http://www.cspinet.org News on nutrition, food safety, and more. http://www.cspinet.org/images/pearblogicon.gif http://www.cspinet.org http://cspinet.org/new/201202011.html <b>Nutrition Action Healthletter Unpacks “Confusion in Aisle 10”</b><p><strong>Minute Maid Help Nourish Your Brain 100% Fruit Juice Blend</strong> fairly typifies the new-fangled products in the juice aisle. It’s mostly apple and grape juice—two of the cheapest, least nutritious juices—though its label uses big print to highlight smaller amounts of pomegranate and blueberry juice. Its labels also bear highly misleading non-sequiturs related to brain health, including “Vitamin C is highly concentrated in brain nerve endings.” But according to a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nah/articles/juice-gone-wild.html" target="cspi">review of juices</a> in the current issue of <i>Nutrition Action Healthletter</i>, people worried about memory or brain development needn’t waste their money on this Coca-Cola product.</p> <p>Nutritionists agree that juice is better than soda. But juice is <i>not</i> good for the waistline, according to <i>Nutrition Action</i>. In 2006, an <a href="http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/beverage/panel_recommendations" target="cspi">expert panel</a> comprised of leading scientists recommended limiting daily juice intake to no more than eight ounces per day. Liquid calories aren’t as filling as solid foods, one of several reasons why it’s better to eat fruit than to drink juice. Plus, drinking juice may raise the risk of diabetes. <p>“Juice makers, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, realize that consumers are concerned about losing weight and reducing their risk of diet-related diseases,” said <i>Nutrition Action</i> senior nutritionist Jayne Hurley, co-author of the review. “But no juice is going to perform miracles for eyes, skin, hearts, colons, or any other part of the body. That goes for just plain juice, and it certainly goes for a juice dressed up with some combination of water, artificial sweeteners, food dyes, or fake fibers.” <p>Some orange juice labels, like those of <strong>Tropicana’s Healthy Heart with Omega-3</strong>, imply heart health. But that juice has only 50 milligrams of EPA plus DHA from fish oil, a tiny fraction of what one would get from a serving of heart-healthy salmon. <strong>Minute Maid Heart Wise</strong> orange juice, on the other hand, contains a hefty one gram of beneficial plant sterols. Two grams of plant sterols per day can lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol by roughly ten percent over a period of 8 weeks. “Minute Maid wins,” says <i>Nutrition Action</i>. <p>If you’re watching your waistline, a different Tropicana product, <strong>Trop50 Orange</strong> has 50 percent less sugar and calories than regular orange juice. Of course, it’s 60 percent added water and only 40 percent juice and is sweetened with the safe high-potency plant-based sweetener Reb A (Pure Via). Trop50 is a smart choice if you like the sweeter taste, says Nutrition Action. (Some Trop50 products play the usual tricks, though. Its <strong>Pomegranate Blueberry</strong> variety has more apple juice than pomegranate juice and more grape juice than blueberry juice.) <p>Other examples of juice aisle trickery exposed in <i>Nutrition Action</i> include: <ul> <li><strong>Ocean Spray Cran-Energy Raspberry</strong>. To its credit, it only has 35 calories per serving. Its “energy” presumably comes from its green tea extract’s 55 milligrams of caffeine and not added B vitamins. Otherwise, the drink is basically water, juice (again, more cheap grape than the touted, but more expensive, cranberry or raspberry), added vitamins, safe artificial sweeteners, and, to its discredit, Red 40 dye.</li> <li><strong>IZZE</strong>. Most carbonated juice drinks like IZZE have no fewer calories than ordinary juice or cola, according to <i>Nutrition Action</i>. Once more, apple and white grape juice are the primary juices, even in IZZE’s more exotic flavors, such as Sparkling Blackberry, Blueberry, Clementine, Grapefruit, Lime, Peach, and Pomegranate. The IZZE Esque line has 50 calories per 12 ounce bottle because it’s 25 percent juice. <i>Nutrition Action</i> suggests adding seltzer to nutrient-rich orange juice to make a lower-calorie “sparkling” juice.</li> <li><strong>Vita Coco Coconut Water</strong> has “more than 15 times the electrolytes found in sports drinks,” according to the company, which goes on to advise that “Life is hectic enough, and you should be hydrated when you do it.” <i>Any</i> beverage hydrates you, according to <i>Nutrition Action</i>. And the only time one would need electrolytes in a drink is after <i>hours</i> of vigorous exercise. That said, coconut water has roughly just 40 fat-free calories per cup and is a decent source of beneficial potassium</li> <li><strong>Welch’s 100% Grape Juice with Fiber</strong> gives the impression that its fiber might come from “the whole Concord grape—skins and seeds included.” Rather, the fiber comes from the additive maltodextrin, a starch-like carbohydrate that resists digestion. <i>Nutrition Action</i> says there’s no good evidence that maltodextrin, or the dextrin added to <strong>V8 High Fiber</strong> or <strong>Sunsweet PlumSmart</strong> and <strong>Prune Juice Light</strong>, confers the kind of benefits as the fiber found in naturally in foods.</li> </ul> <p><i>Nutrition Action</i> also calculated scores for various juices based on the levels of 12 vitamins, minerals, and carotenoids, plus fiber. Carrot juice led the pack thanks to its high vitamin A and potassium content. Orange juice ranked second, followed by tomato juice (low sodium variety), grapefruit, prune, pineapple, unsweetened cranberry, coconut water, and perhaps surprisingly, considering all the hype generated by POM, pomegranate. Apple and grape juice came in last.</p> <p><i>Nutrition Action</i> is published 10 times a year by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, the nonprofit watchdog group that advocates for improved nutrition, food labeling, and food safety policies. <a href="https://orders.cspinet.org/subscriptions/" target="cspi">Introductory subscriptions</a> are $10. <i>Nutrition Action</i> is advertising-free and, like CSPI, accepts no corporate donations or government grants.</p> 2012-02-01 http://cspinet.org/new/201201301.html <b>71 Percent of Americans Believe Industry Should Lower Salt</b><p>Voluntary efforts by industry to reduce sodium levels in the food supply have failed, according to <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/fda-comments-sodium-reduction2012.pdf" target="cspi">comments</a> filed with the Food and Drug Administration last week by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. On Friday CSPI urged the agency to create strong, but realistic, mandatory regulations to reduce sodium levels in restaurant and packaged foods. According to a recent survey commissioned by CSPI, the public sees the need to lower sodium. 71 percent of Americans indicated that the food industry had a responsibility to reduce the sodium content of their foods, and 58 percent support a government requirement to reduce the sodium in processed and restaurant foods. <p>“Overconsumption of sodium is one of the single greatest causes of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and restaurant and packaged foods—not salt shakers—are far and away the largest contributors of sodium in the American diet,” said CSPI deputy director of health promotion policy Julie Greenstein. “Unfortunately, the food industry has failed to significantly bring down sodium levels despite 40 years of governmental admonitions. It’s time for the FDA to step in and require reasonable reductions.” <p>The U.S. government’s 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that people with hypertension, those who are middle-aged or older, and African Americans should consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day. According to the Center for Disease Control, about 70 percent of adults fall into those categories, yet current average daily consumption is actually closer to 4,000 mg. Recently, the American Public Health Association passed a resolution that calls on FDA to begin regulating sodium in the food supply within one year and to establish a timetable for gradually reducing sodium in the food supply by 75 percent over 10 years. CSPI’s filing notes that reducing sodium consumption would save billions of dollars in medical costs, and upwards of 150,000 lives annually. <p>Overwhelming evidence indicates that excess sodium levels pose significant health risks, but consumer education efforts are poorly funded and ineffective, according to CSPI, making efforts to reform dietary habits of Americans difficult. A recent survey indicates that 59 percent of Americans are “not concerned” about their sodium intake. As a result, an Institute of Medicine committee recommended mandatory regulations limiting sodium levels to improve public health and decrease healthcare costs. <p>Many frozen dinners and canned foods contain high amounts of sodium. Boston Market frozen Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy has 1,460 mg of sodium per serving (about one day’s worth). Marie Callender’s frozen Creamy Chicken and Shrimp Parmesan has 1,200 mg of sodium (almost a day’s worth). One of the worst restaurant offenders is Applebee’s Provolone-Stuffed Meatballs with Fettuccine, which has 3,700 mg of sodium (more than two days’ worth). Denny’s Spicy Buffalo Chicken Melt has 3,760 mg of sodium (two and a half days’ worth). <p>CSPI first petitioned the FDA in 1978 to reduce salt in processed foods. Besides urging the FDA to set mandatory limits on sodium content in the food supply, CSPI asked the agency to lower the Daily Value for sodium from 2,400 mg to 1,500 mg. 2012-01-30 http://cspinet.org/new/201201251.html <b>“One of the Most Important Advancements in Nutrition in Decades” says CSPI</b><p>America’s school-aged children will have twice the amounts of fruits and vegetables on their school lunch trays, as well as more whole grains, and less sodium and trans fat, under the new <a href="http://www.ofr.gov/(X(1)S(dzdqxpogowgusgdpzmckyi0r))/OFRUpload/OFRData/2012-01010_PI.pdf" target="cspi">nutrition standards</a> for school meals unveiled today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Despite heavy lobbying by the food industry and Congressional interference, the new standards are the best ever, according to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest.</p> <p>“The new school meal standards are one of the most important advances in nutrition in decades,” said CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G. Wootan. “They’re much needed, given high childhood obesity rates and the poor state of our children’s diets.”</p> <p>Approximately 32 million children eat school lunches and breakfasts, providing half of many children’s daily calories, according to USDA. The standards released today were mandated by Congress in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, signed into law by President Obama in late 2010. In the next month or two, USDA will propose regulations setting nutrition standards for the rest of the foods sold in schools, including through vending machines, school stores, and the a la carte foods sold in the cafeteria alongside the USDA-reimbursed meal.</p> <p>Although health groups praise the new standards, food industry lobbyists got <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201111151.html" target="cspi">Congress to prevent USDA</a> from limiting French fries and ensure that pizza counts as a serving of vegetables due to its tomato paste.</p> <p>“USDA, states, school officials, food manufacturers, food service workers, and parents need to work together to help all schools meet the new standards,” Wootan said.</p> <p>The rules set calorie maximums for the first time and lower calorie minimums to better ensure that school meals address obesity, as well as hunger. All milk sold in schools will have to be low-fat or fat-free. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act will provide schools with additional funding, training, model menus and recipes, healthy product specifications for commodities, and more frequent reviews to ensure that school systems comply with the new standards.</p> 2012-01-25 http://cspinet.org/new/201201201.html <b>CSPI says changes must lead to lower rates of Salmonella and Campylobacter</b><p><strong>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</strong></p> <p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s <a href="http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/Proposed_Rules/index.asp" target="cspi">proposal</a> for revamping poultry inspection would be the first major overhaul in over 50 years. Part of the proposal would have all poultry facilities monitor for pathogens both before and after chilling the poultry, which would give companies a real-time view of conditions in their facilities. In some plants, company inspectors would check for quality defects, likes bruises and sores, enabling USDA to reduce the number of its inspectors checking every carcass. Visual inspection cannot detect food borne pathogens.</p> <p>USDA should modify its inspection program carefully to ensure that the program reduces the unacceptably high levels of <i>Salmonella</i> and <i>Campylobacter</i> in chicken and turkey. One can’t escape the fact that the government is shrinking, and that historic programs like this one need to demonstrate their value. The proof will be in reduced contamination rates, leading to fewer deaths and illnesses. </p> 2012-01-20 http://cspinet.org/new/201201101.html <b>Sara Lee, Pepperidge Farm, and General Mills Among Holdouts</b><p>Marie Callender’s pies, Pop Secret’s microwave popcorns, and Long John Silver’s Breaded Clam Strips all share a little secret: they are among many products that still contain high levels of artificial trans fat. <p>Because trans fat is a potent cause of heart disease, the federal government and the <a href="http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/FatsAndOils/Fats101/Trans-Fats_UCM_301120_Article.jsp#.TwW_P_nNkqM" target="cspi">American Heart Association</a> have urged consumers to avoid foods that contain it. After the Food and Drug Administration required trans fat to be listed on food labels, most large manufacturers removed partially hydrogenated oil, the source of artificial trans fat, from their products. And in response to <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200610301.html" target="cspi">lawsuits</a>, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200409241.html" target="cspi">bad publicity</a>, and <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200612052.html" target="cspi">local-</a> and <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200807251.html" target="cspi">state-</a>level restrictions, most large restaurant chains similarly stopped using the discredited ingredient. Thus, while many consumers might consider the problem solved, several large companies continue to market products containing unhealthy, and unnecessary amounts of trans fat. <p>Marie Callender’s Lattice Apple Pie (ConAgra Foods) contains 5 grams of trans fat per serving. Varieties of Pop Secret microwave popcorn (Diamond Foods) contain 4 or 5 grams of trans fat per serving. An order of Long John Silver’s Breaded Clam Strips contains 7 grams of trans fat. While White Castle recently eliminated trans fat from most of its products, some regionally marketed pastries contain large amounts. White Castle’s doughnuts contain a whopping 8 or 9 grams of trans fat per serving. <p>The American Heart Association recommends that people limit their trans fat intake to no more than two grams per day. Since small amounts of trans fat occur naturally in beef and dairy products, that leaves very little, if any, room for artificial trans fat from partially hydrogenated oil. <p>A <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/trans-fat-product-list.pdf" target="cspi">sampling of foods</a> containing three or more grams per serving includes Pillsbury’s Buttermilk Biscuits (General Mills), Pepperidge Farm’s Luscious 3-Layer Lemon Flavor Cake (Campbell Soup Co.), Utz’s Cheese Flavored Puff’n Corn, Jimmy Dean’s Sausage, Egg & Cheese Croissant Sandwich (Sara Lee Corp.), Celeste’s Original Pizza (Pinnacle Foods Group), and dozens more. <p>Mrs. Budd’s Original Recipe Chicken Pot Pie, a regional brand, has more partially hydrogenated oil than carrots or peas, but consumers would have no way of knowing how many of its 17 grams of fat per serving are from trans fat: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates food with meat or poultry, hasn’t adopted the FDA’s trans fat labeling rule. (The company told CSPI that the pot pie contains 5 grams of trans fat.) <p>In 2004, the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/trans_fat_petition_may_18.pdf" target="cspi">regulatory petition</a> urging the FDA to ban the use of partially hydrogenated oil in food altogether. <p>“Considering the virtual unanimity among scientists that trans is the most harmful fat in the food supply, it is totally irresponsible for companies like Sara Lee, Pepperidge Farm, General Mills, and Long John Silver’s, along with many smaller ones, to continue marketing foods with artificial trans fat,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “The FDA could readily ban the use of partially hydrogenated oil or set a strict limit on the amount of trans fat in a product. Unfortunately, the FDA has let CSPI’s petition collect dust.” <p>CSPI estimates that companies have <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/transfat/" target="cspi">eliminated</a> well over half of the partially hydrogenated oil in the food supply. But the remaining trans fat continues to promote heart disease, likely causing thousands of unnecessary premature deaths annually. 2012-01-10 http://cspinet.org/new/201201041.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal</b><p>FDA's action is a small step forward on the path to preventing foodborne outbreaks from antibiotic-resistant pathogens. The order prohibiting certain uses of cephalosporin in many food-producing animals is clearly warranted, though it may be too little, and it is definitely too late. CSPI has identified at least <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/foodborne-outbreaks-ceftiofur-reistant-salmonella.pdf" target="cspi">five foodborne outbreaks</a> since 2001 linked to cephalosporin-resistant Salmonella, which resulted in at least 200 illnesses and one death.</p> <p>Extralabel use of cephalosporin is only a part of the problem. FDA should act soon to <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2011/whd_20110406/en/index.html " target="cspi">restrict or eliminate</a> all unnecessary uses of antibiotics critically important to human medicine, so they can be preserved for future generations. <a href="http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2011/presskit/whd2011_fs4d_subanimal.pdf " target="cspi">According to Dr. Margaret Chan</a>, Director-General of the World Health Organization, without urgent corrective action, "the world is on the brink of losing these miracle cures." </p> <p>Recently, FDA rejected a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/ar/petition_3_99.html" target="cspi">petition</a> by CSPI and other organizations to ban subtherapeutic uses of antibiotics in animals. The use of antibiotics in livestock increases the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, which leads to infections in humans that are difficult or impossible to treat. This partial step should be followed with more definitive action to protect consumers from the illnesses caused by excessive use of antibiotics in food-producing animals. </p> 2012-01-04 http://cspinet.org/new/201112211.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal</b><p>The litany of new acronyms for the task forces and interagency consultations that are described in the Obama Administration's new Progress Report on Food Safety is worthy of a good spy novel: from SIP to CORE; from ICAT to CalciNet. It shows both the high level of attention that the Administration has paid to addressing food safety and the challenge when numerous federal and state agencies must work together during outbreaks and other critical food events. The report documents important improvements that have been made in the food safety system, especially with the adoption and implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. However, with so many agencies involved, lapses can easily occur in the absence of strong leadership. It is promising to see the continuation of the <a href="http://www.foodsafetyworkinggroup.gov/">Food Safety Working Group</a>, which was established by President Obama early in his administration. <p>Future progress will require additional commitments in several key areas: <p>First, funding of the food safety programs at FSIS, FDA and CDC must be protected from across-the-board cuts. This funding is vital to further reduce the impact that major food safety problems pose for consumers and industry alike. <p>Second, effective communication can save lives during outbreaks and other food crises. The administration should set timelines for better integrating IT systems to ensure that agencies can share information effectively. <p>Finally, last summer's major food outbreak in Europe from a new <i>E. coli</i> strain and several recent U.S. outbreaks posed by <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/201112201.html">antibiotic-resistant strains</a> of <i>Salmonella</i> in ground meat, underscore the problem that such emerging pathogens pose. The agencies should develop a unified system for identifying and addressing emerging pathogens in the food supply. 2011-12-21 http://cspinet.org/new/201112201.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Staff Attorney Sarah Klein</b><p>At least 14 consumers are sick—including 7 who have been hospitalized—from another outbreak of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella in ground beef. </p> <p>The outbreak strain, Typhimurium, has shown resistance to multiple commonly prescribed antibiotics, making the illnesses harder to treat. Salmonella Typhimurium has previously been implicated in two meat-related outbreaks, and is one of four ABR Salmonella strains that CSPI urged USDA to <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/201105251.html" target="cspi">declare as adulterants</a> earlier this year. That declaration would trigger enhanced testing for these dangerous pathogens, and could minimize their entry into commerce. </p> <p>FSIS says it is developing regulations to require better recordkeeping by retailers who grind beef—but that process can take years and consumers cannot afford to wait. Retailers must be responsible for keeping track of where beef is coming from so that they can assist FSIS and consumers with timely traceback during an outbreak investigation. </p> <p>The retailer, Hannaford, has recalled all of its house-label ground beef with sell by dates prior to December 17. Consumers who believe they may have purchased this or any contaminated product should dispose of it or return it. </p> 2011-12-20 http://cspinet.org/new/201112161.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>First Congress declares pizza a vegetable; now it defends companies’ ability to market Froot Loops as healthy for children. This Congress has quite the nutrition track record. Too bad kids don’t have their own PAC, or $37 million in <a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/2011/Food_and_media_companies_lobby/" target="cspi">lobbying clout</a>.</p> <p>The <a href="http://rules.house.gov/Media/file/PDF_112_1/legislativetext/HR3671-IH-P3.pdf" target="cspi">Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012, HR 3671</a>, includes a provision that would require the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of its final recommendations for food marketing to children (it already has put the recommendations out for public comment). This delaying tactic puts kids’ health at risk. Doing a cost-benefit analysis makes sense for regulations that require companies to actually do something. But there is no cost associated with something that is totally voluntary. </p> <p>Clearly the industry could use some advice about food marketing. Under industry's own marketing standards, Popsicles and Cocoa Puffs are <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-f-jacobson/healthy-kids-foods-not-healthy_b_987155.html" target="cspi">considered healthy</a> to market to kids and <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/pledgereport.pdf" target="cspi">80 percent</a> of the foods companies market to children is still of poor nutritional value, despite self-regulatory efforts.</p> <p>Unfortunately both the House and the Senate have fallen for industry's <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/letter-to-president-including_sign-ons.pdf" target="cspi">faulty claims</a> that marketing is not effective, that voluntary suggestions <a href="http://www.phlpnet.org/phlp/news/IWG-proposal-doesnt-violate-1st-amendment" target="cspi">violate the First Amendment</a>, or that they would <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/epi-jobs-analysis.pdf" target="cspi">reduce jobs</a>. Even when television ads for cigarettes were banned, media companies’ ad revenues continued to grow. Mars, Coca-Cola, and Hershey have voluntarily given up advertising to kids and seem to be doing just fine.