The Pew Charitable Trusts has launched a new website on overuse of antibiotics in industrial production of farm animals. It summarizes and references four aspects of the antibiotic problem: the problem itself, the threat to human health, and actions needed to improve oversight and legislation. A good resource! And it links to the report on industrial animal agriculture production done by a committee of which I was a member. Use and enjoy!
My interview with Eating Liberally this week concerns the wake of the pet food recalls that I wrote about in Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine. Some Chihuahua! Now we have the Chinese infant formula scandal and don’t we wish we had Country-of-Origin Labeling? It’s been a busy few days on the scandal. The toll so far is 2 babies dead and 1253 sick, with 340 still in the hospital, and 53 of these are in serious condition. The Chinese have arrested two brothers who run a milk collection center on suspicion that they added melamine to make the protein content appear higher. An investigation of dairy producers found 22 to be producing milk contaminated with melamine. The largest of these dairies is owned in part by Fonterra, a New Zealand company. Fonterra says it tried to get the formula recalled earlier but the Chinese refused.
September 17: Today, it’s 3 babies dead, 1,300 in the hospital, and 6,244 sick. They were adding melamine to cover for diluting the milk with water. Hmm. Just like we used to do in the early years of the 20th century before passing pure food laws. Regulation, anyone?
When I was in New Zealand last year at a ministerial agriculture meeting, I heard a lot about how ranchers were giving up on sheep and starting large dairy farms to supply milk to China. This meant the end of pristine streams and sheep dotting the landscape.
This is interesting. The USDA has done an analysis of the kinds of imported foods rejected by the FDA for reasons of sanitation (the lack thereof), pesticides, and improper or no registration. The winners are vegetables, seafood, and fruit, in that order. This report was about the industries that are having the most problems. It doesn’t say a word about the countries doing the exporting. Maybe the USDA will do that next? That’s the one I want to see.
One of the lesser known (to me, anyway) provisions of this year’s farm bill was to ask the USDA to do a study of food deserts – parts of inner cities and rural areas that do not have access to fresh foods. The Economic Research Service, a section of the USDA that performs major public service, is holding a conference on food deserts on October 9 in Washington. Its agenda looks terrific. Check it out!
Oh dear. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has just released a summary of a new report on the use of USDA surplus commodity foods in school meals, mainly in California. The major findings? More than half the commodity foods are processed before they get to the schools and that means added fat, sugar, or salt (example: chicken to nuggets). More than 80% of funds for commodities are used for meat and cheese; only 13% is spent on fruits and vegetables. There is so little correlation between foods recommended by the USDA pyramid and those purchased by schools that the report displays a nifty side-by-side illustration of a commodities pyramid next to a USDA pyramid (the useful old one). It is an almost perfect inverse. The complete report has lots more good stuff in it. High marks to the groups that collaborated on this one, the California Food Policy Advocates and Samuels & Associates.
The FDA has issued a warning not to buy infant formula made in China (read labels!), since some of it may be in ethnic markets in the U.S. under the “grey” market. And China is investigating, threatening punishment, and issuing recalls.
I can hardly believe it but USA Today reports that Chinese infant formula has been found to be contaminated with melamine, the very same toxic ingredient that caused the pet food recalls of 2007. Melamine-laced pet foods killed cats and dogs. Who knows what it might do in infant formula. Melamine is high in nitrogen. Tests for protein just test for nitrogen and don’t care where it comes from. Melamine, which is cheap, makes pet foods and infant formulas look like they have a lot of protein, which is expensive. That would be bad enough but melamine and one of its by-products, cyanuric acid, form crystals that block kidney function. The fraudulent addition of melamine to pet food is precisely the subject of my book, Pet Food Politics. It’s subtitle is The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine. Now you know why.
The Brits are much more worried about artificial colors and flavors than we seem to be, these days as a result of the Southampton study, which linked such additives to cognitive and behavioral deficits in children eating a lot of candy. Mars has now made a commitment to eventually get rid of artificial colors in its candy bars. Will they do the same thing here? If so, what will we do without blue M&M’s?
