily labeled their meat
products and said he is moving as quickly as possible to convert the
nation's system of meat inspection to one that is scientifically-based.
"America, without a doubt, continues to have the safest and most
wholesome food in the world. However, we have an obligation to
keep improving our already high standards and believe that
everyone, including the users of food and food products, has a role to
play," Espy said.
Meanwhile, the parents of a young boy who almost died during an
outbreak of E coli bacterial poisoning last year, which was linked to
the Jack-in-the-Box fast food chain, said the company has failed to
follow though on its promise to pay the family's medical bills. An
attorney for the boy's parents said that $100,000 remains
outstanding on the account, which the hospital has threatened to turn
over to a collection agency. "I'm very embarrassed and humiliated,"
said the boy's mother Donna Riebe. Sheree Zizzi, a spokesperson for
the company, said the company remains committed to paying the
medical expenses of all the E coli victims.
In other labeling news, the FDA said ensuring that companies comply
with new labeling requirements is a priority. New nutrition labeling
requirements go into effect on May 8, 1994 and the FDA has been
asked to explain how it will enforce compliance. The top five
concerns the agency has are: failure to use the new label;
unauthorized health or nutrition claims; failure to include
information required under the new rules; using approved claims on
products that do not meet the claims; and use of a label that deviates
from the new format.
Source: "Espy Says Mandatory Meat Labels Due Soon," Farming
Today, UPI, January 12, 1994; "Jack-in-the-Box Accused of Failing on
Promise," NEW YORK TIMES, January 14, 1994; "FDA Reveals
Priorities for Food and Labeling Compliance," MILLING & BAKING
NEWS, January 11, 1994.
ISU STUDY SAYS IRRADIATION MAY BE EFFECTIVE IN
KILLING E COLI
At a recent presentation to the food safety committee of the U.S.
Animal Health Association, Dr. George Beran, a professor at Iowa
State University, said that a method of irradiation may be useful in
killing E coli bacteria. The method he is studying involves the use of
a beam which is not radioactive when inactivated and leaves no
radioactive residue on meat products. He also said the use of acid
washes has been somewhat effective in killing harmful
microorganisms on carcasses in addition to lengthening shelf life. He
also ranked probability of foodborne illness for five pathogens.
Campylobacter, salmonella and trichinosis ranked in the top five.
Source: "Irradiation of E coli Bacteria in ISU Study May Be
Promising," POULTRY & EGG MARKETING, January/February 1994.
GROUP BEGINS CAMPAIGN AGAINST PESTICIDE RESIDUES
In opposition to the dismantling of the Delaney Clause and the
allowance of negligible risk in a recent Clinton administration
proposal aimed at reforming the nation's pesticide laws, the
organization Food & Water announced a campaign aimed at educating
consumers and the food industry. Michael Colby, the organization's
director, said, "The Clinton administration's pesticide proposal is an
attempt to sugarcoat the bitter fact that agrichemicals are causing
cancer. It takes away a law that could prevent cancer and replaces it
with a law that manages cancer." "The food grown and consumed in
this country should give us the nutrition needed to prevent cancer,
not the pesticide residues that cause it," said campaign coordinator
Roz Renfrew. "This campaign will tap into the outrage people feel
toward the food industry for selling food containing harmful and
synthetic chemicals."
Source: Rosalind Renfrew, "Consumer Campaign Will Target
Pesticides in Food," FOOD & WATER PRESS RELEASE (Depot Hill Road,
RR 1, Box 114, Marshfield, VT 05658, Tel: 802/426-3700), January
3, 1994.
------------------------------------------------
Resources
------------------------------------------------
The NORTHWEST COALITION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO
PESTICIDES has a brochure on the postharvest treatments for fresh
produce, nuts and grains. For a complimentary copy of the brochure,
contact NCAP, P.O. Box 1393, Eugene, OR 97440, Tel: (503) 344-5044.
------------------------------------------------
Conferences/Events
------------------------------------------------
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.
URUGUAY ROUND BRIEFING, February 3, 1994, Washington, D.C.
FFI, contact: National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy and
World Perspectives, 1150 18th Street NW, Suite 275, Washington,
D.C. 20036.
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.
--------------------------------------------------
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.