</p> 2011-12-16 http://cspinet.org/new/201112131.html <b>&quot;I broke out in hives and could feel my throat swelling and breathing was getting hard,&quot; wrote one woman.</b><p>A spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration recently told the <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=wall%20street%20journal%20quorn&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052970204517204577046370191497672.html&ei=rI7XTt62L4jW0QHLsqA7&usg=AFQjCNHJKb9APe-S1jgatEXiXxS0j0V1LA" target="cspi">Wall Street Journal</a> that the agency had heard from just seven consumers who had adverse reactions to Quorn, the line of meat substitutes made from vat-grown soil mold. That small number was puzzling to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, since the food safety watchdog group had <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200603281.html" target="cspi">forwarded hundreds</a> of such adverse reaction reports to the FDA over the years—reports that <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/quorn/victims.html" target="cspi">typically included</a> some combination of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hives, or difficulty breathing. </p> <p>To make sure that the FDA realizes the scope of the problem with Quorn, CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson asked consumers who became ill after eating the fungus-based faux meat to write directly to Margaret Hamburg, the commissioner of the FDA. The accounts provided by the consumers are harrowing—and include blackouts, ruined clothing, burst blood vessels, explosive diarrhea, and missed days of work. Many expressed their disappointment that the FDA hasn’t removed Quorn from the market or required prominent warning notices.</p> <p>“Gut wrenching,” is how 60-year-old Pacific Grove, Calif., resident Andrea Carter described her illness after she and her partner ate Quorn cutlets. “I had the most severe vomiting I had ever experienced.” Carter was so sick she had to miss work on the very day her employer was holding a retirement party for her.</p> <p>“I’ve always been called the person with the iron stomach, because nothing ever bothers me,” wrote Tayba Tahir, a university administrator in Akron, Ohio. Tahir became ill twice before realizing it was the Quorn that was causing her illness. “The first time, I experienced such violent bouts of vomiting that I threw up and the blood vessels in my eyes burst.” The next time, she was found unconscious on the bathroom floor by a family member.</p> <p>Some Quorn eaters described symptoms more characteristic of anaphylactic shock, including hives and difficulty breathing.</p> <p>“About half an hour after my meal, my throat started to itch, and then my skin,” Zarina Khan wrote to Hamburg. “I broke out in hives and could feel my throat swelling shut and breathing was getting hard.” Khan, who had eaten Quorn Chik’n Tenders induced vomiting and took antihistamines to make those symptoms stop.</p> <p>Port Saint Lucie, FL, computer professional David Popovich complained both to Quorn and to retailer Whole Foods after falling ill after eating Quorn Turk’y Roast for Christmas dinner in 2007. “The most frightening response was the tightness in my chest—I felt like I could not breathe.” Quorn conceded in an email to Popovich that “It would appear that you may have experienced a cross-reaction to the mycoprotein present in Quorn products.” </p> <p>Karen Koijane of Las Vegas, Nev., wrote that within an hour or two of eating a Quorn burger, “I was vomiting and lying on the floor of my bathroom trembling.” She related to Dr. Hamburg how she takes the time to warn people in the grocery store when she sees them eyeing Quorn products, and urged the commissioner to “Please use your position and influence to at the very least warn them as well.”</p> <p>Jacobson says the FDA erred in 2001 by allowing Quorn to be sold in the U.S. even after the agency had seen company studies showing that the meat substitute made some people ill. CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/quornpr_050102.html" target="cspi">first called</a> on the FDA to take Quorn off the market in 2002.</p> <p>“Quorn was a brand new food, never eaten by humans until fairly recently, so it was striking that the FDA was not more cautious about it at time,” said Jacobson. “Now we know that Quorn causes great inconvenience and misery—and life-threatening reactions—to those people who are allergic to this particular fungus.”</p> <p>Quorn executive David Wilson told The Wall Street Journal that one person in between 100,000 and 200,000 might have a “sensitivity” to Quorn. But a CSPI-commissioned <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200309231.html" target="cspi">telephone survey</a> found that nearly 5 percent of consumers in Great Britain, where Quorn has longer been available, reported being allergic to the fungus-based meat. </p> <p>“I remain angry and mystified that it is still for sale,” retired nurse Sue Zerangue of Astoria, OR, wrote in an email to the FDA. “I fully support efforts to remove this dangerous product from the food supply.”</p> 2011-12-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201112081.html <b>Group Urges FDA to Require Front-Label Disclosure of Artificial Colorings</b><p><a href="http://www.tropicana.com/#/trop_products/productsLanding.swf?Twister/111" target="cspi">Tropicana Twister Cherry Berry Blast</a> has no cherry juice. Nor does it have any berry juice. Despite the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/images2/tropicana.JPG" target="cspi">pictures</a> of cherries and berries on the label, this drink gets much of its dark red color from the controversial dye, Red 40. The Center for Science in the Public Interest says that’s deceptive. And today, the nonprofit nutrition and food safety watchdog group is urging the Food and Drug Administration to require food companies to disclose on the front of food labels whether a product is artificially colored. </p> <p>It's not just a problem with soft drinks. Salad dressing, bread, breakfast cereals, candy, baked goods, and even mayonnaise and pickles may get their colors from additives. Color additives are an inexpensive way to simulate absent fruit or vegetable ingredients, make white bread look more like whole wheat, or make sugary cereals more appealing to young children, according to CSPI.</p> <p><a href="http://www.generalmills.com/home/brands/baking_products/betty_crocker/brand%20product%20list%20page.aspx#{28D3E942-EB49-421C-886C-84AA7E9D48F8}" target="cspi">Betty Crocker Carrot Cake Mix</a> has no carrots, as such. Instead, it has “carrot flavored pieces” made with corn syrup, flour, corn cereal, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and/or soybean oil, a small amount of “carrot powder,” unspecified artificial color, and Yellow 6 and Red 40. Most varieties of Mt. Olive and Vlassic pickles appear greener and fresher thanks to Yellow 5. Kraft Light Catalina Salad Dressing contains Red 40. And caramel coloring and cocoa darken Pepperidge Farm Pumpernickel Bread.</p> <p>“Betty Crocker is certainly free to make virtually carrotless carrot cake, and Tropicana is free to make berryless and cherryless juice,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “But consumers shouldn’t have to turn the package over and scrutinize the fine print to know that the color in what are mostly junk foods comes from cheap added colorings.”</p> <p>Food colorings—be they synthetic dyes or obtained from nature—deceptively enhance the visual attractiveness of products and imply greater product quality, according to a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/food-color-petition.pdf" target="cspi">regulatory petition</a> CSPI filed with the FDA. CSPI says the agency should require that the label of a food containing color additives state ‘Artificially Colored’ on the package next to the product name—something the agency already requires of many artificially colored products.</p> <p>There are also health reasons to be concerned about artificial colorings. The FDA has acknowledged that artificial food dyes, such as Red 40 and Yellow 5, trigger hyperactivity and behavioral problems in some children. CSPI has also highlighted the cancer risks associated with certain caramel colorings, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, which are contaminated with carcinogens. In addition, some consumers are allergic to natural or synthetic color additives.</p> <p>“Companies substitute color additives for real food ingredients to lower their costs at the expense of consumers’ health and pocketbooks,” said CSPI litigation director Stephen Gardner. “We hope that the FDA requires companies to label artificially colored foods honestly.”</p> <p>Currently, FDA requires manufacturers to list synthetic color additives, such as Blue 2 or Yellow 6, by name in ingredient lists. Companies must also declare by name two allergenic colorings, carmine and cochineal extract, which are made from insects. But other colorings may be listed as “Artificial Color,” “Color Added,” or similar terms.</p> <p>Three-quarters of Americans favor the mandatory disclosure on front labels when foods have been artificially colored, according to a national public opinion survey commissioned by CSPI in 2010.</p> 2011-12-08 http://cspinet.org/new/201112011.html <b>Fake Fungal &quot;Chik'n&quot; Causes Anaphylaxis, Severe Vomiting, Hives</b><p>The vat-grown mold used to make the Quorn line of meat substitutes causes gastrointestinal distress and in some cases, life-threatening anaphylactic reactions, according to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. The nutrition and food safety watchdog group has again <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/quorn-letter-to-fda-nov-15-2011.pdf" target="cspi">urged</a> the Food and Drug Administration to <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=wall%20street%20journal%20quorn&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052970204517204577046370191497672.html&ei=rI7XTt62L4jW0QHLsqA7&usg=AFQjCNHJKb9APe-S1jgatEXiXxS0j0V1LA" target="cspi">revoke</a> its “Generally Recognized as Safe,” or GRAS, designation for the controversial fermented fungus. If the agency does intend to allow Quorn’s “mycoprotein” to remain on store shelves, it should at least require a prominent warning label, the group says. </p> <p>Quorn is a meat substitute that typically takes the shape of artificial chicken patties or nuggets, imitation ground beef, cylindrical “roasts,” as well as other meatless incarnations, such as “Cranberry & Goat Cheese Chik’n Cutlets.” The principal ingredient is a microscopic fungus, Fusarium venenatum, which the company feeds with oxygenated water, glucose, and other nutrients in giant fermentation tanks. Once harvested from the tanks, the material is heat-treated in order to remove its excess RNA, and then dewatered in a centrifuge. Combined with egg albumen and other ingredients, it is then “texturized” into various meat-like shapes.</p> <p>CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/quornpr_050102.html" target="cspi">first urged</a> the Food and Drug Administration to take Quorn off the market in 2002, and has been collecting <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/cgi-bin/quorn/quorn.cgi" target="cspi">adverse reaction reports</a> from consumers ever since at QuornComplaints.com. CSPI has collected about 500 such reports from Americans and 1,200 more from European and Australian consumers. The vast majority of those reactions involved vomiting and diarrhea; others reported fainting or blood appearing in stool, vomit, or eyes. A smaller percentage of complaints involved hives or potentially fatal anaphylactic reactions. About 17 percent of complainants required medical treatment, sometimes hospitalization. According to a telephone survey of consumers in the United Kingdom (where the product is marketed more widely than in the United States), nearly 5 percent of consumers reported being sensitive to Quorn.</p> <p>CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson relayed 10 consumers’ complaints in a recent letter to FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael Taylor.</p> <p>One 20-year-old man from Waco, TX, told CSPI that two hours after eating Quorn Chik’n Nuggets, he began to feel nauseous, and, too far from a bathroom, tried to open a window in order to vomit. He blacked out and hit his head on a trash can. And, according to a report filed by her daughter, a 75-year-old woman from Towson, MD, vomited and passed out in the theater during a production of Les Miserables four hours after eating half of a Quorn Chik’n patty. She spent the night in the emergency room and required anti-nausea medicine to stop her vomiting. </p> <p>"We believe, and we suspect that any reasonable person would believe, that any novel food ingredient that causes hives, anaphylactic reactions, or vomiting so violent that blood vessels burst, cannot, indeed must not, be considered by the FDA to be ‘generally recognized as safe,’" Jacobson wrote.</p> <p>CSPI urged that Quorn products be removed from the marketplace. If the FDA declines to do that, CSPI suggested that the following notice be required on the fronts of Quorn packages: “Warning: This product might cause severe diarrhea or vomiting, or a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction; an allergy might develop only after consuming the product several times.” The group’s letter acknowledges that it is skeptical the FDA would require such a notice.</p> <p>“There are plenty of nutritious, safe, and environmentally-friendly meat substitutes, made with soybeans, mushrooms, legumes, rice, and other real food ingredients,” said Jacobson. “It’s crazy to knowingly allow a potent new allergen into the food supply yet that’s exactly what the FDA has done.”</p> 2011-12-01 http://cspinet.org/new/201111302.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>McDonald’s <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/29/MNUR1M5NCE.DTL" target="cspi">decision</a> to start charging 10 cents to have toys added to Happy Meals in San Francisco is a brazen and cynical attempt to circumvent the city’s law to encourage healthier children’s meals. It’s duplicitous for McDonald’s to claim that the toy was ever free—the cost of the toy has always been built into the cost of the meal.</p> <p>It would have been far better for McDonald’s to reduce calories, saturated fat, salt and sugary drinks in children’s meals, and to otherwise improve their nutrition by adding more fruits, non-fried vegetables, and whole grains. Other cities and state legislatures will need to prevent this workaround and protect children from toy-based junk-food marketing when they craft similar laws in the future.</p> 2011-11-30 http://cspinet.org/new/201111301.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal</b><p><a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=13304">Today's announcement</a> by the National Academy of Science that USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service should dramatically increase the amount of testing and sampling data available for consumers on the Internet is a major step forward in the quest for a truly transparent food system. CSPI has used FSIS data in the past to give consumers advice on which plants produced turkeys with the lowest rates of Salmonella but in subsequent years found it impossible to access usable data from FSIS to update its recommendations. Now, the NAS has concluded decisively that access to this data could lead to valuable public health benefits, and should be shared without undue delay. <p>Importantly, the committee formally recognized the consumers' fundamental "right to know" as an important reason that information should be publicly accessible. Additionally, access to plant specific information provides opportunities for companies to understand how their food safety programs stack up compared to others in the industry, providing incentives for improvements that would favorably affect public health. CSPI has long advocated the release of food safety data for both these reasons, and urges FSIS to move rapidly to implement the NAS' recommendations. 2011-11-30 http://cspinet.org/new/201111151.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>It's a shame that Congress seems more interested in protecting industry than protecting children's health.</p> <p>At a time when child nutrition and childhood obesity are national health concerns, Congress should be supporting USDA and school efforts to serve healthier school meals, not undermining them. Together, the school lunch <a href="http://www.rules.house.gov/Legislation/legislationDetails.aspx?NewsID=601" target="cspi">riders</a> in the agriculture spending bill would protect industry's ability to keep pizza and French fries on school lunch trays every day of the week to the detriment of children's health.</p> <p>If finalized, this legislation may go down in nutritional history as a bigger blunder than when the Reagan Administration tried (but failed) to credit <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ketchup-as-a-vegetable/119350988111157" target="cspi">ketchup as a vegetable</a> in the school lunch program. Pizza should be served with a vegetable, not count as one.</p> 2011-11-15 http://cspinet.org/new/201111101.html <b>Supplement Taken for Depression May Counteract Antidepressants, Contraceptives, and Other Drugs</b><p>Dietary supplements containing St. John’s wort may interfere with birth control, antidepressants, blood thinners, and other prescription and over-the-counter drugs. For that reason, the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest has <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/st-john_s-wort-petition-11.10.11.pdf" target="cspi">called on</a> the Food and Drug Administration to require a warning label on those products. <p>St. John’s wort is a flowering plant often promoted for its supposed antidepressant properties. But CSPI said that individuals who take it with prescription antidepressants may unwittingly be counteracting the very treatment they are seeking. Similarly, women taking St. John’s wort and oral contraceptives may have unplanned pregnancies.</p> <p>According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, St. John’s wort may also interact with other potentially life-saving treatments, including heart medications, drugs used to control HIV infection, drugs used to treat cancer, and seizure-control drugs. Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, former FDA Commissioner Jane E. Henney warned that St. John’s wort “interacts with many drugs that are used to treat heart disease, depression, seizures, certain cancers, as well as drugs that prevent transplant rejection and pregnancy.”</p> <p>“Consumers take St. John’s wort and other herbal supplements based on their belief that they will benefit in some way, and perhaps some will,” said CSPI senior nutritionist David Schardt. “But all consumers need to know that St. John’s wort and many commonly prescribed drugs simply don’t mix.”</p> <p>The petition suggests the following warning label: “CAUTION: St. John’s wort interacts with some commonly used prescription and over-the-counter drugs. DO NOT USE this supplement if you are taking contraceptives, antidepressants, immunosuppressants (such as cyclosporine), anticoagulants, Digoxin, HIV medicine, blood thinners, seizure-control medicine, cancer medicine, or any other medications.” The petition also asks that this warning appear in a prominent black box on the package label.</p> <p>"Companies have taken a minimalist approach designed to protect themselves from litigation, rather than actually protecting consumers' health," said CSPI litigation director Stephen Gardner. "FDA should mandate a standard warning label for St. John’s wort to protect consumers based on the research outlined in this petition."</p> <p>According to CSPI, the current advice on labels is inconsistent and fails to adequately warn consumers of the risks associated with St. John’s wort. Bluebonnet Herbals St. John’s Wort Extract does not have a warning label. Labels for Nature’s Plus Herbal Active St. John’s Wort Extended Release say “If you are pregnant or nursing, consult your healthcare physician before using any herbal product.” Vitamin Shoppe’s labels plainly state that “St John’s wort should not be used with antidepressants,” but does not address other drugs. Solaray labels merely advise consumers to “consult your physician.”</p> <p>“From the information we have gathered, it appears that many manufacturers simply wish to protect themselves from product liability suits by placing boilerplate warnings on the label rather than actually alerting consumers to the known, material risks of drug interactions associated with the product,” CSPI says in its filing.</p> 2011-11-10 http://cspinet.org/new/201111091.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>We are disappointed that, after 12 long years, the FDA <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/citizen-petition-1999-denial.pdf" target="cspi">rejected</a> our <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/ar/petition_3_99.html" target="cspi">petition</a> and a more recent <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/denial-of-2005-petition.pdf" target="cspi">petition</a> to ban non-medical uses of antibiotics in animals. The industry's irresponsible use of antibiotics in livestock increases the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, and those germs can cause infections in humans that are difficult or impossible to treat. The industry has long failed to cooperate voluntarily, and the FDA should take binding action. Consumers cannot afford another decade of delay. </p> 2011-11-09 http://cspinet.org/new/201111031.html <b>CSPI Says Beverage Lobby Wants to Undermine Mayors' Efforts to Reduce Soda Consumption</b><p>The United States Conference of Mayors should withdraw from a $3 million deal it forged with the soft drink industry’s lobbying arm, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The nonprofit health watchdog group says the American Beverage Association is more interested in undermining many mayors’ efforts to reduce soda consumption than in reducing childhood obesity, the ostensible purpose of the program.</p> <p>In a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/mayors-letter.pdf" target="cspi">CSPI</a> letter to USCM executive director Tom Cochran, CSPI said that the soda industry has a long history of using similar grant programs to curry favor with key influencers or to silence potential critics, and that it was unseemly for the mayors’ group to encourage cities to apply for such tainted pots of money. While CSPI says that it would be hard to argue with the stated purpose of the program, “to encourage healthy weight through balanced diet choices and regular physical activity,” the group said the soda industry spends far more heavily to discourage healthy, balanced diets.</p> <p>“Coke, Pepsi, and their lobbyists at the American Beverage Association are pouring millions of dollars into blocking or reversing much of the good work being done by courageous mayors who are trying to reduce soda consumption in order to fight obesity and reduce health-care costs,” said George Hacker, senior policy advisor for health promotion at CSPI. “This narrowly tailored grant program is specifically designed to exclude meaningful programs to reduce sugary-drink consumption in favor of highlighting unspecified ‘better solutions.’ Cities would be better off taxing soda and using that money to fund effective anti-obesity efforts.”</p> <p>A <a href="http://www.usmayors.org/79thAnnualMeeting/documents/USCMABApressrelease_062011.pdf" target="cspi">press release</a> on the USCM web site states that an independent panel will choose award recipients, but also says the “ABA will work with the conference to develop selection criteria.” Cities that take payments from the program would also be obligated to participate in a promotional press event alongside the ABA, according to the program’s materials.</p> <p>According to CSPI, the sugary-drink industry often emphasizes “physical activity” in order to deflect attention from the calories in its products. But a new <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/home/home.shtml" target="cspi">ad campaign</a> from New York City’s health department dramatically shows how much physical activity is required to balance the calories in soda: One would have to walk three miles, or from Union Square to Brooklyn, in the ad’s words, to burn off the calories in one 20-ounce soda. CSPI says that’s the kind of municipal effort that other cities should replicate.</p> <p>Health departments in <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/la-county-launches-sugar-loaded-drinks-campaign-2011-10-05" target="cspi">Los Angeles</a> and <a href="http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/default.aspx?id=5284" target="cspi">Boston</a>, with the support of Mayors Antonio Villaraigosa and Thomas Menino, respectively, are also running campaigns to reduce sugary drink consumption in those cities. