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The dairy industry, ever under siege, is doing its best to convince us to eat dairy foods.  Full disclosure: I eat and like dairy foods.  I do not, however, like the way the dairy industry funds research aimed at marketing its products.  Here are two examples.

Example 1: Full-fat dairy foods are good for you [yes, they can be, but in moderation]

The study: Potential Cardiometabolic Health Benefits of Full-Fat Dairy: The Evidence Base.  Kristin M Hirahatake, Arne Astrup, James O Hill, Joanne L Slavin, David B Allison, and Kevin C Maki.  Adv Nutr 2020;00:1–15.

Conclusions: “Emerging evidence shows that the consumption of full-fat dairy foods has a neutral or inverse association with adverse cardiometabolic health outcomes, including atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and associated risk factors.”

Conflicts of interest and funding (dairy groups are highlighted):

Example 2: Dairy foods can help reduce world hunger [of course they can]

The report: Dairy’s Impact on Reducing Global Hunger

Major finding: “The remarkable consistency of the positive association between dairy animal ownership,
milk/dairy intake, and child growth across the experimental and observational studies, and
the dose-response relationship between dairy consumption and child growth…provide strong evidence that, in rural
low-income settings, household milk production increases household milk consumption, and increased milk consumption results in improved child growth and reduced stunting.”

Recommendation: “dairy development needs to be accompanied by nutrition education of caregivers to ensure that milk is provided in the most critical phase of childhood, namely in the 0.5 to 2-year age group”

Sponsors: “Published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Global Dairy Platform and
IFCN Dairy Research Network.

Comment:  It’s interesting to compare the first paper to another one done by investigators who are not funded by the dairy industry.  They don’t disagree, exactly, but spin the results much less favoably.  See: Milk and Health, by Walter C. Willett and David S. Ludwig. N Engl J Med 2020;382:644-54.

…guidelines for milk and equivalent dairy foods ideally should designate an acceptable intake (such as 0 to 2 servings per day for adults), deemphasize reduced-fat milk as preferable to whole milk, and discourage consumption of sugar-sweetened dairy foods in populations with high rates of overweight and
obesity.

Dairy foods are foods.  Like any other, they are not essential.  If you like them, eat them—in moderation, of course.

Graham Riches.  Food Bank Nations: Poverty, Corporate Charity, and the Right to Food.  Routledge, 2018.

I’m not sure how I missed this one when it came out.  It’s really good.

It is a tough analysis of the politics of charitable food—the institutionalized use of corporate food waste to feed hungry people, largely in OECD countries but also in the U.S.

• The analysis is seen in chapter subtitles, for example:
• Corporate capture: hunger as a charitable business
• Shaming the hungry, regulating the poor
• The “dark side” of food banking
• The corporate food charity state
• Food, as a matter of human rights

The solution?  Put rights and politics back into hunger.  The book gives examples of how to do this.

I’m still seeing articles coming out from the USDA’s Economic Research Service, now sadly moved to Kansas City.  This one is based on an older article.*  It’s about how “consumption” of sugars (in quotes because the data actually reflect the availability of sugars in the food supply—production less exports plus imports).

Here’s how I read this chart:

• Overall sugars are down almost to the level of the late 1970s.
• Refined (table) sugar dropped at about the time High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) became widely used; it is holding steady.
• HFCS accounted for the increase in total sugars from 1975-1999.  The subsequent decline is also mainly in HFCS.

The big reason for the decline is lower consumption of soft drinks (these account for nearly half total sugars consumed).

Another trend is substitution of HFCS by table sugar.  This is to the higher cost of HFCS relative to table sugar.  It used to be much cheaper but increased demand for corn to produce ethanol has made HFCS and table sugar cost about the same.

Also, HFCS has a reputation for being worse for health than table sugar, but they are about the same physiologically.  HFCS is glucose and fructose separated.  Table sugar is glucose and fructose stuck together (but quickly separated in the body).

I’m all for eating less of either one.  This, at least, is a healthy trend.

*Sugar and Sweeteners Outlook: July 2019 , by Michael McConnell and David W. Olson, ERS, July 2019

DairyReporter.com has a Special Edition on infant feeding 

Infant formula companies have a problem: the products are virtually identical in nutrient composition (they all have to meet the same FDA standards), babies only need them for the first year, and the number of babies is finite.  From the formula industry’s perspective, the challenge is how to increase sales.  Here’s how this industry is managing this challenge.

Where next for infant nutrition?

In this special edition, we take a look at the infant formula sector, which far from being static is changing through novel ingredients, smart packaging, the explosion in plant-based products, and production of breast milk from cells.

• Making baby formula transparent with Danone’s Track & Connect:  Packaging with QR codes and a new digital platform make up Danone’s Track & Connect service for baby formula products. It is available in China, with launches in France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand soon… Read
• How to trigger a growth spurt in infant nutrition:  Consumers could be forgiven for believing that innovation in infant nutrition is less radical or slower than it is in other parts of the nutrition industry… Read
• Alternatives to traditional infant nutrition hit US market:  Market trends and unique consumer needs in infant nutrition have producers thinking outside the realms of tradition. New launches from Else Nutrition and Biomilq have recently hit the US, forming new categories… Read
• TurtleTree Labs secures funding for production of milk from cells:  TurtleTree Labs, the Singapore-based company working with biotechnology to create the full nutritional content of milk, has announced it has completed its pre-seed funding round… Read
• Stricter EU infant formula marketing rules to come into effect:  New EU food law designed to further restrict the advertising and marketing of infant formula are to come into force on 22 February in a victory for campaigners critical of current guidelines… Read
• Combating cow’s milk protein allergy: Nestlé Health Science China introduces two new FSMPs brands:  Two of Nestlé Health Science China’s infant nutrition products for youngsters with cow’s milk allergies have obtained Food for Special Medical Purposes (FSMPs) status in the country… Read
• Catering for different life stages: What’s next for China’s A2 milk industry in 2020?  China’s A2 milk sector is likely to see the rise of more products catered to different life stages and specific consumers groups, beyond just infant nutrition, as more domestic companies join in the competition… Read

A report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) says that USDA recalls of meat and poultry have nearly doubled since 2013.

