11.17.2009 8:58AM
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On November 13, the FDA announced indefinite postponement of rules requiring raw oysters from the Gulf of Mexico to undergo postharvest processing to destroy their content of Vibrio vulnificus, a particularly nasty "flesh-eating" bacterium. According to accounts in the New York Times and in industry newsletters, the FDA caved under pressure from the oyster industry and members of Congress representing oyster-harvesting regions in the Gulf.
The FDA has been trying for years to get the oyster industry to clean up its act and use post-harvest technologies to sterilize oysters in order to prevent the 15 or so deaths they cause every year. The technologies include quick freezing, frozen storage, high hydrostatic pressure, mild heat, and low dose gamma irradiation. When used, the methods reduce bacteria to undectable levels and deaths from Vibrio vulnificus infections to zero. As the FDA puts it, "seldom is the evidence on a food safety problem and solution so unambiguous." ...
Posted By: Marion Nestle
11.16.2009 10:43AM
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The newspapers and the Internet are full of reports that men exposed to bisphenol A (BPA) have higher levels of erectile dysfunction. Before going into a panic, take a look at the study details. This one was a survey of factory workers in China exposed to exceptionally high levels of this endocrine-disrupting chemical.
(BPA is found in many plastics, food packaging and in the lining of most cans.)
What does the study mean for men exposed to much lower levels? We dont have a clue. But weve heard plenty of unsettling things about BPA (see previous posts), including accounts by Jill Richardson and others of the extraordinary efforts of industry lobbyists to prevent officials from banning BPA. This new research suggests that a ban is a pretty good idea, even if most people are not harmed by small amounts.
Reasons? ...
Posted By: Marion Nestle
11.5.2009 2:17PM
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Heres a good reason why food manufacturers dont want to test for harmful chemicals. If you test, you might find something you dont want to.
Consumer Reports did just that It tested a bunch of canned juices, soups, tuna, and green beans and found bisphenol A (BPA) in almost all of them even the ones labeled organic or bisphenol A-free.
Posted By: Marion Nestle
10.27.2009 9:39AM
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Kelly Brownell and his colleagues at the Rudd Center at Yale have produced another well researched and in this case, gorgeously presented report (PDF) on the ways cereal companies market their products.
Even a quick look at its summary (PDF) gives an unambiguous result: most of the marketing dollars are aimed at pushing sugary cereals at kids. Companies use TV and the Internet to push the least nutritious cereals.
Posted By: Marion Nestle
10.26.2009 9:55AM
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Big news! According to an AP report, the group that runs the Smart Choices program has announced that it will "postpone" active recruitment of new products and will not encourage use of the logo while the FDA is in the process of examining front-of-package labeling issues.
Who says the FDA does not have any power? I think it does. And let's welcome it back on the job.
As for my nutrition colleagues in the American Society of Nutrition, the group that competed to manage the program and has been defending it ever since, here's what they now say:
Posted By: Marion Nestle