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has proposed imposing taxes on sugary drinks, a move bitterly opposed and ultimately defeated by the industry. Nutter also drew praise from health advocates for turning away a $10 million <a href="http://articles.philly.com/2011-09-13/news/30149740_1_antiobesity-program-funding-million-grant" target="cspi">anti-obesity grant</a> that originated from the American Beverage Association.</p> <p>Over the years, CSPI has documented how the sugary-drink industry has used ostensible philanthropic programs to burnish its image in the eyes of health officials and the public. In 2009, Coca-Cola made a six-figure payment to the <a href="http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/media/releases/newsreleases-statements-2009/consumeralliance-cocacola.html" target="cspi">American Academy of Family Physicians</a> to underwrite “consumer education content related to beverages and sweeteners.” In 2003, the <a href="http://www.aapd.org/hottopics/news.asp?NEWS_ID=212" target="cspi">American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry</a> took a $1 million payment from Coca-Cola.</p> <p>“We would not trust the American Foxes Association to administer a grant program aimed at securing the nation’s henhouses; nor should we trust the American Beverage Association to fund efforts aimed at improving the health of the nation’s children,” said Hacker.</p> <p>Sugary drinks are the single largest source of calories in the American diet and account for half of all added sugars consumed. Sugary drinks have been shown to have a causal role in promoting obesity: Each additional sugary drink consumed per day increases the likelihood that a child will become obese by about 60 percent, according to one study. The American Heart Association <a href="http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Frequently-Asked-Questions-About-Sugar_UCM_306725_Article.jsp" target="cspi">recommends</a> that people limit their intake of sugary drinks to about 450 calories per week, or about three 12-ounce cans. Average consumption is now more than twice that. CSPI and a number of cities and local and national health groups are partnering in a campaign called Life’s Sweeter with Fewer Sugary Drinks, which aims to reduce soda consumption by more than half by 2020.</p> 2011-11-03 http://cspinet.org/new/201111011.html <b>APHA Cites Deaths Due to Heart Disease and Stroke</b><p>The largest organization of public health professionals in the world is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to begin regulating the amounts of salt and other sodium-containing ingredients used in processed foods with an eye toward reducing sodium in the food supply by 75 percent. In a resolution passed unanimously today at the American Public Health Association’s 139th annual meeting, the group called on the FDA to “remove or modify” salt’s official status as a Generally Recognized as Safe (or GRAS) food ingredient—a status that allows unlimited amounts of sodium in foods. The resolution calls on the FDA to begin regulating sodium in the food supply within one year and to establish a timetable for gradually reducing sodium in the food supply by 75 percent within ten years. The resolution also recommends that all Americans consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium daily.</p> <p>The evidence that high sodium intake raises blood pressure is clear and convincing, according to the resolution. The relationship between blood pressure levels and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease is “strong, continuous, graded, consistent, independent, and etiologically significant,” the group says, and that “reducing the amount of sodium added in the manufacturing and commercial preparation of food is a prudent and safe public health intervention, and the single most effective means of reducing the sodium intake of Americans.”</p> <p>The APHA resolution was praised by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which has been calling on the FDA to regulate and limit sodium in packaged foods since 1978.</p> <p>“Salt, in the amounts presently used in processed foods, is the single deadliest ingredient in the food supply, contributing to the premature deaths of tens of thousands of Americans each year,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “This has been widely acknowledged in the medical community for many years, but has been mostly ignored by food manufacturers and regulators. I hope that the American Public Health Association’s powerful recommendation spurs the Food and Drug Administration to act—at last.”</p> <p>In 2010, the American Heart Association and the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee made 1,500 mg per day their recommended sodium limit for all Americans. The APHA resolution now also makes the same recommendation. The Institute of Medicine has recommended that the FDA regulate sodium in the food supply to help Americans limit their consumption of sodium.</p> <p>According to the government’s dietary advice, only people with hypertension, people who are middle-aged and older, and African Americans should consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily. People in those groups represent about 70 percent of adults. The rest should consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day, about a teaspoon of salt. However, Americans are consuming close to 4,000 mg of sodium per day—an amount that “far exceeds current recommendations and physiologic need,” according to the APHA resolution. And that excess sodium doesn’t occur naturally and isn’t coming from the salt shaker: between 75 and 80 percent comes from salt added to processed and restaurant foods.</p> <p>“In the United States, more than 400 people die prematurely every day and many more are becoming disabled due to the excessive sodium in our food supply,” said Stephen Havas, MD, author of the APHA resolution and adjunct professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. “Their failure to prevent this toll of death and disability is inexcusable. We must do better.”</p> <p>CSPI first petitioned the FDA in 1978 to reduce salt in processed foods. Since then, it has filed a lawsuit against the agency for failing to take action, and in 2005 filed a new <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200511081.html" target="cspi">regulatory petition</a> asking the FDA to revoke the GRAS status of salt and set limits on sodium. The FDA held a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/salt/FDA-salt-hearing-Oral-testimony-11-27-07.pdf" target="cspi">public hearing</a> on CSPI’s petition in 2007, but since then, the industry has only made minimal progress in reducing sodium, and sodium consumption remains at harmful levels. The FDA is holding a public meeting on sodium on November 10.</p> <p>“The Institute of Medicine concluded last year that industry’s voluntary efforts over the past 40 years to reduce sodium levels have utterly failed and that the FDA needed to set limits,” Jacobson said. "Presumably to fend off binding regulations, several large companies have said they would lower sodium modestly over the next several years. But even partial industry efforts are bound to falter without the level playing field provided by government regulations. It’s high time that the FDA acted.”</p> <p>Jacobson, CSPI’s director, will receive the APHA’s prestigious David P. Rall Award for Advocacy in Public Health at a ceremony tonight.</p> 2011-11-01 http://cspinet.org/new/201110261.html <b>Mayors, Governors Use Occasion to Accelerate Progress for Healthier Diets and Smarter Food Policies</b><p>From <a href="http://www.dnainfo.com/20111024/midtown/mario-batali-morgan-spurlock-kick-off-food-day-times-square" target="cspi">Times Square</a> to <a href="http://www.santacruzheritage.org/FoodDay" target="cspi">Tucson</a>, Food Day events across the country brought hundreds of thousands of Americans together at more than 2,300 events in all 50 states—representing the largest grassroots mobilization for improved food policies in history. Mayors, governors, legislators, and health officials observed Food Day by issuing proclamations, announcing new food policies, attending gleaning events on farms, and distributing free apples to commuters. Food Day inspired new <a href="http://www.ewg.org/release/californians-urge-healthy-food-and-jobs-focus-fast-tracked-farm-bill" target="cspi">partnerships</a> among diverse organizations involved in hunger, nutrition, sustainability, and farm worker justice. And countless individuals simply celebrated with especially healthful home-cooked meals or potlucks with friends. Already, organizers are planning to make <a href="http://foodday.org" target="cspi">Food Day</a> an even bigger success in 2012. <p>Started by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Day is backed by dozens of local and national nonprofit <a href="http://foodday.org/about-food-day/partner-organizations.php" target="cspi">organizations</a> and an <a href="http://foodday.org/about-food-day/food-day-advisory-board.php" target="cspi">advisory committee</a> comprised of leading voices for improved food policies. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) serve as honorary co-chairs of that committee. Food Day will be observed every October 24. <p>At a marquee event held in <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodday/sets/72157627977883810/" target="cspi">Times Square</a>, New York City Health Commissioner Tom Farley announced a new phase in the city’s <a href="http://home2.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/cdp/cdp_pan_pop.shtml" target="cspi">campaign</a> to reduce consumption of soda and other sugary beverages, while attendees, including restaurateur Mario Batali, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, nutritionist Marion Nestle, and several dozen area food activists enjoyed a healthy, affordable and sustainable meal prepared by Food Network host Ellie Krieger. During the meal half a dozen giant electronic screens carried Food Day <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodday/6277988725/in/set-72157627977883810" target="cspi">messages</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodday/6277414632/in/set-72157627977883810" target="cspi">pictures</a>. <p>Earlier in the day, Mayor Bloomberg <a href="http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/politics/149522/officials-encourage-new-yorkers-to-eat-healthy" target="cspi">handed out apples</a> to commuters in Queens and talked about Food Day on ABC’s <a href="http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/episodes/October-24-2011" target="cspi"><i>The Chew</i></a>. In Los Angeles, LA County Health Director Jonathan Fielding and <i>Let’s Move to School</i> Chef Giovanni Delrosario used the occasion to promote <a href="http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/national-food-day-la-county-promotes-healthy-food-access-in-schools-1576837.htm" target="cspi">healthier school breakfasts</a>. And Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Food Policy Council coordinated healthy cooking demonstrations, film screenings, and other <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2011/10/food-day-la.html" target="cspi">events throughout the city</a>. <p>“Many Angelenos are successfully working to make a meaningful difference in our local food system, particularly in ways that assist those residents most in need of healthy nutrition,” Villaraigosa said. “This is especially important for Angelenos who live in neighborhoods where healthy foods are harder to find, which puts them at greater risk for obesity and diabetes.” <p>In Massachusetts, Governor Deval Patrick <a href="http://thefoodproject.org/blog/2011/11/24/governor-proclaims-food-day" target="cspi">harvested food</a> for hunger relief efforts and helped launch a Massachusetts Gleaning Project, while Mayor Thomas Menino gave a “<a href="http://dailyfreepress.com/2011/10/24/menino-looks-toward-a-healthier-boston-in-kicking-off-food-day/" target="cspi">State of the Food Union</a>” address at Tufts University. And in Maine, Rep. Chellie Pingree <a href="http://wholesomewave.org/maines-congresswoman-chellie-pingree-celebrates-food-day-unveils-local-food-bill/" target="cspi">announced a new bill</a> to assist small and mid-sized farms. <p>“It’s just wrong that we would bail out the commercial banks and the investment banks and cut the food banks,” Menino said. “The Greater Boston Food Bank is one bank that should never fail.” <p>With thousands of food festivals, assemblies, <a href="http://cce.wsu.edu/default.asp?PageID=781" target="cspi">debates</a> on college campuses, and hundreds of restaurants offering <a href="http://articles.boston.com/2011-10-19/yourtown/30298500_1_food-day-nutrition-healthy-options" target="cspi">special menus</a> showcasing local ingredients, Food Day wasn’t just about government programs, but embraced celebration and education. <p>In Alaska, students at Rabbit Creek Elementary School in South Anchorage participated in a <a href="http://www.ktuu.com/news/food-day-education-alaska-ktuu-20111024,0,1944321.story" target="cspi">blind taste test</a> comparing locally grown carrots to out-of-state carrots. (The students judged the Alaskan carrots to be superior by a two-to-one margin.) In Potsdam, NY, 250 students from 30 school districts participated in a <a href="http://northcountrynow.com/news/30-schools-230-team-members-converge-potsdam-food-day-youth-summit-oct-24-040540" target="cspi">youth summit</a> to talk about such food issues as marketing and advertising, farming, and school gardens. In Omaha, Nebraska, 2,000 <a href="http://livewellomaha.org/news/what-we-are-eating/omaha-celebrates-national-food-day/" target="cspi">healthy breakfasts</a> were delivered to local children, and on the campus of the University of California Berkeley, a <a href="http://www.dailycal.org/2011/10/24/picnic-marks-first-food-day-at-uc-berkeley/" target="cspi">whole-grain-themed picnic</a> was typical of the several hundred campus-based events across the country. <p>In Seattle, an <a href="http://www.eatlocalnow.org/2011-eat-local-now-dinner" target="cspi">Eat Local Now dinner</a> attracted hundreds to share local food and hear from Chef Greg Atkinson about how cooking, food, community, and justice can improve communities and the lives of individuals. Savannah, GA, a massive <a href="http://www.wellfedsavannah.com/foodday.html" target="cspi">festival</a> sponsored by Well FED Savannah magazine, the Savannah Chatham Food Policy Council, and other groups featured cooking demonstrations and other activities for children and families. In Springfield, MO, they held a <a href="http://www.fooddaycelebration.com/" target="cspi">fundraiser</a> for the Ozarks Food Harvest food bank and had 1500 people participate, with about 750 pounds of food donated. <p>“Food Day captured the imagination of so many Americans—inspiring them to improve their diets and push for a food system that is just, fair, sustainable, and nourishing,” said Michael F. Jacobson, Food Day’s founder and the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “As an annual event, Food Day will make the food movement more formidable, more united, and better positioned to fix the problems that plague our food system.” <p>Food Day, like CSPI, is people-powered and accepts no funding from corporations or government grants, though businesses such as <a href="http://www.dole.com/NutritionInstituteLanding/NI_Articles/NI_NutritionNewsDesk/NI_NutritionNewsDesk_Details/tabid/990/Default.aspx?contentid=13052&nid=121" target="cspi">Dole Foods</a>, <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bolthouse-farms-announces-support-of-national-food-day-130187528.html" target="cspi">Bolthouse Farms</a>, <a href="http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2011/10/throw-party-food-day/" target="cspi">Whole Foods Market</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mUSeiJ8KAQ" target="cspi">Cooking Channel</a>, <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/entertaining/partiesevents/food-day" target="cspi">Epicurious</a>, <a href="http://disney.go.com/magic-of-healthy-living/global/pdf/TRYIt_HealthyHalloween.pdf" target="cspi">Disney</a>, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npSCW416uyc&list=UU9eAi3qM8UXZTjdbCIXgg9w&index=16" target="cspi">Veria Living</a> all participated. 2011-10-26 http://cspinet.org/new/201110241.html <b>Observations Include an “Eat In” in Times Square; a Festival in Savannah, GA; an Open House at the National Archives; and Events in Schools, Churches, Campuses, and Homes</b><p>Today a diverse range of organizations, public officials, and Americans from all walks of life are celebrating Food Day—a nationwide grassroots mobilization that encourages Americans to eat healthy, delicious food grown in a sustainable and humane way and to advocate for smarter food policies. Spearheaded by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, <a href="http://foodday.org" target="cspi">Food Day</a> is being observed in all 50 states with more than 2,000 events from coast to coast. <p>In the heart of Times Square, 50 notables from the food movement, including restaurateur Mario Batali, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, Food Network host Ellie Krieger, nutritionist Marion Nestle, and several dozen area food activists staged an Eat Real “Eat In.” The group came together at a communal table, shared a healthy and sustainable meal (with most ingredients from the farmers market and <a href="http://foodday.org/files/FD-TimesSq-Program.pdf" target="cspi">recipes</a> from Krieger’s latest cookbook, Comfort Food Fix), and engaged in spirited conversation about the critical food policy issues facing the city and the nation. During the Eat In, the <a href="http://www.timessquare2.com/webcams.html " target="cspi">Reuters/Nasdaq</a> signs in Times Square will carry Food Day messages. <p>“The typical American diet is promoting major health problems, causing serious environmental pollution, and unintentionally creating poor working conditions for those who harvest, process, and prepare our food,” said Michael F. Jacobson, CSPI’s executive director. “It’s time to urge Americans to change their own diets for the better and to mobilize for desperately needed changes in food and farm policy.” <p>In just a few months, the campaign gained tremendous significant momentum, including the active participation of numerous grassroots-oriented partners, like <a href="hthttp://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/blog_post/the_path_to_legislative_impact_heats_up_with_food_day/" target="cspi">Slow Food USA</a>, the labor group <a href="http://www.unitehere.org/detail.php?ID=3468" target="cspi">Unite Here</a>, and the campus-based <a href="http://realfoodchallenge.org/foodday" target="cspi">Real Food Challenge</a>. <a href="http://www.Change.org" target="cspi">Change.org</a> is devoting its homepage to food issues addressed on Food Day. Dole Food Company and Bolthouse Farms have placed millions of Food Day stickers on bananas and bags of carrots, respectively. Media partners including <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mUSeiJ8KAQ&feature=autoplay&list=UU9eAi3qM8UXZTjdbCIXgg9w&lf=autoplay&playnext=5" target="cspi">Cooking Channel</a> and the wellness-oriented cable channel <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npSCW416uyc&list=UU9eAi3qM8UXZTjdbCIXgg9w&index=1" target="cspi">Veria Living</a> have promoted Food Day. Condé-Nast’s award-winning Epicurious.com teamed up with Whole Foods Market to encourage <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/entertaining/partiesevents/food-day" target="cspi">dinner parties</a> aimed at raising money for local food charities. <p>More than 30 governors and mayors have proclaimed October 24 as Food Day, including those in Colorado, Ohio, Oregon, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, DC. Special Food Day menus will be served in all Detroit public schools. Schools across the nation are hosting Food Day events as part of the ongoing <a href="http://www.farmtoschoolmonth.org/" target="cspi">National Farm to School Month</a> celebration. In Washington, the <a href="http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/events/" target="cspi">National Archives</a> is hosting a Food Day Open House in conjunction with its “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” exhibit. <p>In New York City, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will hand out New York State-grown apples to commuters in Queens to observe Food Day, and will appear on ABC’s new daytime show, The Chew. The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, is coming to Times Square to announce about the city’s expanded campaign to reduce consumption of soda and other sugary drinks. Also on Food Day, the city will be launching a new food policy web site, <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/nycfood" target="cspi">www.nyc.gov/nycfood</a>. <p>The University of California-San Francisco and the Hastings School of Law are hosting a conference on food deserts and the food served in prisons. In Savannah, GA, organizers have planned a huge outdoor festival expected to draw around 15,000 attendees. Five days of lessons about food are planned in schools in Bentonville, AR. In California, groups including the Prevention Institute, the Strategic Alliance, the Environmental Working Group, and Roots of Change announced a <a href="https://secure2.convio.net/cspi/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1271 " target="cspi">statewide petition drive</a> aimed at improving the next federal Farm Bill. <p>“Food Day is an important way to focus on the critical need to have well-funded public health agencies that work on preventing diet-related and other diseases,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, who is serving as the Joan H. Tisch Distinguished Fellow in Public Health at Roosevelt House, Hunter College. <p>Besides events in public places, countless individuals will be celebrating Food Day at home with especially healthy meals and conversation about food. For inspiration, FoodDay.org has a free <a href="http://foodday.org/files/FoodDay_recipes_1006_final.pdf" target="cspi">recipe booklet</a> featuring recipes from Batali, Rick Bayless, Emeril Lagasse, Nina Simonds, and other top chefs and cooking authorities. <p>Food Day’s <a href="http://foodday.org/about-food-day/food-day-advisory-board.php" target="cspi">advisory board</a>, chaired by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), includes many of the most prominent voices for change in the food policy world, including urban farming proponent Will Allen, author Michael Pollan, scientists Walter Willett and Kelly Brownell, Seattle Mayor Michael McGinn, former Surgeons General Richard Carmona and David Satcher, chefs Dan Barber, Nora Pouillon, Barton Seaver, and Alice Waters, and other advocates for better health, sustainable agriculture, ending hunger, and improved labor practices. <p>“The many activities and events spurred by Food Day will help foster a robust dialogue on how to promote better nutrition and health, lessen hunger and increase access to food, enhance opportunities for farm families and rural communities, and conserve natural resources,” said Senator Harkin. “There are differing ideas and perspectives on these issues and surely we all benefit from discussions about the connections among food, farms, and health.” <p>“Food Day is about bringing people together, celebrating the incredible progress we have made in ensuring that Americans have access to safe, healthy foods—but also to recognize that there is still work to be done,” said Congresswoman DeLauro. “A shocking one in five children in this country are termed ‘food insecure,’ which means simply that they likely do not have enough to eat each day. And we have seen in recent weeks a food safety recall of cantaloupes that have resulted in the deaths of 25 people. So on this very first Food Day, let us not only recognize the great strides we have made, but also keep moving forward and making progress towards a better, healthier America.” <p>Food Day, like CSPI, is people-powered and accepts no funding from corporations or government grants. 2011-10-24 http://cspinet.org/new/201110201.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>The Institute of Medicine’s <a href="http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2011/Front-of-Package-Nutrition-Rating-Systems-and-Symbols-Promoting-Healthier-Choices.aspx" target="cspi">proposal</a> is eminently sensible—and will probably be roundly condemned by food manufacturers. A simple icon with 3, 2, 1, or zero check marks would give shoppers at-a-glance information about nutritional booby traps lurking inside packaged foods.</p> <p>The IOM’s proposal is far preferable to the voluntary “Facts Up Front” labeling program that the grocery industry is rushing to market. The industry hopes to preempt more consumer-friendly requirements by the FDA. The industry’s complex scheme requires consumers to consider the amounts of calories and four to six nutrients, without any numerical score or useful symbols to convey a food’s nutritional value.