• USDA posts its recalls and notices here.

The PIRG report says FDA recalls of the products it regulates—produce, seafood, and processed foods—have dropped.  The Food Safety Modernization Act rules are in effect, and working.

• FDA posts its recalls and notices here.

To do something about meat and poultry recalls, some of which involve Salmonella, food safety lawyer Bill Marler along with  Consumer Reports and other advocacy groups, have petitioned USDA to classify Salmonella as an adulterant, an action that is long overdue (see the Washington Post’s story on Marler’s action.

Does USDA have the authority to do this?  I think yes, even though courts have ruled that because Salmonella can be killed by cooking, they are a natural contaminant.

Yes, but supermarket raw chicken is frequently contaminated with Salmonella and frequently associated with disease outbreaks.

Salmonella-contaminated chicken requires special handling in kitchens: Don’t wash it!  Keep it entirely separate from all other foods.  Don’t put it on counters, plates, or cutting boards that can come in contact with other foods.   In other words, run your kitchen like a maximum security laboratory.

It’s high time the USDA did something about this one.

The study: A Collagen Supplement Improves Skin Hydration, Elasticity, Roughness, and Density: Results of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Blind Study.  Nutrients 2019, 11(10), 2494.

Purpose: “The purpose of this randomized, placebo-controlled, blind study was to investigate the effects of the drinkable nutraceutical ELASTEN^® (QUIRIS Healthcare, Gütersloh, Germany) on skin aging and skin health.”

Conclusions: The test product significantly improved skin hydration, elasticity, roughness, and density…These positive effects were substantially retained during the follow-up.

Funding: This research was funded by Quiris Healthcare, Germany.

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. The sponsor had no influence on execution, analysis and interpretation of the data.

Comment: The funder, Quiris Healthcare, “develops and sells innovative, natural health products. The focus is on effectiveness and special quality.”  What struck me about this particular example is how the authors report no conflict of interest and state that the sponsor had no influence on how the study was conducted, analyzed, and interpreted.  Most research on the influence of industry funding indicates that it most often shows up in the study design.  Research also shows that investigators are unaware of the influence; it occurs at an unconscious level.  I review data backing up these statements in my book Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat.

David Michaels.  The Triumph of Doubt: Dark Money and the Science of Deception.  Oxford University Press, 2019.  

Even though this book is not strictly about food politics, it has enough about the sugar and alcohol industries to qualify.  I did a blurb for it.

Triumph of Doubt is an industry-by-industry account of how corporations manipulate science and scientists to promote profits, not public health.  Nothing less than democracy is at stake here, and we all should be responding right away to David Michaels’ call for action.

Michaels, a former OSHA official, has written an insider’s look at a wide range of industries that follow the tobacco industry’s playbook for casting doubt on inconvenient science.  The range is impressive: football, diesel fuel, opioids, silica dust, Volkswagen cars, climate denial, food packaging chemicals, alcohol, sugar, and Republican ideology

He’s got some ideas about what to do—keep conflicted scientists out of policy making, for example—but in this political environment?

That leaves it up to us folks to take to the streets.  If only.

I can hardly keep up with the accounts of the CBD business.  The business is booming.

The research?  Not so much.

The regulation? Lagging.

Here are some recent items.

• NASDA, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, has a report on hemp.
• Plaintiff’s Bar turns attention to CBD with wave of lawsuits alleging products contain ‘significantly lower levels’ than advertised
  redicted in the wake of reports highlighting discrepancies between actual and stated levels of CBD in consumer products, the plaintiff’s bar has turned its attention to the burgeoning category with a series of lawsuits alleging that products contain “significantly lower levels of CBD than advertised.”.. Read
• CBD’s Novel Food status reiterated by German high courts:  A higher court in Germany rules that cannabidiol (CBD) is a novel food confirming the decision made by one of the country’s administrative courts back in November last year. Read more
• Recall round-up: Hemp extract in spray and drug-contaminated supplements:  Aphrodisiac supplements for men, an update to a cumin recall and a non-approved Novel Food found in a CBD dietary supplement are among notices issued by food agencies last month in NutraIngredients monthly round-up. Read more
• Italy adopts decree setting maximum THC levels in supplements:  Italy’s Ministry of Health confirms the maximum level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) permitted in food supplements is set at two milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg). Read more
• EFSA warns THC levels of hemp-containing supplements exceed safety limit:  The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) warns of consequences to the heart and cardiovascular system as a result of consuming large amounts of hemp products that includes supplements, teas and energy drinks. Read more
• FDA asks for $5 million for CBD initiatives; industry groups cautiously in favor:  A $5 million FDA budget request earmarked for CBD initiatives has garnered the cautious support of dietary supplement stakeholders…. Read more
• CBD’s Novel Food status reiterated by German high courts: A higher court in Germany rules that cannabidiol (CBD) is a novel food confirming the decision made by one of the country’s administrative courts back in November last year… Read 
• CBD ruling major blow to industry: The novel foods status of cannabidiol (CBD) has been a major blow for the industry, but one that is not so easily enforced, experts have claimed…. Read more
• CBD food decision made by Food Standards Agency:  The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is giving the CBD industry a deadline of 31 March 2021 to submit valid novel food authorisation applications…. Read more