</p> <p>It is worth noting that the IOM’s approach, like all of the systems yet developed, still has holes that the FDA would have to address. For instance, it gives no consideration to foods’ vitamin, mineral, fiber, or protein content. Also, white bread, whole wheat bread, broccoli, artificially sweetened soft drinks, and artificially colored and flavored diet Jell-O would all have top scores of 3. Still, the FDA should promptly assign a task force to develop a mandatory front-of-package labeling regulation based on the IOM’s advice.</p> <p># # #</p> <p>Note: In 2006, CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200611301.html" target="cspi">petitioned</a> the FDA to devise a front-of-package labeling system to supplant the proliferating systems being used by manufacturers and supermarkets. Subsequently, CSPI encouraged Congress to fund an Institute of Medicine study on front-of-package labeling, with today’s report being the second of two on the topic.</p> 2011-10-20 http://cspinet.org/new/201110141.html <b>Fruit Roll-Ups, Fruit by the Foot, and Fruit Gushers Make Misleading Claims of Healthfulness, Says CSPI</b><p>Something is mostly missing from Fruit Roll-Ups, Fruit by the Foot, and Fruit Gushers, according to a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/fruit_roll-ups_complaint.pdf" target="cspi">complaint</a> filed today in federal court in California: fruit. </p> <p>Labels state those General Mills snacks are “fruit flavored,” “naturally flavored,” a “good source of vitamin C,” and low in calories, fat, and gluten, according to the complaint filed on behalf of a California mother by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest and the consumer protection law firm Reese Richman LLP. But obscured on labels is the fact that the so-called fruit snacks are mostly sugars (some from fruit concentrate and some from corn syrup), artificial additives, and potentially harmful artificial dyes.</p> <p><a href="http://www.generalmills.com/ColorBoxImage.aspx?ImageId=%7b70F95A88-FAE9-4853-BB95-E7F43C5D7640%7d&Width=730&Height=545" target="cspi">Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups</a> are made from pears from concentrate, corn syrup, dried corn syrup, sugar, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, citric acid, acetylated monoglycerides, fruit pectin, dextrose, malic acid, Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), unspecified “natural flavor,” and Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Blue 1. Even with the pear ingredient, the product provides little of the beneficial fiber or nutrients associated with real strawberries. While labels tout the naturalness of the added flavorings, CSPI says that many of the ingredients are artificial by anyone’s definition, including the partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil and the acetylated monoglycerides. The side panels on some General Mills "fruit" candies read "Made With Real Fruit." At least one variety of Fruit Roll-Ups has pictures of strawberries and oranges on the box. But despite the names of the products, there are no strawberries in Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups, nor watermelon in Fruit Gushers Watermelon Blast. The bright colors of those products come from synthetic, petroleum-based dyes that can <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/fooddyes/" target="cspi">impair</a> some children’s behavior. </p> <p>“General Mills is basically dressing up a very cheap candy as if it were fruit and charging a premium for it,” said CSPI litigation director Steve Gardner. “General Mills is giving consumers the false impression that these products are somehow more wholesome, and charging more. It’s an elaborate hoax on parents who are trying to do right by their kids.” </p> <p>According to the complaint, filed in United States District Court in the Northern District of California, the presence of partially hydrogenated oil in “fruit” snacks marketed as healthy and wholesome is deceptive. The artificial trans fat in partially hydrogenated oil lowers HDL, or “good” cholesterol, raises LDL, or “bad” cholesterol. CSPI states that the amounts of trans fat are small, but that they have no place in a product marketed as if it were healthful and a source of fruit.</p> <p>“Defendant is conveying an overall message of a healthful snack product to parents when, in fact, the Products contain dangerous, non-nutritious, unhealthy partially hydrogenated oil, large amounts of sugar, and potentially harmful artificial dyes,” the complaint states.</p> <p>The complaint contends that the labeling of fruit-flavored snacks violates various state laws, including Minnesota’s Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and several California laws governing misleading and deceptive advertising and fraudulent business practices. General Mills is based in Golden Valley, Minnesota.</p> <p>General Mills has a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200905121.html" target="cspi">habit</a> of skirting the truth with its marketing and advertising, according to CSPI. In 2009, the Food and Drug Administration took enforcement action against the company for making misleading cholesterol-lowering and cancer-prevention claims on Cheerios packages. Before resorting to litigation, CSPI had privately urged General Mills to change its “fruit” snacks labels, but without success.</p> 2011-10-14 http://cspinet.org/new/201110131.html <b>&quot;Terrific 10&quot; and &quot;Terrible 10&quot; Lists Symbolize Hopes and Concerns of Food Day</b><p>Organizers of Food Day have named the <a href="http://foodday.org/files/FoodDay_TerrificTerrible.pdf" target="cspi">“Terrible Ten”</a> factors impairing Americans’ diets, health, and environment and that exemplify much of what the grassroots movement is trying to address when it culminates on October 24. In no special order, some of the Terrible 10 include: </p> <p>• Coca-Cola, the most aggressively promoted and widely consumed brand of sugar-loaded “liquid candy” in the world, has contributed mightily to the obesity epidemic. Each can of Coke contains 9 teaspoons of sugar. <p>• Froot Loops, a fruit-less sugary cereal gussied up with synthetic dyes, is one of a host of junk foods marketed heavily to kids. Kellogg is one of many companies seeking to kill federal voluntary nutrition standards intended to promote children’s health. <p>• Subsidies to companies that blend corn ethanol into gasoline, coupled with a mandate to market billions of gallons of that gasoline annually, cost taxpayers $6 billion a year. Using corn for fuel leads to higher prices for corn and foods with corn ingredients—all for a program without significant environmental benefit. <p>• White flour—used in bread, pizza crusts, pasta, doughnuts, cakes, burritos, cookies, and dozens of other foods—has spurred the obesity epidemic by adding evermore vitamin-depleted, fiber-poor calories the diet.</p> <p>“This collection of terribles symbolizes some of the things that Food Day is trying to change,” said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the nonprofit organization that is coordinating Food Day. “It’s time to encourage Americans to ‘eat real,’ which means ‘out’ with the Froot Loops and ‘in’ with real fruit. It means more food from farmers markets—and much less food, if any, from fast-food drive- throughs and vending machines.” </p> <p>Food Day is a celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainably grown food. More than 1,500 events are planned from coast-to-coast in homes, schools, universities, parks, and even in Times Square. So Food Day organizers have paired their Terrible Ten list with a Terrific Ten list of things that are worth celebrating, including (again, in no particular order): <p>• Water—humankind’s standard beverage for millennia—from the tap or filtered, carbonated or not, is a far better choice than soda and other sugary drinks. <p>• Traditional Mediterranean and Asian diets that are heavy on vegetables and fruit and light on meat and cheese are delicious and reduce the risk of heart disease and other maladies. Plant-based foods are also easier on the environment than animal products. <p>• Sustainable and organically grown foods build healthy soil and minimize harm to farmers, the environment, and consumers from dangerous pesticides, excess fertilizer, antibiotics in animal feed, and unsafe synthetic food additives. <p>• The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has challenged—and improved—the inhumane working conditions endured by many Florida farmworkers, showing that persistent, aggressive action can stop injustices.</p> <p>Food Day is led by honorary co-chairs Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and an <a href="http://foodday.org/about-food-day/food-day-advisory-board.php" target="cspi">advisory board</a> that includes author Michael Pollan; prominent physicians Caldwell Esselstyn and Michael Roizen; former Surgeon General David Satcher; nutrition authorities Walter Willett, Kelly Brownell, and Marion Nestle; filmmaker Morgan Spurlock; and Rodale, Inc. CEO Maria Rodale. The Terrible Ten and Terrific Ten lists do not necessarily reflect the views of members of the Food Day advisory board or local food Day coordinators and participants.</p> <p><a href="http://foodday.org/about-food-day/partner-organizations.php" target="cspi">National organizations participating in Food Day</a> include the American Dietetic Association, American Public Health Association, Community Food Security Coalition, Earth Day Network, Farmers Market Coalition, Humane Society of the United States, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Prevention Institute, and Slow Food USA, along with many city- and state-level organizations.</p> 2011-10-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201110121.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>What an unseemly spectacle it is to see panicked junk-food advertisers running to Congress for help fending off the innocuous, voluntary guidelines for food marketed to children proposed by the Interagency Working Group. I could understand how the industry might play the “national nanny” card if the government were proposing mandatory nutrition standards. But, in fact, the Administration is merely proposing non-binding, totally voluntary guidelines that, if adopted, would help make the industry’s own self-regulatory program more effective.</p> <p>It is to the great discredit of the food, entertainment, and advertising industries that they have resorted to a misleading campaign of fear-mongering and phony facts to kill these voluntary nutrition standards. But I suppose if you’re in the business of convincing young children to want to eat Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisps, Kool-Aid, and fake “fruit” snacks, it makes perfect sense that you’d try to change the conversation away from nutrition and health.</p> <p>I hope the House joins the Senate in support of the Interagency Working Group for Food Marketed to Children, made up of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s not junk food marketers who deserve special Congressional protection—it’s children and parents who do.</p> 2011-10-12 http://cspinet.org/new/201110041.html <b>Batali, Bayless, Krieger and Other Chefs Give Ideas for Healthy, Sustainable, and Delicious Meals</b><p>Food Day, taking place on October 24, is a grassroots mobilization for improved food policy—perhaps the largest ever. Although Food Day is an occasion to raise consciousness about health, sustainability, and farm worker justice, its also a day to enjoy delicious, healthy meals with family and friends. To that end, the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest is offering a <a href="http://foodday.org/files/FoodDay_recipes1004.pdf" target="cspi">free Food Day recipe booklet</a> featuring recipes from Mario Batali, Rick Bayless, Ellie Krieger, Nina Simonds, and other top chefs and cooking authorities.</p> <p>A Food Day dinner might start with a Fennel and Apple Soup from Blue Hill chef Dan Barber, or the Squash and Mushroom Salad offered by Mario Batali. The James Beard Award-winning chef Emeril Lagasse offers up a Gumbo with Smoked Turkey and Wild Rice—a hearty but healthy main dish. Asian-cooking authority Nina Simonds suggests a gingery Hot and Sour Salmon with Greens. </p> <p>Some of the sustainable yet savory side dishes in the booklet are Chicago-based chef Rick Bayless’ Sweet Potato with Caramelized Onions & Guajillo Chili Dressing, and a Rosemary-Orange Cauliflower Purée created by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of public radio’s splendid The Splendid Table. And it’s hard to see how Food Day or any other autumn day couldn’t be improved by the delicious whole grain Apple Crisp offered by Food Network and Cooking Channel’s Krieger.</p> <p>“Part of the point of Food Day is to inspire Americans to return to their stoves and get cooking again for themselves and their loved ones,” said Simonds, author of the award-winning Asian cookbook A Spoonful of Ginger and the forthcoming Simple Asian Meals. “I hope this collection of easy recipes entices people and encourages them to try healthy and delicious new dishes. Food Day is a great time to start.”</p> <p>The Cooking Channel, the sister network to the Food Network, will also encourage Americans to cook by incorporating filmmaker Morgan Spurlock into its ‘Food People’ campaign. Morgan talks about his own formative food experiences and encouraging viewers to visit FoodDay.org. Dole Food is publicizing Food Day by putting Food Day stickers on 100 million bananas, and Bolthouse Farms is putting Food Day logos on 11 million bags of carrots between now and Food Day. Epicurious.com, in partnership with Whole Foods Market, will be encouraging foodies to host house parties to raise money for local food pantries, with regional menu ideas from their award-winning recipe database, as well as a Facebook contest starting October 6.</p> <p>Besides recipes, other resources for Food Day organizers include brochures, posters, conversation cards, postcard petitions, pumpkin carving stencils, and a film screening guide. Already, more than 1,000 events around the country are on an interactive map at FoodDay.org, including small house parties, conferences at colleges and universities, policy announcements, events at farmers markets, food festivals, and more. And Food Day’s <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/foodday" target="cspi">online store</a> offers everything from logo-emblazoned t-shirts to mugs.</p> 2011-10-04 http://cspinet.org/new/201109272.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal</b><p>The tragic deaths from <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> that are linked to tainted Colorado-grown cantaloupes is an urgent reminder that consumers are waiting for the Food and Drug Administration to release guidelines and regulations to help keep pathogens out of produce. Since 1990, melons have caused at least 36 outbreaks, although this one is the first attributed to <i>Listeria</i>. This pathogen is super-virulent for older or immune-compromised consumers, with a hospitalization rate of over 90 percent. It has a high mortality rate of 16 percent and can also cause miscarriages when pregnant women are exposed. </p> <p>The cantaloupes have been recalled, but they may have left behind the deadly pathogen in consumers' homes and refrigerators, where it may live on for months. CSPI is urging all consumers who know or suspect that they had a recalled cantaloupe in their homes to dispose of the cantaloupes in plastic bags and <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/safekitchen.pdf" target="cspi">take additional precautions</a>. These precautions include washing and sanitizing all surfaces touched by the cantaloupe to eliminate <i>Listeria</i>, such as counters, vegetable bins and shelves, sponges, and dishcloths. In addition, all food that might have touched the cantaloupe or a potentially contaminated surface should be discarded. </p> <p>FDA should also move rapidly to release its guidelines and regulations for the production of safe produce, currently due for release in January 2012 and January 2013, respectively. Congress should fully fund FDA to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act, to ensure that outbreaks like this stop breaking records. </p> 2011-09-27 http://cspinet.org/new/201109271.html <b>Scientists Support Work of Administration’s Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children</b><p>The Obama Administration should resist the food and advertising industries’ pressure to torpedo <a href="http://www.phlpnet.org/phlp/news/IWG-proposal-doesnt-violate-1st-amendment" target="cspi">voluntary nutrition guidelines</a> for foods marketed to kids, according to academic experts. In a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/letter-to-president-including-sign-ons.pdf" target="cspi">letter</a> today to President Barack Obama, 75 physicians, psychologists, nutritionists, and marketing experts from universities around the country urged the President to ensure that the Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Food Marketed to Children completes its work and finalizes the congressionally requested marketing guidelines.</p> <p>Comprised of officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the IWG released draft nutrition guidelines and marketing definitions in April. Nutrition and health advocates <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/Margo-Wootan-Testimony-IWG-Forum.pdf" target="cspi">praised</a> the guidelines, which recommended reasonable ceilings on the amounts of sodium, added sugars, and unhealthy fats and proposed minimum amounts of fruit-, vegetable-, or whole-grain-based ingredients in foods marketed to kids. But even though those guidelines are totally voluntary, junk-food advertisers are waging a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201107081.html" target="cspi">campaign of disinformation</a> aimed at getting the government to withdraw them.</p> <p>“You and the First Lady have helped Americans understand that child nutrition and obesity are national health concerns, with one in three children either overweight or obese,” the scientists wrote. “While numerous factors contribute to obesity and children’s poor diets, food marketing plays a key role.”</p> <p>Junk-food advertisers, in the guise of the Sensible Food Policy Coalition, have attacked the voluntary guidelines as an assault on the First Amendment, a point debunked <a href="http://www.phlpnet.org/sites/phlpnet.org/files/First_Amendment_Letter_IWG.pdf" target="cspi">by top Constitutional experts</a>, and claimed that adopting the voluntary guidelines would result in job losses, based on a flimsy industry “study.” Providing media relations work for the coalition is former White House communications director <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201107081.html" target="cspi">Anita Dunn</a>. Industry lobbyists have prevailed upon House appropriators to add language blocking the IWG, though the Senate Appropriations Committee has reaffirmed its support for the IWG.</p> <p>In a gambit to fend off the government’s proposed voluntary standards, the industry’s self-regulatory program, the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, recently released its own proposed nutrition standards. That proposal is an important concession for an industry that earlier refused to develop a uniform set of marketing standards for the program. Nevertheless, the industry’s proposed standards are weak and allow for the continued marketing to young children of Reese’s Puffs and Cookie Crisp cereals, some Kool-Aid drink mixes, sugary “fruit” snacks like Fruit Roll-Ups, and other overly sugary or salty junk foods.</p> <p>The letter points out that “while the CFBAI has prompted modest reductions in unhealthy food marketing to children and product reformulation, studies show that the vast majority of marketed products remain high in calories, saturated fat, sodium, or added sugars and/or are low in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. In 2009, with the industry’s self-regulatory program in effect, 86% of food ads seen by children featured products high in saturated fat, sugar, or sodium, down from 94% in 2003 (before self-regulation).”</p> <p>“It would be a real setback for children’s health if the Administration backed down on strong guidelines for food marketing to children, especially given the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/facts-and-myths-about-iwg-proposed-voluntary-standards.pdf" target="cspi">transparently specious arguments</a> of junk-food advertisers,” said Margo G. Wootan, nutrition policy director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the nonprofit consumer watchdog group that organized the scientists’ letter.</p> <p>“Denying the science on food marketing and childhood obesity is like denying the science on global warming or evolution, and the Administration should not retreat in the face of the baseless arguments of food-industry lobbyists,” Wootan said. "If food marketing to children isn’t effective, why does the industry spend $2 billion a year on it?"</p> <p>Signers on the letter include Emory University professor and former CDC director , Jeffrey Koplan; Harvard Medical School professors George Blackburn, JoAnn Manson, and Carlos Camargo; University of Arizona children’s media authority Dale Kunkel; University of Minnesota professors Henry Blackburn and Mary Story; George Bray of Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Louisiana State University; Richard J. Deckelbaum of Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons; Steven Gortmaker of Harvard School of Public Health; New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle; Victor Strasburger of University of New Mexico School of Medicine; and Harvard Medical School psychiatrist Alvin Poussaint.</p> <p>Curbing the amount of junk food advertising aimed at young children is also a major tenet of <a href="http://foodday.org" target="cspi">Food Day</a>, a grassroots mobilization for improved food policy culminating in thousands of events around the country on October 24.</p> 2011-09-27 http://cspinet.org/new/201109151.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>Other restaurants should follow Darden's lead and clean up their menus to make it easier for adults and children to choose healthy options.</p> <p>What's on the menu is important because both adults and children get a third of their calories from eating out. Eating out is linked to obesity due to excessive portion sizes and the dominance of high-calorie, fatty, salty options on the menu. Unfortunately, kids' food has become synonymous with unhealthy food. It should be just the opposite. Restaurants and food manufacturers should be marketing healthy options to kids to support their health and cultivate healthy eating habits that can last a lifetime.</p> <p>A study of the nation's top 25 chain restaurants found that 93 percent of children's meal combinations are too high in calories, 45 percent are too high in saturated fat, and 86 percent are too high in sodium. Darden, corporate parent of Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and several other restaurants, is helping to change that and make it easier for parents to order healthy meals for their children by making fruits and vegetables the default side dishes and milk the default beverage in place of the usual soda.</p> 2011-09-15 http://cspinet.org/new/201109132.html <b>Thousands of Events Will Celebrate Healthy, Affordable, Sustainable Food</b><p>Food Day, the nationwide grassroots mobilization for healthier diets and improved food policies, is gaining momentum as organizers plan thousands of events big and small on October 24. As the project moves into the home stretch, it has picked up some important national partners, including the Cooking Channel, Epicurious.com, and Change.org, all of which will be publicizing Food Day in the coming weeks and participating in events on the day itself.</p> <p>Fruit and vegetable marketer Dole will be supporting Food Day by putting Food Day stickers on 100 million bananas, and one of the nation’s largest carrot growers, Bolthouse Farms, will be including Food Day messages on 11 million bags of carrots. The National Archives in Washington, D.C., will host a Food Day open house in conjunction with its What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam? exhibit, which examines the government’s role in food policy. Most importantly, a wide variety of grassroots events around the country will focus on issues ranging from improving diets to supporting justice for food and farm workers to developing state and local food policies to celebrating sustainably grown local produce. The events are occurring at all types of venues from churches and college campuses to farms and restaurants to elementary schools, private homes, city halls, and municipal parks.</p> <p>“One of the best things you can do for your health is to cook and enjoy family meals made with fresh, colorful seasonal ingredients,” said chef and author Ellie Krieger, host of Healthy Appetite on the Food Network and a member of the Food Day advisory board. “Food Day is a chance to celebrate the power good food has to nourish us and bring us together.” </p> <p>Some of the Food Day events being planned around the country include:<br> • A celebration in Union Square in New York City, in conjunction with Grow NYC’s Greenmarket; <br> • A large <a href="http://www.wellfedsavannah.com/foodday.html" target="cspi">festival</a> in Savannah, GA, on October 22, where organizers expect to draw 15,000 attendees to enjoy healthful regional food;<br> • The award-winning web site <a href="http://www.epicurious.com="cspi">Epicurious</a> will be providing specific regional menu ideas for those interested in hosting their own Food Day parties, and will award prizes for people who raise the most money in honor of the big day via Facebook;<br> • In downtown Chicago, the advocacy group <a href="http://www.stopfoodborneillness.org/sites/default/files/foodday%20pressrelease.pdf" target="cspi">STOP Foodborne Illness</a> is inviting Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, former Mayor Richard Daley, celebrity chefs, and the public to spin a Food Safety Trivia Wheel;<br> • Statewide Food Day activities in California are being led by the Strategic Alliance, the Prevention Institute, California Convergence, and Roots of Change. They are mounting a statewide petition campaign for smarter federal food and farm policies;<br> • Following in the footsteps of Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Oregon Governor John A. Kitzhaber, M.D., Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan, and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, Mayors and Governors are issuing proclamations declaring October 24 as Food Day;<br> • In Seattle, Eat Local Now! is organizing a <a href="http://www.eatlocalnow.org/2011-eat-local-now-dinner" target="cspi">Food Day dinner</a> for 350 people featuring locally grown food;<br> • The University of California Hastings School of Law and the UCSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science, and Health Policy are organizing a <a href="http://www.ucsf-hastingsconsortium.org/event/consortium-sponsored-conference-food-deserts-legal-social-and-public-health-challenges" target="cspi">conference</a> on food deserts and food served at prisons;<br> • The Denver Botanical Gardens will host a one-day Food Day conference with film screenings and food trucks on October 24, organized by the Colorado Public Health Department, Denver Urban Gardens, Sustainable Food Policy Council, and Live Well Colorado;<br> • Organizers in Tucson are planning a <a href="http://www.santacruzheritage.org/FoodDay" target="cspi">Progressive Dinner</a> and bike tour along the Santa Cruz River, where Food Day’s six primary goals will be highlighted at the various stopping points;<br> • The Omaha Farmers Market and the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition will have a large-scale Food Day celebration on October 23, and will give away healthy breakfasts to about 2,000 children; and<br> • Health departments in Rhode Island, Colorado, Los Angeles, Seattle, Philadelphia, and elsewhere are spearheading efforts in their communities.</p> <p>“Food Day is about eating real—which I believe means eating more food that comes from farms, and less food that comes from factories,” said Morgan Spurlock, a Food Day advisory board member who documented the effect of eating at McDonald’s for 30 days straight in his award-winning 2004 film Super Size Me.</p> <p>Besides events in public places, Food Day organizers are encouraging families to have healthful potluck dinners with friends, and to use these gatherings as opportunities to talk informally about food and our nation’s food system. For inspiration, FoodDay.org will post a number of delicious recipes from well-known chefs and cookbook writers. </p> <p>"Americans are craving change—they are improving their diets and they want to steer food and farm policies in a more just and sustainable direction,” said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is providing national coordination for Food Day. “Food Day is a perfect opportunity for groups and advocates to advance their goals, for companies to announce more healthful or sustainably produced foods, and for health departments to launch new nutrition campaigns.”</p> <p>Food Day’s advisory board, chaired by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), includes many of the most prominent voices for change in the food policy world, including urban farming proponent Will Allen, author Michael Pollan, scientists Walter Willett and Kelly Brownell, Seattle Mayor Michael McGinn, former Surgeons General Richard Carmona and David Satcher, executive directors of the American Public Health Association and American Dietetic Association, chefs Dan Barber, Nora Pouillon, Barton Seaver, and Alice Waters, cookbook author Nina Simonds, and others.</p> <p>“All Americans will benefit from greater understanding and appreciation of food, agriculture and nutrition—spanning the food chain from farm families to family tables,” said Senator Harkin. “Participants in Food Day activities and events will be helping to promote better nutrition and health, lessen hunger and increase access to food, conserve and protect our land and water, and enhance the lives of consumers, farm families, and rural communities.” </p> <p>Neither CSPI nor Food Day accepts industry or government funding; CSPI’s Nutrition Action Healthletter does not accept any advertising. Food Day will also be funded in part by sales of merchandise from the <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/foodday" target="cspi">Food Day online store</a>.</p> 2011-09-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201109131.html <b>Statement by CSPI Staff Attorney Sarah Klein</b><p>Today’s announcement by USDA that it will expand its <i>E. coli</i> testing program for beef beyond O157:H7 to search for six other potentially deadly strains of <i>E. coli</i> is welcome news for consumers who expect and deserve to eat food without risk of illness. The six new adulterant strains—<i>E. coli</i> O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145—have been linked to at least 10 outbreaks and nearly 700 illnesses since 1998, according to data gathered by CSPI. The new testing program will help prevent future outbreaks, as products testing positive for these strains will be diverted to further processing and not placed into commerce. The costs of the program are reasonable, particularly when stacked against the risk to consumers: approximately half a million dollars for USDA, and under $5 million for the entire $155-billion U.S. meat industry.</p> <p>Now USDA should turn its attention to another class of potentially deadly pathogens, antibiotic-resistant <i>Salmonella</i>. Earlier this year, CSPI petitioned the agency to declare four of these pathogens as adulterants under the law, which would trigger the same testing protocols now being undertaken for deadly <i>E. coli</i> strains. Since the petition was filed, consumers have already seen a huge recall of ground turkey contaminated with ABR <i>Salmonella</i> Heidelberg, and the same company, Cargill, implicated in that recall has just announced another recall of ground turkey contaminated with the exact same strain. Today, the agency has shown its willingness to exercise authority to declare non-O157 <i>E. coli</i> strains as adulterants; consumers deserve the same level of protection from antibiotic-resistant <i>Salmonella</i> as well. </p> 2011-09-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201108312.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal</b><p>Most responsible food companies would be horrified to learn that customers who purchased their products became sickened with <i>Salmonella</i>. But after 20 people in 10 states fell ill after purchasing Del Monte cantaloupes traced back to one particular farm in Guatemala, Del Monte is instead lashing out against the Food and Drug Administration and food safety officials in Oregon. Rather than redoubling its efforts to prevent contamination, Del Monte filed a lawsuit to prevent the FDA from exercising its responsibility to protect the public’s health.</p> <p>Though the law sensibly allows FDA to take action to prevent the importation of food when the food “appears from the examination of such samples or otherwise” to be adulterated or misbranded, Del Monte’s suit seeks to defend its right to sell potentially contaminated food unless FDA has a "smoking gun" test result.</p> <p>Proving that a specific food carries the pathogen strain involved in an outbreak often can’t be done. Backtracking to find the exact food consumed weeks earlier is challenging, and even when products are located, they are often not uniformly contaminated so even a negative test result won’t clear a suspect product. And the law is clear that such a finding is not required.</p> <p>While no one wants FDA to act precipitously, it is vital that FDA and states act on the basis of epidemiologic links to foods purchased and consumed by the affected consumers. After all, contaminated food can be a life or death matter. FDA and Oregon used state-of-the-art techniques to identify the food item, and a lawsuit like Del Monte’s could have a dangerous chilling effect on the willingness of public health officials to recall foods or ban unsafe imports for fear of retaliation in court.</p> <p>Consumers should be outraged that Del Monte is using the courts to fight for its right to sell food that might be tainted. Worse yet, if Del Monte is successful, it could delay needed recalls and expose consumers to even more tainted imported products.</p> 2011-08-31 http://cspinet.org/new/201108311.html <b>&quot;Life's Sweeter with Fewer Sugary Drinks,&quot; Say Health Officials</b><p>Reducing the consumption of soda and other sugary drinks will be the focus of a new campaign to reduce diet-related disease announced today by health departments in several major cities as well as the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, and other groups. <p>The campaign, <a href="http://www.fewersugarydrinks.org/" target="cspi">Life’s Sweeter with Fewer Sugary Drinks</a>, will seek to decrease average consumption of sugary drinks to roughly 3 cans per person per week by 2020. Health officials in Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Antonio, and Seattle say that reducing soda consumption is one of their top strategies for reducing rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems. All of those cities, plus 110 local and national health organizations, have embraced the Life’s Sweeter campaign. <p>Sugary drinks are the single largest source of calories in the American diet and account for half of all added sugars consumed. And unlike any other food or beverage, only sugary drinks have been shown to have a causal role in promoting obesity: Each additional sugary drink consumed per day, according to one study, increases the likelihood that a child will become obese by about 60 percent. A reason that sugary drinks are conducive to obesity is that the calories in beverages aren’t as satiating as solid foods. The American Heart Association <a href="http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Frequently-Asked-Questions-About-Sugar_UCM_306725_Article.jsp" target="cspi">recommends</a> that people limit their intake of sugary drinks to about 450 calories per week, or about three 12-ounce cans. Average consumption is now more than twice that. <p>“Life’s Sweeter’s goal is to broaden the battle against sugary drinks from health experts to civic organizations, youth groups, civil rights groups, and others,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D. “The enormous health and economic benefits that would result from drinking less ‘liquid candy’ will be supported by a broad cross-section of America. Not since the anti-tobacco campaigns has there been a product so worthy of a national health campaign.” <p>The campaign’s web site, <a href="http://www.fewersugarydrinks.org" target="cspi">fewersugarydrinks.org</a>, invites individuals and families to take the Life’s Sweeter challenge to drink fewer or no sugary drinks. In addition, the campaign is encouraging employers, hospitals, and government agencies to adopt policies that would reduce soda consumption. Besides carbonated soda, the campaign targets fruit-flavored beverages with little or no juice, sweetened iced teas, lemonades, energy drinks, and so-called sports drinks such as Gatorade. <p>“Campaigns like Life’s Sweeter with Fewer Sugary Drinks and our own local efforts will help raise awareness of the harmful consequences of consuming too many sugary drinks, which add empty calories to our diets, inches to our waistlines, and risks to our health,” said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Director of Public Health and Health Officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. <p>Many big cities are already campaigning to reduce soda consumption. In New York City, for instance, officials have run hard-hitting ad campaigns connecting soda to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F4t8zL6F0c" target="cspi">weight gain</a>, and highlighting the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62JMfv0tf3Q" target="cspi">sugar content</a> of soft drinks. Similar ads have been run in Seattle and Philadelphia. In Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino barred sugar-sweetened beverages from vending machines and concession stands on city property. Officials in San Antonio and San Francisco have similarly rid vending machines of high-calorie drinks. <p>“Soda, sports drinks, and other sugar-sweetened beverages account for up to 10 percent of all calories consumed in the U.S. diet, and are known to be major contributors to obesity. Reducing our intake of these drinks can help reduce the incidence of preventable diseases like type 2 diabetes and certain cancers, arthritis, heart attacks, and stroke,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission. “Here in Boston, we are creating an environment that makes the healthier choice the easier choice, whether it’s in schools, worksites, or other places in the community.” <p>“With new scientific evidence suggesting that drinking more than one sugar-sweetened beverage per day raises the risk of high blood pressure, it’s imperative that we do more to help communities kick the soda habit,” said Rachel Johnson, Ph.D., vice chair of the American Heart Association’s nutrition committee and the Bickford Green and Gold Professor of Nutrition at the University of Vermont. “We are proud to support the Life’s Sweeter with Fewer Sugary Drinks campaign to help Americans make smarter beverage choices to reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease and improve overall health.” <p>The beverage industry produces the equivalent of more than nine cans of sugary drinks per person per week, though some of that is wasted. Meanwhile, people who participate in food consumption surveys, such as that used in a study released today by the Centers for Disease Control, acknowledge consuming just over six cans per week. Because people typically understate consumption, especially of unhealthy foods, actual consumption is somewhere between six and nine. Those averages include the 50 percent of people that do not drink any sugary drinks on a given day. <p>Research, branding, creative development, and messaging for the Life’s Sweeter campaign were conducted by the advocacy marketing firm Interlex, a national agency with extensive experience in public health and behavior change initiatives. <p>“We believe that research-based campaigns are more effective at driving behavior change,” said Rudy Ruiz, CEO of Interlex. “This is the only campaign of this kind that has been tested nationally with general and multicultural audiences.” <p>The Center for Science in the Public Interest is urging cities, states, and health groups to consider using <a href="http://www.foodday.org/" target="cspi">Food Day</a> on October 24 to introduce other policies aimed at reducing junk food consumption in favor of healthy, sustainable food. 2011-08-31 http://cspinet.org/new/201108251.html <b>Teachers Invited to Observe Food Day with Healthy Lessons</b><p>Organizers of Food Day today published a <a href="http://foodday.org/files/Food-Day-Lessons.pdf" target="cspi">curriculum</a> for teachers to use on and around <a href="http://foodday.org/" target="cspi">Food Day</a>, a nationwide grassroots campaign on October 24 to encourage Americans to “eat real” and support healthy, affordable food grown in a sustainable, humane way. The Food Day curriculum offers five lessons designed to teach children the importance of eating real, fresh food; cutting back on processed foods; and advocating for a healthier community. It was developed by Pamela Koch and Isobel Contento, professors at Teachers College, Columbia University, and adapted from the Linking Food and the Environment Curriculum Series. <p>“Teachers should consider using this curriculum not just on Food Day, but throughout the school year,” said Contento. “Each lesson has many ideas for projects that students can do, along with numerous resource for teachers. It’s important that we teach health and nutrition in the classroom along with science, math and other subjects.”</p> <p>The first lesson plan in the series covers how to “eat real.” Students will learn that real foods come relatively straight from a plant or animal and have the nutrients people need to stay healthy at every age. The lesson encourages students to become smart consumers who can choose a balanced, healthy diet.</p> <p>Other lessons teach students to eat mostly plants and not to eat too much, sensible practices inspired by Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food. Additional inspiration for these lesson plans came from Food: Where Nutrition, Politics & Culture Meet by Deborah Katz and Mary Goodwin, as well as work by Teachers College professor Joan Gussow.</p> <p>The curriculum complements a few of Food Day’s six goals:</p> <p>1. Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods</p> <p>2. Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness</p> <p>3. Expand access to food and alleviate hunger <p>4. Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms</p> <p>5. Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids</p> <p>6. Support fair conditions for food and farm workers</p> <p>The lesson plans are crafted for middle school students, but can easily be adapted for elementary and high school students.</p> <p>“Educating young people about food and nutrition is critical if we are to prevent obesity and other diet-related diseases,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “The lessons in this curriculum will help kids distinguish between real foods that promote health from junk foods that promote disease.”</p> <p>Schools are invited to celebrate Food Day in a variety of ways. Schools in Seattle, WA, are planning a special lunch menu that will highlight whole, fresh foods. Boulder, CO, schools will be observing a Meatless Monday and serving especially healthy items. School districts in Los Angeles, Tulsa, Chicago, Detroit, and elsewhere also will participate. Other schools could observe Food Day by organizing vegetable tastings in kindergartens, scheduling field trips to local farms, or by planning or planting vegetable gardens.</p> <p>Outside of schools, Food Day is being celebrated in diverse ways by health departments, colleges, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">restaurants</a>, and others. In Little Rock, AR, the mayor’s office is teaming up with the Clinton Foundation, Heifer International, and others to build and distribute raised-bed gardens for schools and individuals living in food deserts (communities with poor access to fresh, healthful foods). The University of California Hastings Law School and UCSF Consortium on Law, Science, and Health Policy are organizing a conference on food deserts, including at prisons. Food Day organizers in Savannah, GA are expecting 15,000 people at an event on the Saturday before Food Day in Mother Matilda Beasley Park. Hundreds of other Food Day events can be found on an interactive map at <a href="http://foodday.org/" target="cspi">FoodDay.org</a>.</p> 2011-08-25 http://cspinet.org/new/201108091.html <b>Buying Local, Adding Whole Grains Among the Possibilities</b><p>Prominent chefs, nutritionists, and food activists are inviting the nation’s restaurants to celebrate Food Day on October 24 by announcing improvements to menus and sourcing policies that advance health and the environment. Organizers say that restaurants could observe <a href="http://foodday.org/" target="cspi">Food Day</a> in a wide variety of ways, including by buying more produce, meat, and eggs from local farms; by adding more whole grains to breads and pastas; or by collecting money for food banks, farmers markets, or other local organizations.</p> <p>Chefs already participating in Food Day include Alice Waters, of famed Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., Dan Barber of Blue Hill in Manhattan and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Michel Nischan of the Dressing Room in Westport, Conn., early organics pioneer Nora Pouillon of Washington, D.C.’s Restaurant Nora, and sustainable seafood expert Barton Seaver. Food Day is also partnering with groups like Chefs Collaborative, American Culinary Federation, and the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, and is encouraging local restaurants to seek out partnerships with area hunger and sustainable-agriculture groups. </p> <p>“Food Day is a great opportunity for restaurants to show their commitment to locally produced artisan foods, to showcase a variety of whole grains, and to reach out to an audience hungry for more sustainable ways to consume that are more in keeping with the health of our bodies and our environment,” said Ellen Gray, co-owner, along with her husband Todd Gray, of Equinox Restaurant, Watershed, and Todd Gray’s Muse at the Corcoran, all in Washington, D.C.</p> <p>Restaurants could invite farmers to meet diners, plan special menus or events, or publicize Food Day via email and social media. Some examples already in the works include:</p> <p>• A chain of vegan restaurants, Native Foods, will organize cooking demonstrations and tastings in its seven locations in California; <p>• In Manhattan, the massive Italian market Eataly has started handing out Food Day materials, and will bring in 20 farmers to talk to customers; <p>• Food Day organizers in New Haven, Conn., are planning a Real Food Restaurant Week during which restaurants will offer special meals featuring local produce and healthier options; and <p>• Uncommon Ground restaurant in Chicago will observe Food Day by offering a three-course Farm-to-Table prix fixe menu from October 16 to October 24.</p> <p>Organized by the non-profit <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a>, Food Day will encourage people around the country to sponsor or participate in activities that encourage Americans to “eat real” and support healthy, affordable food grown in a sustainable, humane way.</p> <p>Modeled on Earth Day, organizers hope Food Day will inspire Americans to hold thousands of events in schools, college campuses, houses of worship, restaurants, and even in private homes aimed at fixing America’s diet and food system. A Food Day event could be as small as a parent organizing a vegetable identification contest at a kindergarten class—or as massive as a rally in a city park, with entertainment and healthy food. Health departments, city councils, and other policymakers could use Food Day to launch campaigns, hold hearings, or otherwise address communities’ food problems.</p> <p>“I’m excited that many restaurants are seizing the opportunity presented by Food Day and becoming part of a movement aimed at getting people to celebrate honest-to-goodness real food that comes from farms and not factories,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson.</p> <p>Food Day is led by honorary co-chairs Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and an advisory board that includes author Michael Pollan; prominent physicians Caldwell Esselstyn, Michael Roizen, and David Satcher; nutrition authorities Walter Willett, Kelly Brownell, and Marion Nestle; actor Jane Fonda; filmmaker Morgan Spurlock; and Rodale, Inc. CEO Maria Rodale.</p> <p>Besides restaurants, many national organizations, such as the American Dietetic Association, American Public Health Association, Community Food Security Coalition, Earth Day Network, Farmers Market Coalition, Humane Society of the United States, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Prevention Institute, and Slow Food USA, along with many city- and state-level organizations, are planning on organizing or participating in Food Day events.</p> 2011-08-09 http://cspinet.org/new/201108042.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal</b><p>The <i>Salmonella</i> Heidelberg outbreak shows a troubling lapse in coordination between federal agencies that are duty bound to protect the public. Today during a conference call with the Centers for Disease Control and the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, government officials presented a confusing timeline indicating that they might have had preliminary evidence by late May linking the outbreak strain to test results from turkey products coming out of a Cargill plant in Arkansas. Given the severity of the outbreak, involving over 20 hospitalizations and one death, prompt consumer warnings and notification of the company are essential to stem the outbreak. The failure to issue a public alert earlier or to even notify the company shows a troubling lack of coordination that potentially contributed to the size and severity of the outbreak.</p> <p>The government’s failure to either alert the public or the company of the problem should be fully reviewed.</p> 2011-08-04 http://cspinet.org/new/201108041.html <b>Statement of CSPI Staff Attorney Sarah Klein</b><p>Nearly 80 consumers are sick and one has died from a dangerous strain of antibiotic-resistant <i>Salmonella</i> Heidelberg linked to ground turkey products. These strains of <i>Salmonella</i> increase the risk that consumers will face life-threatening illnesses. Infected individuals face longer illnesses, hospitalizations, and more severe consequences.</p> <p>The Center for Science in the Public Interest <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/cspi_petition_to_usda_on_abr_salmonella.pdf" target="cspi">petitioned</a> the U.S. Department of Agriculture in May to declare <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201105251.html" target="cspi">this and three other strains</a> that have caused outbreaks and recalls as “adulterants” under the law. That would trigger new testing for those strains and make it less likely that contaminated products reach consumers.</p> <p>USDA has a responsibility to move proactively to prevent outbreaks, rather than just responding to them once they occur. Both a USDA declaration of adulteration and government and industry testing for <i>Salmonella</i> should be utilized to address this problem. Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration could help by stopping the use of antibiotics in healthy farm animals. That would reduce the growth of bacteria resistant to antibiotics used in human medicine.</p> 2011-08-04 http://cspinet.org/new/201108021.html <b>Labels for Soup & Ice Cream Among Worst Offenders</b><p>Labels for canned soup, ice cream, coffee creamer, and aerosol non-stick cooking sprays understate the calories, sodium, and saturated fat consumers are likely to get from those products, since the declared serving sizes are much smaller than actual serving sizes, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. In a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/serving-size-comment-062811.pdf" target="cspi">recent letter</a> to Food and Drug Administration chief Margaret Hamburg, the nonprofit consumer group again urged the agency to revise its serving-size regulations.</p> <p>Canned soup presents a dramatic example of how unrealistic the stated serving sizes are, according to CSPI. Labels for Campbell’s Chunky Classic Chicken Noodle soup indicate a serving is 1 cup (a little less than half a can) and has 790 milligrams of sodium—a hefty amount by any standard and about half the sodium most adults should consume in a whole day. But according to a national telephone survey commissioned by CSPI, 64 percent of consumers would eat the whole can at one time and would consume 1,840 mg of sodium—more than a day’s worth for most adults. Only 10 percent of consumers said they eat 1 cup portions.</p> <p>Similarly, CSPI’s survey found that 62 percent of consumers eat the contents of the entire can of a (reconstituted) condensed soup like Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. An entire can holds 2,390 mg of sodium—far more than the 890 mg listed for one serving. That amount of sodium only applies if one can is divided into 2½ portions. Another 27 percent eat half a can at a sitting, so they get 1,195 mg.</p> <p>“Given the prevalence of hypertension, heart disease, and stroke in America, we need accurate food labels that would ensure that consumers really know what they’re likely to consume,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “The FDA should define serving sizes to reflect what consumers actually eat, as the law requires, not what the soup industry pretends that they eat.”</p> <p>The serving size for ice cream is a dainty half-cup, and Nutrition Facts labels for Häagen-Dazs Vanilla ice cream dutifully list 10 grams of saturated fat per serving. So someone eating a whole cup of that ice cream would actually be eating a full day’s worth of saturated fat (20 g).</p> <p>A ridiculously tiny serving size of a third, a quarter, or even a fifth of a second spray helps PAM and other aerosol cooking sprays boast zero calories and zero fat, even though the products are mostly fat. A six second spray would have 50 calories and 6 grams of fat.</p> <p>Another example is powdered coffee creamer. The serving size on the label of Fat Free Original Coffee-mate is one teaspoon, even though many or most consumers use several times as much. The small serving size leads people to think that they’re getting only 10 calories and no fat or saturated fat per serving. In fact, a two-tablespoon serving of Fat Free Original Coffee-mate would have 50 calories and 1.6 grams of saturated fat, according to a 2008 memo from Nestlé. (That’s not much different than the 40 calories and 2 grams of saturated fat in two tablespoons of ordinary half and half.)</p> <p>FDA regulations specify standard serving sizes for various foods to enable consumers to compare different brands. However, those serving sizes were based on data collected in the late 1970s, and even so were sometimes flawed. The FDA is now reviewing serving sizes in a broader revision of food labels.</p> 2011-08-02 http://cspinet.org/new/201107261.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>The improvements that McDonald’s has announced for its Happy Meals are an important step in the right direction. It’s good news that those meals will all have apple slices, smaller servings of fries, and fewer calories. While we wish that Happy Meals would include a bigger serving of fresh fruit or vegetable, including even a small serving—and without a sugary sauce—as a standard component is a real advance.</p> <p>McDonald’s clearly has a lot more to do, for both kids and adults. But this move is a sign that the company recognizes that parents don’t want burgers, fries, and soda to be the default fast-food experience. And, surely, McDonald’s recognizes that policy makers are becoming increasingly interested in ensuring that healthier foods are marketed to children.</p> <p># # #</p> <p>The Center for Science in the Public Interest has pressed McDonald's and other companies to stop using trans fat, reduce sodium levels, and provide more-healthful options. In a lawsuit filed last year, CSPI represents a parent concerned about McDonald's use of toys to attract children to its Happy Meals.</p> 2011-07-26 http://cspinet.org/new/201107211.html <b>&quot;Enhancing&quot; Pumps Up Sodium Content and Prices, According to CSPI</b><p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture is poised to require better labeling of a controversial practice that lets processors increase the weight, and thus the price, of meat and poultry by injecting them with salt water. The <a href="http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/NR_072111_01/index.asp" target="cspi">proposed rule</a>, expected to be published early next week, would require processors to prominently disclose the percentage of the product that is added solution, and the solution’s ingredients. The agency will rule separately whether such products can be labeled “natural,” as many saltwater-injected meat and poultry products are.</p> <p>“Who wants to pay $4.99 a pound for the added water and salt?” asks Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. “Besides cheating customers financially, ‘enhancing’ meat and poultry delivers a stealth hit of sodium. Better labeling would help consumers concerned about high blood pressure, stroke, or heart disease avoid products that contribute to those diseases.”</p> <p>Chicken breasts, pork tenderloins, or other foods enhanced with a salt-water solution can have more than five times as much sodium as occurs naturally in those foods, according to CSPI. A whole chicken enhanced with a solution of water, salt, sodium phosphate, chicken broth, and other ingredients might have 550 milligrams of sodium per four-ounce serving, while a similar serving of unprocessed chicken has just 75 mg of sodium.</p> <p>According to USDA, 30 percent of poultry, 15 percent of beef, and 90 percent of pork contain added solutions.</p> <p>In 2007, CSPI filed a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200701031.html" target="cspi">regulatory petition</a> with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service urging the agency to go beyond labeling and actually set ceilings on the amount of sodium that would be allowed in all processed meat and poultry, including deli meats, bacon, sausage, chicken pot pies, and frozen dinners. CSPI had <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200511081.html" target="cspi">previously petitioned</a> the Food and Drug Administration to revoke salt’s status as a Generally Recognized as Safe, or GRAS, ingredient and instead regulate it as a food additive, subject to reasonable limits or special labeling requirements.</p> <p>“We applaud the USDA for acting to protect consumers’ health and pocketbooks with this sensible proposal,” Jacobson said.</p> 2011-07-21 http://cspinet.org/new/201107191.html <b>&quot;Stacked, Stuffed, and Topped&quot; is the Trend at Applebee's and Elsewhere</b><p>If this year’s winners of the <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/xtreme_eating_awards_2011.pdf" target="cspi"><b>Xtreme Eating Awards</b></a> are any indication, the overfeeding of America seems likely to continue unabated at the nation’s chain restaurants. The dishonorees, unveiled in the current edition of the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nah/index.htm" target="cspi"><i>Nutrition Action Healthletter</i></a>, include burgers topped with pork belly and fried eggs, meatballs stuffed with provolone, and grilled cheese sandwiches stuffed with deep-fried mozzarella sticks.</p> <p>“If Americans are feeling a little more full when lumbering out of The Cheesecake Factory, Applebee’s, Denny’s, and other chains, it’s not in their heads,” said CSPI nutrition director Bonnie Liebman. “It’s as if the restaurants were targeting the remaining one out of three Americans who are still normal weight in order to boost their risk of obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, and cancer.”</p> <p>One chain, Applebee’s, is openly bragging about its new “stacked, stuffed, and topped” menu. But that’s hardly the only chain stacking, stuffing, or topping already high-calorie menu items with high-cal add-ons. To put the following numbers into context, consider that a typical eater should limit themselves to about 2,000 calories, 20 grams of saturated fat, and 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.</p> <p>Roll out the red carpet: Five of the eight 2011 Xtreme Eating Awards include:</p> <p>• <b>Denny’s Fried Cheese Melt</b>: In the chain’s own words, it is “four fried mozzarella sticks and melted American cheese grilled between two slices of sourdough bread.” And in the chain’s own numbers, this cheesy collision, with its side of French fries and marinara sauce, has <b>1,260 calories and 21 grams of saturated fat</b> (a full day’s worth), and <b>3,010 mg of sodium</b> (two days’ worth). “The possibilities are wide open,” says Denny’s. “They’re wide, all right,” says Nutrition Action. Eating this meal is like eating two Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pepperoni Pizzas.</p> <p>• <b>The Cheesecake Factory Farmhouse Cheeseburger</b>: This burger is “topped with grilled smoked pork belly cheddar cheese, onions, lettuce, tomato, mayo and a fried egg.” Red Robin, Denny’s and IHOP have similarly embraced the idea of topping burgers with eggs. But to take the spotlight, this Factory-farmed burger boasts <b>1,530 calories and 36 grams of saturated fat topped with 3,210 milligrams of sodium</b>. That’s assuming you just eat the burger: French fries bring an additional <b>460 calories and 1,460 mg of sodium</b>. Eating this would be the equivalent of eating three McDonald’s Quarter Pounders with cheese. Add another Quarter Pounder with cheese if you eat the side order of fries.</p> <p>• <b>Cold Stone Creamery PB&C Shake</b>: Even people accustomed to 1,500-calorie burgers wouldn’t expect 2,000-calorie shakes. A 24-oz. “Gotta Have It” size shake of peanut butter, chocolate ice cream, and milk has <b>a day’s calories (2,010) and three and a half days’ worth of saturated fat (68 grams)</b>. Cold Stone’s Web site says, without a whiff of irony, “Your Health – Just as Important as Taste.” One large Cold Stone Creamery PB&C Shake is like drinking two 16-oz. T-bone steaks plus a buttered baked potato.</p> <p>• <b>Applebee’s Provolone-Stuffed Meatballs With Fettuccine</b>: Spaghetti with meatballs was never diet food. But Applebee’s stuffs provolone cheese into these meatballs and simultaneously tops the underlying fettuccine with a marinara sauce and a Parmesan cream sauce. With a piece of garlic bread, the four cups of pasta, two sauces, and cheese-injected meatballs deliver <b>1,520 calories, 43 grams of saturated fat (two days’ worth), and 3,700 mg of sodium (more than two days’ worth)</b>. It’s like eating two of Applebee’s 12-oz. Ribeye Steaks plus a side of Garlic Mashed Potatoes.</p> <p>• <b>The Cheesecake Factory Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake</b>: Why stop at a slice of red velvet cake when you can top it with a layer of cheesecake, top that with another layer of red velvet cake, and top that with another layer of cheesecake? And then top that with cream cheese frosting, chocolate shavings, and a small silo of whipped cream? Weighing in at three-quarters of a pound, this dessert packs <b>1,540 calories and 59 grams of saturated fat (three days’ worth)</b>. Eating one slice of the Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake is like eating one Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pepperoni Pizza plus two Quarter Pounders with cheese except the cake has an additional days’ worth of saturated fat.</p> <p>Happily, this is likely to be the last year that these calorie counts aren’t right on the menu for all to see, according to CSPI. The Food and Drug Administration is finalizing a set of rules implementing a calorie-labeling provision included in the health care reform legislation signed into law by President Obama in March.</p> <p>“Perhaps calorie labeling will usher in a new era of common sense at America’s chain restaurants, and chains will compete with each other to come up with new, healthy menu items with more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains,” said Michael F. Jacobson. “I hope at some point chains will stop stuffing, stacking, and topping with cheese and meat and white flour. Instead of setting aside a few menu items called something like ‘Lean & Fit,’ why can’t menus have a small section called ‘Fatten Up!’ and keep the rest of the menu healthy?”</p> <p><i>Nutrition Action Healthletter</i> is the publication that previously blew the whistle on the staggering calorie and fat content of movie theater popcorn, Chinese food, steakhouses, and other restaurant fare. Subscriptions to the 850,000-circulation Healthletter, the largest of its kind in North America, are $10 for first-time subscribers.</p> 2011-07-19 http://cspinet.org/new/201107141.html <b>Industry Hopes to Continue Marketing Cocoa Puffs, Kool-Aid, and Other Junk Foods to Kids</b><p>The food industry is up in arms over a voluntary set of <a href="http://ftc.gov/os/2011/04/110428foodmarketproposedguide.pdf" target="cspi">proposed nutrition standards</a> for marketing to children that food companies could either adopt or ignore. The industry’s latest salvo is a <a href="http://www.bbb.org/us/article/Council-of-Better-Business-Bureaus-Announces-Groundbreaking-Agreement-on-Ch-28325" target="cspi">competing set of voluntary nutrition standards</a> that it says companies participating in self-regulation will implement. But according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, today’s announcement is a transparent attempt to undermine the stronger standards proposed by the government’s Interagency Working Group. And, if the industry adopts its own proposed standards, young children would continue to be bombarded with ads for such junk foods as Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisps, Reese’s Puffs, and Corn Pops cereals, Kool-Aid, many Lunchables, and sugary Popsicles.</p> <p>“It’s great news that, at long last, the industry realizes that the current patchwork of inconsistent company pledges is not working, and that industry-wide nutrition guidelines are needed,” said CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G. Wootan. “We, along with many national health and medical organizations, call on the food and media industries to voluntarily adopt the sensible nutrition standards developed by the government agencies.”</p> <p>CSPI’s <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/iwg-report.pdf" target="cspi">analysis</a> of foods that are currently being marketed to children finds that the industry is close to meeting the proposed voluntary ceilings for saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, and sugars for many foods. Where most food products fall short is on making positive contributions to kids’ diets; few include enough fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The industry standards released today indicate that marketers intend to allow artificial fortification to make foods of poor nutritional value meet their new standards.</p> <p>As instructed by Congress, an Interagency Working Group, comprised of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, Federal Trade Commission, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, developed the voluntary guidelines with an eye toward reducing childhood obesity and other nutrition-related health problems. The proposed guidelines are based on government-backed, mainstream nutrition recommendations. Released in March, those guidelines recommend that foods marketed to kids not exceed certain limits on saturated and trans fats, sodium, and sugars, and contain meaningful amounts of ingredients that contribute to healthy diets, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, or low-fat dairy.</p> <p>In 2006, the food industry formed the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a self-regulatory program administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus. Up to now, participating companies have agreed to adopt their own, individually tailored policies setting nutrition criteria for foods marketed to children. Although the program has spurred some improvements, the vast majority of foods marketed to children, <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/pledgereport.pdf" target="cspi">according to CSPI</a>, still are of poor nutritional quality.</p> <p>Though industry has charged that whole wheat bread, peanut butter, and most yogurts don’t meet the IWG’s standards, they actually do, according to CSPI.</p> <p>“The food industry lost major credibility claiming that the Administration was trying to ban advertising of whole wheat bread, peanut butter, or other healthy foods to kids,” Wootan said. “The industry lost even more credibility when it fabricated a bogus study falsely claiming that the sensible, science-based standards backed by the government would result in job losses. Really, what the industry is trying to do is preserve its ability to spend $2 billion a year advertising things like Popsicle’s SpongeBob SquarePants Pop-Ups to impressionable young children.”</p> <p>Also today, CSPI, the American Heart Association, American Public Health Association, National PTA, and about 80 other groups and academic <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/iwg-sign-on-letter-signatories.pdf " target="cspi">experts wrote to the IWG</a> in strong support of the draft nutrition guidelines and marketing definitions. CSPI also filed detailed comments on both the <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/fmw-comments-nutrition.pdf" target="cspi">proposed nutrition principles</a> and the <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/fmw-comment-marketing-definitions.pdf" target="cspi">marketing definitions</a> urging that the agencies apply the nutrition guidelines to all marketing aimed at children under 12 years old, as well as marketing in preschools, elementary, middle, and high schools.</p> 2011-07-14 http://cspinet.org/new/201107132.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>When, in 2006, Campbell Soup Co. announced that it had reformulated many of its soups to contain less sodium, then-president of Campbell’s USA Denise Morrison told the Associated Press: “We look at it as the enabler to talk about the other health benefits of soup.”</p> <p>Unfortunately for millions of hypertensive Americans who have the occasional can of Campbell soup, it’s going to be a lot harder for the company to talk about the health benefits of soup. And how patronizing for Morrison, now the new chief executive, to claim that adding more salt to Campbell’s soups gives consumers more choice. Consumers are always free to add salt, but it’s impossible for them to get rid of the new salt Campbell has added. Why not trust consumers to add as much or as little as they want?</p> <p>If Campbell has reason to believe consumers don’t like the taste of their products, why resort to salt? Why not improve their soups with more and better-quality vegetables and chicken, or with herbs and spices? I suppose that’s a question that answers itself, and the answer is money. Campbell enjoys a huge profit margin selling what are often basically overpriced disease-promoting cans of salt and water.</p> 2011-07-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201107131.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>There's less to the National Restaurant Association's new <a href="http://www.restaurant.org/pressroom/pressrelease/?ID=2136" target="cspi">program</a> for children’s meals than meets the eye. Most restaurants already offer one or two healthy choices—but they are present amidst a minefield of high-calorie, salty, high-fat options. The great majority of choices on children’s menus should be healthy, given that kids are getting one-third of their calories outside the home, and eating out is linked to obesity.</p> <p>Kids' food and meals at restaurants have become almost synonymous with junk. A 2008 <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/kidsmeals-report.pdf" target="cspi">CSPI study</a> found that at the top 25 chain restaurants, 93 percent of the kids’ meals were too high in calories, 45 percent too high in saturated fat, and 86 percent too high in salt.</p> <p>Restaurants-especially McDonald’s, which is not part of the new initiative-should follow Burger King’s lead and not just shove fries and soft drinks into kids’ meals, but ask parents if they want a fruit or vegetable side dish and milk, juice, or water instead. Our study of McDonald’s found that even though it shows healthier options in its advertising, it usually sticks fries in the box without even asking parents what they want.</p> 2011-07-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201107081.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>This is why Americans are fed up with Washington: It’s a city where people might spend a year or two serving a new Presidential Administration … until it’s time to leave that Administration and actively undermine it in exchange for big bucks.</p> <p>Former White House communications director Anita Dunn and her firm should be ashamed of themselves for leading the food industry’s panicky efforts to quash the Obama administration’s reasonable and voluntary nutrition guidelines proposed for foods marketed to children. I hope the revolving door didn’t hit her on the way out.</p> <p>Far from banning the Easter bunny, as the industry’s fear-mongering goes, the Interagency Working Group—at the instruction of Congress—simply proposed a voluntary set of nutrition standards that food companies could (or could not) adopt as part of their existing self-regulatory program. These standards are voluntary, and lest anyone forget, Congress had in 1980 specifically stripped the Federal Trade Commission of its rulemaking authority to police junk food ads aimed at kids.</p> <p>We’ve come to expect tantrums from the food industry when laws or binding regulations might impact the way it does business. But it’s a shame the industry is using such overheated rhetoric to fight reasonable, voluntary nutrition guidelines aimed at reducing kids’ risk of obesity, diabetes, and other diet-related diseases. Perhaps it’s a sign that the food industry’s self-regulatory program is not all that they have made it out to be.</p> 2011-07-08 http://cspinet.org/new/201107051.html <b>Proposal Undercuts Congressional Intent</b><p>Today over 80 national, state, and local health organizations and experts, including the American Heart Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Center for Science in the Public Interest, American Public Health Association, and the National PTA, called on the Obama Administration to strengthen the final rules for calorie labeling on chain restaurant menus and vending machines. They charged that the Administration's proposed regulations do not comply with the labeling law that was passed as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March 2010 and was championed by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).</p> <p>The groups voiced strong support for calorie labeling on menus at chain restaurants and on vending machines. Their <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/ml_sign-on_letter.pdf" target="cspi">letter</a> points out that with American adults and children consuming about one-third of their calories from eating out, menu and vending labeling will provide important tools to enable people to make informed food choices and spur industry to cut calorie levels in their offerings. (CSPI also filed more detailed comments on both <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/comments_ml_regs_cspi.pdf" target="cspi">menu</a> and <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/comments_vending_labeling.pdf" target="cspi">vending</a> labeling.)</p> <p>However, the advocates had three major objections and vigorously urged the Administration:</p> <p>• to adhere to the definition of restaurants and similar retail food establishments in the draft menu labeling guidance that the FDA issued last summer and not exempt labeling for foods sold in movie theaters, casinos, bowling alleys, stadiums, hotels, airlines, and cafes and delis in superstores.</p> <p>• not to exempt alcoholic beverages from labeling. Congress required calorie labeling for all items on the menu and did not exclude those beverages. Alcoholic drinks are the fifth-largest source of calories in American adults' diets, and the calorie content of alcoholic beverages can vary widely. Without labeling, a person would not know that at TGI Fridays the Fresh Mango Lemonade Shaker (410 calories) has twice the calories of the Lemon Twist Martini (200 calories).</p> <p>• not to allow companies to post the calories for vending machine items on a sign next to the machine. The Affordable Care Act requires that companies "provide a sign listing the calories in close proximity to each article of food or the selection button" (emphasis added). The Administration also ignored congressional intent in proposing to exempt bulk vending machines, which usually dispense candy or other junk food and make up 20 percent of vending machines.</p> <p>"It's disappointing that the Administration would weaken the labeling proposals from what <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/harkin-delauro_ml_letter.pdf" target="cspi">Congress required</a> ," charged Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "You'd think, given the Administration's strong commitment to addressing childhood obesity, that it would try to provide nutrition information for as many foods in as many venues as Congress required.</p> <p>"Many of the foods sold in the venues that the Administration has proposed exempting are similar to foods that will be labeled in restaurants," said Wootan. "In addition to restaurants, Congress required menu labeling at ‘similar retail food establishments,’ which sell the same types of prepared foods as restaurants. The proposed rule is unfair to traditional restaurants and would significantly reduce the number of venues providing calorie labeling to their customers."</p> <p>The Administration has pledged to finalize the menu and vending labeling rules by the end of the year. The menu labeling rules are expected to go into effect in mid-2012 and the vending rules by the end of 2012.</p> 2011-07-05 http://cspinet.org/new/201106291.html <b></b><p>Last week in Brussels, Belgium, consumer organizations representing both American and European consumers approved a resolution calling on governments to reduce their use of antimicrobials in farm animals to ensure the continued effectiveness of those drugs for treating human illnesses. The resolution urged governments to ban the use of antimicrobials for non-therapeutic purposes in food-producing animals and to adopt policies requiring veterinarians to determine when the use of the drugs is needed.</p> <p>The <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/tacd_amr_resolution_-_final.pdf" target="cspi">resolution</a> states that a number of factors contribute to the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, including the use of antibiotics in human medicine and its excessive use in animal husbandry. It states, “With regard to animal farming, antimicrobials are not just used to cure infections, but also routinely added to livestock feed and/or water to prevent infections in healthy animals and as growth promoters.”</p> <p>The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) is a forum for consumer organizations in the United States and Europe to develop consumer policy recommendations on important food and trade issues. The 12th Annual Meeting of the organization was held in Brussels on June 21, 2011.</p> <p>Ensuring the safety of food was a priority area discussed at the meeting. Caroline Smith DeWaal, the Director of Food Safety for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and the Co-Chair of the TACD Food Policy Committee, discussed the resolution at a plenary session with Commissioner John Dalli, the European Commissioner of Health and Consumer Affairs.</p> <p>“The recent outbreak of foodborne illnesses in Germany illustrated the enormous challenge of food safety. That tragedy is a reminder that the biological world does not stand still or wait for sensible new policies to be adopted.” DeWaal said. “It is constantly moving, and governments must develop policies that anticipate problems before they erupt into major outbreaks.”</p> <p>The resolution on the use of antimicrobials adopted by TACD follows the recommendations issued during World Health Day 2011 by the World Health Organization (WHO), which called for governments to reduce the need for antimicrobial use on the farm through better policies and animal husbandry practices.</p> <p>The TACD resolution urged that the use in animals of drugs that are critically important to human medicine be significantly reduced or eliminated, along with a total ban on the non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in animal and food production. In addition, the resolution calls on governments to create and fund systems to monitor the use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals. National surveillance systems should operate farm-to-table and integrate the findings of public health, veterinary, and food safety laboratories.</p> <p>Also discussing food policy challenges related to food safety was Sue Davies, the Chief Policy Adviser for Which? (a consumer advocacy organization based in the United Kingdom) and the EU Co-Chair of the TACD Food Policy Committee. Davies remarked, “[it is] a critical time for food policy as many issues are coming together and need to be tackled effectively to ensure that consumers can make healthy and safe food choices – whether that’s expectations of quality, origin, or the ability to act on ethical or other concerns.” She also mentioned the significance of the recent E. coli outbreak in Germany in highlighting how food safety must be addressed. She stated that governments need to be alert to new and emerging risks, especially in the face of an increasingly complex and globalized food supply chain.</p> 2011-06-29 http://cspinet.org/new/201106211.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>We hope that McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell are paying attention to Jack in the Box, which has decided to stop using toys to market fast-food meals to children.</p> <p>Using toys to market unhealthy restaurant meals to kids exploits children, annoys parents, and is frowned upon by nutritionists, behavioral scientists, and a growing number of public health officials around the country. It’s too bad that McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell think they can’t compete on the basis of quality, value, taste, or nutrition, but instead must resort to such a discredited marketing tactic to lure families to their businesses.</p> <p>We congratulate Jack in the Box for stopping toy-based food marketing, regardless of its motivation, and hope local and state policymakers consider cracking down on the practice further.</p> <p> # # #</p> <p><b>Note:</b> CSPI’s litigation department is currently in court as co-counsel to a California woman who is suing McDonald’s over their use of toys to market directly to children. More on that suit <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201012151.html" target="cspi">here</a>.</p> 2011-06-21 http://cspinet.org/new/201106021.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>USDA's new healthy eating graphic is a huge improvement over the inscrutable food pyramid.</p> <p>While no one graphic can communicate every nuance of healthy eating, this easy-to-understand illustration will help people remember what their own plate should look like. It likely will shock most people into recognizing that they need to eat a heck of a lot more vegetables and fruits. Most people are eating about a quarter of a plate of fruits or vegetables, not a half a plate as recommended.</p> <p>Wisely, USDA is investing in a comprehensive campaign to get the new food plate and key healthy eating messages out to the public. USDA's <a href="http://http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuidelines/2010/PolicyDoc/SelectedMessages.pdf" target="cspi">simple messages</a>, such as “switch to low-fat milk” and “drink water instead of sugary drinks,” prioritize the 95-page <i>Dietary Guidelines for Americans</i> into key dietary actions that can help people avoid heart disease, diabetes, and other nutrition-related health problems.</p> 2011-06-02 http://cspinet.org/new/201105311.html <b>Thousands of Events on October 24 Will Encourage Americans to ‘Eat Real’</b><p>Communities around the country are gearing up for <a href="http://www.foodday.org" target="cspi">Food Day</a> —a grassroots mobilization aimed at improving America’s food policies. Set for Monday, October 24, 2011, Food Day will see thousands of forums and celebrations from coast to coast aimed at promoting healthy diets and solving local communities’ food problems.</p> <p>“Our food system is delivering up epidemic-levels of obesity and cardiovascular disease,” said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which, along with a prestigious <a href="http://foodday.org/about-food-day/food-day-advisory-board.php" target="cspi">advisory board</a>, is spearheading Food Day. “And we’re paying billions of dollars in subsidies to farmers who don’t need them and little to those that do. We’re maximizing crop yields—and polluting our air and water with fertilizer, pesticides, and antibiotics—yet we haven’t ended hunger. Food Day will shine a light on solutions to these seemingly intractable problems.”</p> <p>The broad outlines of Food Day are beginning to take shape: <p>• Events are being planned at the University of Vermont, University of Pennsylvania, University of Minnesota, New York University, Stanford, Yale, Harvard School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, and other campuses; <p>• The American Medical Student Association is organizing Food Day activities around food deserts, hunger, and healthier diets; <p>• Syracuse, NY, is organizing a festival to celebrate local food and their rich cultural and ethnic diversity; <p>• The New Haven, Conn., Food Policy Council and community partners are organizing a city-wide cook-in and harvest festival; <p>• Philadelphia is planning a city-wide event focused on ending hunger and food deserts; <p>• Sioux City, IA, is planning for nearly 1,000 people to participate in activities at three cultural institutions; the highlight will be a major conference on how small and mid-size farmers can get their produce to market; <p>• The America the Beautiful Fund will provide plant and flower seeds in September for all Food Day coordinators to plant community gardens; <p>• California organizations are building a state-wide Food Day partnership to promote new food policies; and <p>• At <a href="http://www.foodday.org" target="cspi">FoodDay.org</a>, Americans can now find Food Day events near them, or announce their own.</p> <p>Food Day organizers at the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s Washington office hope that the campaign will inspire Americans to organize events in schools, college campuses, houses of worship, hospitals, and even in private homes aimed at fixing America’s food system. A Food Day event could be as small as a parent organizing a vegetable identification contest at a kindergarten class—or as massive as a rally in a city park, with entertainment and healthy food. Health departments, city councils, and other policymakers could use Food Day to launch campaigns, hold hearings, or otherwise address communities’ food problems.</p> <p>“Americans want a better and healthier food system,” said Marion Nestle, the Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University and a member of Food Day's advisory board. “Food Day can inspire Americans to make healthier food choices, but even better, Food Day will help promote changes in food and farm policies that will benefit health, the environment, and the people who grow, harvest, prepare, and serve America’s food.”</p> <p>In Seattle, 100 public schools will observe Food Day with a special, healthy menu item. In that city Food Day enjoys the support of the mayor, the city council president, and other local officials. And, the University of Washington public health department will run an interdisciplinary symposium on the food system.</p> <p>“Food Day is a great way to increase public awareness about the importance of good food to health, economic prosperity, and regional and national security,” said Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin who has spearheaded the Seattle Local Food Action Initiative.</p> <p>Besides Jacobson, Food Day is led by honorary co-chairs Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and an advisory board that includes author Michael Pollan; former Surgeon General David Satcher; nutrition authorities Walter Willett, Kelly Brownell, and Nestle; public health expert Georges Benjamin; and chefs Dan Barber, Nora Pouillon, and Alice Waters.</p> <p><a href="http://foodday.org/about-food-day/partner-organizations.php" target="cspi">National organizations</a> such as the American Dietetic Association, American Public Health Association, Community Food Security Coalition, Earth Day Network, Farmers Market Coalition, Humane Society of the United States, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Prevention Institute, and Slow Food USA, along with many city- and state-level organizations, are publicizing Food Day or organizing events.</p> 2011-05-31 http://cspinet.org/new/201105251.html <b>Dangerous Strains Make Foodborne Illnesses Harder to Treat, Says CSPI</b><p>Ground meat and poultry found to contain antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella should be recalled from the marketplace or withheld from commerce, according to a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/cspi_petition_to_usda_on_abr_salmonella.pdf" target="cspi">regulatory petition</a> filed today by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The nonprofit food safety watchdog group wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare four such Salmonella strains as “adulterants” under federal law, making products that contain them illegal to sell.</p> <p>CSPI is also urging testing for antibiotic-resistant Salmonella in ground meat and poultry, citing a number of major outbreaks of foodborne illnesses linked to the four strains. Those illnesses are harder for physicians to treat, resulting in longer hospitalizations and increased mortality, according to the group.</p> <p>“The only thing worse than getting sick from food is being told that no drugs exist to treat your illness,” said CSPI food safety staff attorney Sarah Klein. “And that’s what more consumers will hear if these drug-resistant pathogens keep getting into our meat.”</p> <p>USDA already recalls products contaminated with antibiotic-resistant Salmonella—but only after those products have made people sick, according to CSPI. The group’s petition asks the agency to establish a testing regime for these pathogens in ground meat and poultry in the same way that it has for E. coli O157:H7. USDA declared that particularly dangerous strain of E. coli an adulterant in 1994.</p> <p>“USDA should take action before people get sick, and require controls and testing for these pathogens before they reach consumers,” said CSPI food safety director Caroline Smith DeWaal. “The <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/abrfoodbornepathogenswhitepaper.pdf" target="cspi">research shows</a> that antibiotic-resistant Salmonella in ground meat and poultry is a hazard and its time to move to a more preventive system of controlling the risks at the plant and on the farm.”</p> <p>The four Salmonella strains covered by the petition, Salmonella Heidelberg, Salmonella Newport, Salmonella Hadar, and Salmonella Typhimurium, have all been linked to outbreaks.</p> <p>In 2009, an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella Newport linked to Cargill beef resulted in at least 40 illnesses in four states. And this year, the USDA oversaw a recall of frozen turkey burgers contaminated with antibiotic-resistant Salmonella Hadar. That outbreak sickened at least 12. But because foodborne illness is dramatically underreported the true number of illnesses is likely much higher.</p> <p>“Physicians and patients are now facing pathogens that are virtually untreatable,” said Dr. Stephen A. Lerner, a professor of medicine specializing in infectious disease at Wayne State University School of Medicine. “This petition would reduce human exposure to some dangerous drug-resistant Salmonella, which is crucial because our critically-important antibiotics are losing effectiveness and they aren’t being replaced by new ones. We must do all that we can to reduce antibiotic-resistant infections from food.”</p> <p>The danger of antibiotic-resistant pathogens in the food supply is well-documented and has been recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and by USDA itself. Those agencies are working together to address the issue and recently produced a document stating that “drug resistant pathogens are a growing menace to all people,” and that “drug resistance threatens to reverse the medical advances of the last half century.”</p> <p>Antibiotic resistance is an inevitable consequence of antibiotic overuse, according to CSPI. Most antibiotics used on animal farms are not used to treat disease, but to promote growth or to prevent diseases caused by overcrowding, poor hygiene, and other problems.</p> <p>CSPI has long urged the FDA to stop the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics. In fact, CSPI is a co-plaintiff in a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/nrdc_complaint.pdf" target="cspi">lawsuit</a> filed today by the Natural Resources Defense Council aimed at compelling the FDA to withdraw its approval for most non-therapeutic uses of two important antibiotics, penicillin and tetracyclines, in animal feed.</p> <p>Improving conditions on factory farms, thereby reducing both the need for antibiotic use and the resulting resistance, is a primary tenet of <a href="http://foodday.org/" target="cspi">Food Day</a>—a new grassroots mobilization CSPI is planning for October 24. Reducing overcrowding in hen houses and concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, could lead to more judicious use of antibiotics and would be beneficial for animal and human health, according to the group.</p> 2011-05-25 http://cspinet.org/new/201105041.html <b>National Conference on Milk Policy Votes to Limit FDA’s Use of Important Test Showing Drug Residues in Veal Calves</b><p>Consumers’ risk of being exposed to dangerous drugs or antibiotic-resistant bacteria in milk and milk products could increase if the dairy industry succeeds in limiting FDA’s consideration of test results showing drug misuse on dairy farms, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The nonprofit watchdog group is urging the Food and Drug Administration to resist a recommendation from the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS), a little-known policy making body that includes state regulators and dairy industry representatives, which would omit veal from the testing protocol that FDA uses to detect potential problems with drug residues in milk. <p>The issue is whether the presence of illegal or improperly administered drugs found in tests on veal calves at slaughter can be used as a basis for further investigating drug residue problems in milk coming from the farms where they originate. Bob veal calves—calves up to three weeks old that are used for meat—spend most of their lives on dairy farms. When regulators find illegal drug residues in veal tissues, it is an important indication that drugs may be improperly administered elsewhere on the same dairy farms, according to CSPI. <p>“The industry wants the FDA to turn a blind eye to evidence of misuse of drugs on dairy farms,” said CSPI food safety director Caroline Smith DeWaal. “It’s like banning the police from using forensic evidence to narrow down a list of suspects. The dairy industry should be ashamed of this effort to bar FDA from considering useful scientific evidence of drug misuse on specific farms to identify those that may have problems controlling drug residues in the milk supply.” <p>CSPI analyzed residue violation reports from the USDA’s Residue Violator Alert List from January 2010 to December 2010, which documented 17 different drugs in 735 positive tissue samples from bob veal calves, including the antibiotic gentamicin. Gentamicin—which is banned for use is cattle—was found in ten percent of the bob veal samples. It was also found in six percent of dairy cattle tested at slaughter during 2010. This antibiotic can accumulate in the kidney and has the potential to cause toxic effects in humans. The NCIMS is made up of dairy regulators from state agencies and also has members from Land o’Lakes, Dean Foods, the National Milk Producers Federation, and the International Dairy Foods Association. It has no consumer representatives. In a Baltimore hotel on Tuesday, the NCIMS passed Proposal 209, originally proposed by the National Milk Producers Federation, which simply strikes the words “and veal” from a list of methods that FDA may use to detect potential problems with drug residues in the milk supply. <p>In a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/commissioner_hamburg_letter_05.02.11.pdf" target="cspi">letter to FDA Commissioner</a> Margaret Hamburg on Monday, DeWaal and CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson wrote: “CSPI respectfully requests that FDA exercise its rights to <i>not concur</i> with Proposal 209 should it pass in the NCIMS general session later this week, and ensure the agency has fully preserved its ability to use all available evidence to identify dairy farms with inadequate controls on the use of animal drugs.” <p>In 2010, FDA announced a new program to test the milk from farms that repeatedly failed U.S. Department of Agriculture’s drug residue tests when their cattle were sent to slaughter plants. That milk testing program hasn’t started yet. The FDA also has authority under the Grade “A” Pasteurized Milk Ordinance to require states to test milk when there is evidence that problems exist with animal drug residues or other contaminants in the milk supply. 2011-05-04 http://cspinet.org/new/201104281.html <b></b><p>The Center for Science in the Public Interest praised as “strong and sensible” the <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/os/2011/04/110428foodmarketproposedguide.pdf" target="cspi">nutrition and marketing standards</a> proposed today by the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children and urged food and entertainment companies to adopt the standards. <p>The Interagency Working Group, comprised of officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was tasked by Congress to develop a set of voluntary standards for food marketing to children under 17. The Working Group was required by a law championed by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and CSPI. <p>“A key weakness of the current self-regulatory approach to food marketing to children is that each company has its own strategically tailored standards,” said Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition policy at CSPI. “While overall the standards look fairly similar, many have loopholes, like weak or no sodium standards for fast-food companies and weak sugar standards for cereal marketers.” <p>In the past few years, a number of food and entertainment companies have announced policies on food marketing to children independently or through the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative. However, several studies show that those self-regulatory efforts are not having the desired impact. For instance, according to CSPI research, from before the self-regulatory program was in place, in 2005, to after, in 2009, ads for foods of poor nutritional quality <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/pledgereport.pdf" target="cspi">decreased only slightly</a> on Nickelodeon, the most popular children’s television station—from 88 percent to 79 percent of food ads. <p>“Companies’ policies aren’t making enough of a difference,” said Wootan. “If companies are serious about addressing marketing to children, they‘ll agree to follow the proposed national marketing standards.” <p>Three decades ago, when the Federal Trade Commission first considered protecting children’s health by restricting junk-food ads on children’s television, Congress stepped in to restrict the agency’s authority. That proved to be a mistake, according to CSPI, because the advertising continued unabated and children today are now three times more likely to be overweight or obese as they were then. <p>Food companies <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/07/foodmkting.shtm" target="cspi">spend</a> approximately $2 billion a year on marketing foods and beverages to children, mostly for foods high in calories, fats, sugars, and sodium, and low in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and key nutrients. <p>Curbing food marketing aimed at children is one of five major goals of <a href="http://foodday.org/" target="cspi">Food Day</a>, a new grassroots mobilization launched by CSPI. Led by honorary co-chairs Senator Harkin and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Food Day will be October 24. 2011-04-28 http://cspinet.org/new/201104111.html <b>&quot;Chemical Cuisine&quot; Database Now on Sale in iTunes App Store, Android Market</b><p>For years, the Chemical Cuisine glossary of food additives has been one of the most heavily trafficked pages on the Center for Science in the Public Interest's web site. Today the group is launching a mobile application that will bring CSPI's food additive safety ratings directly to iPhones, iPads, the iPod Touch, and Android-equipped mobile devices. <p><a href="http://www.cspinet.org/itunes"> http://www.cspinet.org/itunes</a> <p><a href="http://www.cspinet.org/android"> http://www.cspinet.org/android</a> <p><img style="float:right; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px;" src="/images/buttons/iphone.jpg" alt="Chemical Cuisine App" width="93" height="195" />"Shopping for groceries was a lot easier when more food came from farms, and not factories," said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. "And the tens of thousands of packaged foods on supermarket shelves have a bewildering array of chemical food additives, designed to variously enhance the taste, texture, color, or shelf life of the product. We decided to make life a little easier for those who want to satisfy your curiosity about some of the most commonly used food additives—from the convenience of your mobile device." <p>Happily, most food additives are relatively safe in the amounts they are used, according to CSPI. But the group's scientists have flagged those additives that everybody should avoid, as well as a number of additives most people would do well to cut back on. The app features a randomly selected additive each time it loads—and lets users search for specific additives or browse among categories. Some of the entries may surprise people, including: <p><img style="margin-bottom:-6px; padding-right:5px;" src="/images/buttons/checkmark.gif" alt="POLYGLYCEROL POLYRICINOLEATE" width="24" height="24" /><b>POLYGLYCEROL POLYRICINOLEATE</b>. It certainly sounds scary! It's used in some chocolate candies and margarines. But it's perfectly safe. One would be better off worrying about the saturated and trans fat in foods that contain it. <p><img style="margin-bottom:-6px; padding-right:5px;" src="/images/buttons/checktriangle.gif" alt="QUORN/MYCOPROTEIN" width="24" height="24" /><b>QUORN/MYCOPROTEIN</b>. This is a strange one—and it is more of a food itself (loosely defined) than an additive. A British food company found a tiny fungus growing in a dirt sample, and eventually figured out how to grow it in giant vats and process it until it resembles chicken or other meats. But in some consumers, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/quorn/">Quorn products</a> cause vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and, less often, hives and potentially fatal anaphylactic reactions. <p><img style="margin-bottom:-6px; padding-right:5px;" src="/images/buttons/checkx.gif" alt="CARAMEL COLORING" width="24" height="24" /><b>CARAMEL COLORING</b>. Finally! A natural ingredient! But not so fast: Much of what goes by this innocent-sounding name is made with ammonia, or sulfites, or both. And the ammonia-sulfite-process caramel colorings used in Coke, Pepsi, and other soft drinks contains two carcinogens, 2- and 4-methylimidazole. CSPI recommends that everyone avoid it. <p>Chemical Cuisine was researched by CSPI executive director Michael Jacobson, who authored "Eater's Digest: The Consumer Factbook on Food Additives" and holds a Ph.D. from MIT in microbiology. CSPI led efforts to restrict or ban the use of such additives as sodium nitrite, sulfites, olestra, Violet dye 1, and others. A CSPI petition calling on the FDA to ban food dyes spurred the Food and Drug Administration to hold a recent advisory committee meeting on the impact of dyes on children's behavior. <p><a href="http://www.cspinet.org/itunes"> http://www.cspinet.org/itunes</a> <p><a href="http://www.cspinet.org/android"> http://www.cspinet.org/android</a> <p>The app, built by the Washington, D.C., technology firm <a href="http://www.echoditto.com/">EchoDitto</a>, goes on sale today in the iTunes app store and the Android market for $0.99. 2011-04-11 http://cspinet.org/new/201104041.html <b>Thousands of Events on October 24 Will Encourage Americans to &quot;Eat Real&quot;</b><p>Many of the most <a href="http://foodday.org/about-food-day/food-day-advisory-board.php">prominent voices for change</a> in the food movement and a growing number of health, hunger, and sustainable agriculture <a href="http://foodday.org/about-food-day/partner-organizations.php">groups</a> today announced plans for <a href="http://www.foodday.org">Food Day</a>—a nationwide campaign to change the way Americans eat and think about food. Organized by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Day will encourage people around the country to sponsor or participate in activities that encourage Americans to "eat real" and support healthy, affordable food grown in a sustainable, humane way. <p>Food Day will be observed on and about Monday, October 24, 2011, and will likely include a series of marquee events in Washington, New York City, San Francisco, and other major cities, and thousands of smaller events around the country. <p>"Food Day is designed to further knowledge, understanding, and dialogue about critical topics in food, agriculture, and nutrition—spanning the food chain from farm families to family tables," said Senator Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and an honorary co-chair of <a href="http://www.foodday.org">Food Day</a>. "The many activities and events spurred by Food Day will help foster a robust dialogue on how to promote better nutrition and health, lessen hunger and increase access to food, enhance opportunities for farm families and rural communities, and conserve natural resources. There are differing ideas and perspectives on these issues and surely we all benefit from discussions about the connections among food, farms, and health." <p>Modeled on Earth Day, organizers hope Food Day will inspire Americans to hold thousands of events in schools, college campuses, houses of worship, and even in private homes aimed at fixing America’s food system. A Food Day event could be as small as a parent organizing a vegetable identification contest at a kindergarten class—or as massive as a rally in a city park, with entertainment and healthy food. Health departments, city councils, and other policymakers could use Food Day to launch campaigns, hold hearings, or otherwise address communities’ food problems. <p>The campaign will advocate progress toward five central goals: <p>• Reducing diet-related disease by promoting healthy foods. The American diet is too low in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and too high in fatty meat, soft drinks, and salty packaged and restaurant foods—contributing to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths each year due to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer. <p>• Supporting sustainable farms and stopping subsidies to agribusiness. Billions of federal dollars a year would be better spent helping environmentally conscious family farmers than huge agribusiness operations. <p>• Expanding access to food and alleviating hunger. Far too many Americans don't know where their next meal is coming from, or have access to fresh produce in their neighborhood. <p>• Reforming factory farms to protect animals and the environment. Farming of animals can and should be done without cruelty, and without degrading the quality of life in rural America. <p>• Curbing junk-food marketing to kids. Food companies should not be targeting children with foods that promote tooth decay, obesity, and other health problems. <p>"Food Day will bring together a lot of people with common interests in food issues, but who otherwise haven't worked all that closely together," said Michael F. Jacobson, who founded CSPI 40 years ago. "So whether your primary concern is human health, farm policy, or the quality of life in rural America, Food Day can be an opportunity to start solving local and national food problems from the ground up." <p>Besides Jacobson, Food Day is led by honorary co-chairs Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and an advisory board that includes author Michael Pollan; prominent physicians Caldwell Esselstyn, Michael Roizen, and David Satcher; nutrition authorities Walter Willett, Kelly Brownell, and Marion Nestle; public health expert Georges Benjamin; and chefs Dan Barber, Nora Pouillon, and Alice Waters. National organizations, such as the American Dietetic Association, American Public Health Association, Community Food Security Coalition, Earth Day Network, Farmers Market Coalition, Humane Society of the United States, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Prevention Institute, and Slow Food USA, along with many city- and state-level organizations, are planning on organizing or participating in Food Day events. <p>"Why Food Day? It is time to make real food the number-one priority in our country," said Alice Waters, proprietor of the acclaimed Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, Calif. "The choices we make about food affect our health, the health of the planet—and the way we live our lives." <p>"Food Day is an opportunity to celebrate real food and the movement rising to reform the American food system," the author Michael Pollan said. Soon, <a href="http://www.foodday.org">FoodDay.org</a> will let people type in their ZIP codes to find Food Day events near them—or to invite people to create their own Food Day events. 2011-04-04 http://cspinet.org/new/201104011.html <b></b><p>Ten years after starting a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/menulabeling/">movement</a> to put calories on chain restaurant menus and menu boards, the Center for Science in the Public Interest strongly supports the proposed menu labeling regulations released by the Food and Drug Administration. <p>The <a href="http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm249471.htm">new regulations</a> are required by the health care reform law enacted last March, which requires chain restaurants with 20 or more outlets to post calories on menus and menu boards, and to provide additional nutrition information in writing upon request. The proposed rules released today are expected to be finalized by the end of the year. <p>"A number of things contribute to obesity, but <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/lit_rev-eating_out_and_obesity.pdf">studies show</a> that eating out is linked to higher calorie intakes and higher body weights," said CSPI nutrition policy director Margo Wootan. "Without nutrition information, how are people supposed to know that some salads have more calories than some burgers? Or that some ‘appetizers’ pack a thousand or more calories?" <p>Studies show that providing nutrition information for packaged foods and restaurant foods has a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/lit_review-nutrition_info_studies.pdf">positive influence</a> on food-purchase decisions. While a few recent studies have found no effect, small studies lack enough statistical power to measure the public health effect that can be expected from menu labeling. <p>One of the best studies was conducted by researchers at Stanford University. They found that menu labeling in New York City resulted in a 6 percent decrease in calories on average per transaction (for people buying more calories, the effect was bigger, a 26 percent decrease) at Starbucks. The researchers estimated that if people made similar changes at other chain restaurants, that would result in a 30-calorie per person per day decrease population-wide. "That is an important finding given that the obesity epidemic is probably fueled by about an extra 100 calories per person per day." Wootan said. <p>Menu labeling laws have been passed in 18 states, cities, and counties and are in effect in Vermont, California, New York City, Philadelphia, and King County, Wash. As a result of the laws that have been implemented, many restaurants, including Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Taco Bell, Uno Chicago Grill, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, and others have reformulated menu items or added new lower-calorie choices. <p>CSPI is disappointed that the proposed regulations excluded movie theaters and alcohol from the proposed menu labeling regulations, but will press the FDA to include them in the final regulation. <p>"If a movie theater is going to serve up thousand-calorie tubs of popcorn, 400-calorie drinks, and 400-calorie boxes of candy, the least they could do is tell you about it," Wootan said. "Also, it will be confusing to customers if soft drinks are labeled on menus, but alcoholic drinks like beer and wine aren’t." 2011-04-01 http://cspinet.org/new/201103301.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>I’m glad that after many years of denial, the Food and Drug Administration is <a href="http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/FoodAdvisoryCommittee/UCM248102.pdf">reviewing</a> the evidence linking synthetic food dyes to behavioral problems in children. Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and other dyes have no useful nutritional or preservative value; their only function is cosmetic. And by "cosmetic," I mean that dyes are often used to make junk food more attractive to young children, or to simulate the presence of a healthful fruit or other natural ingredient. Surprisingly, even foods that aren’t particularly colorful—such as instant mashed potatoes or pickles—are dyed. <p>The <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/dyesreschbk.pdf">evidence</a> that these petrochemicals worsen some children's behavior is convincing, and I hope that the FDA’s advisory committee will advise the agency to both require warning notices and encourage companies voluntarily to switch to safer natural colorings. (The FDA isn't asking the committee about a ban.) Having brightly colored Froot Loops, Skittles, Mountain Dews, or pickles or anything else just isn't worth putting any children at risk. <p>In <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/201007201.html">Europe</a>, a law requires most dyed foods (there are few) to bear a warning notice, which is a powerful incentive for food manufacturers not to use artificial dyes. Last I heard, Europe is surviving quite well. It is to the great shame of many U.S.-based food companies that they are marketing safer, naturally colored products in Europe but not in the United States. 2011-03-30 http://cspinet.org/new/201102161.html <b>CSPI Says Artificial Caramel Coloring is Quite Different from Real Caramel</b><p>WASHINGTON—The “caramel coloring” used in Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and other foods is contaminated with two cancer-causing chemicals and should be banned, according to a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/caramel_coloring_petition.pdf" target="cspi">regulatory petition filed today </a> by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. <p>In contrast to the caramel one might make at home by melting sugar in a saucepan, the artificial brown coloring in colas and some other products is made by reacting sugars with ammonia and sulfites under high pressure and temperatures. Chemical reactions result in the formation of 2-methylimidazole and 4 methylimidazole, which in government-conducted studies caused lung, liver, or thyroid cancer or leukemia in laboratory mice or rats. <p><img src="/images/ToxiColaCSPI.jpg"></br><b>Photo Credit: Jorge Bach, CSPI</b> <p>The National Toxicology Program, the division of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences that conducted the animal studies, said that there is “clear evidence” that both 2-MI and 4-MI are animal carcinogens. Chemicals that cause cancer in animals are considered to pose cancer threats to humans. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, found significant levels of 4-MI in five brands of cola. <p>“Carcinogenic colorings have no place in the food supply, especially considering that their only function is a cosmetic one,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “The FDA should act quickly to revoke its approval of caramel colorings made with ammonia.” <p>Federal regulations distinguish among four types of <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm#caramel" target="cspi">caramel coloring</a>, two of which are produced with ammonia and two without it. CSPI wants the Food and Drug Administration to prohibit the two made with ammonia. The type used in colas and other dark soft drinks is known as Caramel IV, or ammonia sulfite process caramel. Caramel III, which is produced with ammonia but not sulfites, is sometimes used in beer, soy sauce, and other foods. <p><a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/experts-letter-caramel-coloring.pdf" target="cspi">Five prominent experts </a> on animal carcinogenesis, including several who have worked at the National Toxicology Program, joined CSPI in calling on the FDA to bar the use of caramel colorings made with an ammonia process. “The American public should not be exposed to any cancer risk whatsoever as a result of consuming such chemicals, especially when they serve a non-essential, cosmetic purpose,” the scientists wrote in a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. <p>CSPI also says the phrase “caramel coloring” is misleading when used to describe colorings made with ammonia or sulfite. The terms “ammonia process caramel” or “ammonia sulfite process caramel” would be more accurate, and companies should not be allowed to label any products that contain such colorings as “natural,” according to the group. <p>“Most people would interpret ‘caramel coloring’ to mean ‘colored with caramel,’ but this particular ingredient has little in common with ordinary caramel or caramel candy,” Jacobson said. “It’s a concentrated dark brown mixture of chemicals that simply does not occur in nature. Regular caramel isn’t healthful, but at least it is not tainted with carcinogens.” <p>In a little-noticed regulatory proceeding in California, state health officials have added 4 MI to the state’s list of “chemicals known to the state to cause cancer.” Under that state’s Proposition 65, foods or other products containing more than certain levels of cancer-causing chemicals must carry warning labels. For 4-MI, that level is 16 micrograms per person per day from an individual product. Popular brands of cola contain about 200 micrograms of 4-MI per 20-ounce bottle—and many people, especially teenaged boys, consume more than that each day. If California’s regulation is finalized, Coke, Pepsi, and other soft drinks would be required to bear a cancer warning label. <p>To put the risk from caramel coloring in context, CSPI says the ten teaspoons of obesity-causing sugars in a non-diet can of soda presents a greater health risk than the ammonia sulfite process caramel. But the levels of 4-MI in the tested colas still may be causing thousands of cancers in the U.S. population. <p>Separate from the risk due to caramel coloring, CSPI has been <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200806022.html" target="cspi">urging the FDA</a> to ban synthetic <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/fooddyes" target="cspi">food colorings</a>, such as Yellow 5 and Red 40. Those dyes cause hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in children, and Red 3 and Yellows 5 and 6 pose cancer risks, according to CSPI. The FDA is holding a Food Advisory Committee review of that issue on March 30–31. <p>Over the years, CSPI's efforts have resulted in reductions in the use of, labeling requirements, or limits on Violet No. 1, sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate, sulfites, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/transfat" target="cspi">partially hydrogenated vegetable oils</a>, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/salt" target="cspi">salt</a>, and olestra. 2011-02-16 http://cspinet.org/new/201102031.html <b>Menu Labeling, FDA Reform, and School Foods Victories Cap Year 39 for the Group Sometimes Known as the &quot;Food Police&quot;</b><p>WASHINGTON—It was 40 years ago this month that three young scientists who met in Washington decided to create an organization run by people with scientific training to improve public policies and to encourage other Ph.D. scientists to use their training for the public good. And so, in humble, borrowed office space in 1971 the Center for Science in the Public Interest was born. Working at first on trailblazing issues such as asbestos and lead, CSPI soon came to focus on the nutrition, food safety, and health work for which it is known today. <p>CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson recalls the early days of the organization in <a href="http://cspinet.org/nah/memo/cspi40.html" target="cspi">his column </a> in CSPI’s flagship publication, <em>Nutrition Action Healthletter</em>. <p>“If we had considered the matter carefully, we might have realized that we had no experience running an organization, no money, no connections, and almost no chance of success,” Jacobson wrote. “From that inauspicious beginning, CSPI has grown into an organization that is greatly respected (even by the government officials and politicians we sometimes criticize and by the executives at companies we sometimes sue), widely quoted in the media, and impressively effective.” <p>Besides Jacobson, CSPI’s cofounders included chemist Albert Fritsch and James Sullivan, an oceanographer who remains on CSPI’s board of directors. CSPI is perhaps best known for its headline-grabbing exposés of the nutritional quality of restaurant meals—it famously called Fettuccini Alfredo a “heart attack on a plate” in 1994—and for spearheading support for the law requiring Nutrition Facts labels on packaged foods. It also waged successful efforts to define organic standards for foods; require allergens to be disclosed on all food labels; and reduce the amounts of partially hydrogenated oil, olestra, sulfites, nitrites, and <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/salt" target="cspi">salt</a> used in the food supply. <p>In CSPI’s 39th year, the organization played a major role in three major legislative achievements. The <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201012021.html" target="cspi">Child Nutrition Reauthorization</a> signed by President Obama in December requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set nutrition standards for the foods sold in vending machines, a la carte lines, and elsewhere in schools. That’s a historic development that will get junk food out of school hallways once and for all—something CSPI has advocated for decades. Similarly, in the culmination of a decade-long fight to prevent foodborne illnesses, CSPI campaigned for the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201101032.html" target="cspi">FDA Food Safety Modernization Act</a>. That law requires food manufacturers to have hazard control plans and requires the FDA to inspect food processing facilities more frequently. And an important health-promotion measure in the new health reform law requires chain restaurants to disclose the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201003211.html" target="cspi">calorie content</a> of every item on menus and menu boards. <p>Though he’s thrilled with those public health victories, Jacobson sees much more to be done. Next month, for instance, CSPI plans to launch a major, nationwide initiative to engage Americans in transforming the food environment for the better. <p>“Still, hundreds of thousands of Americans die each year due to a diet that promotes obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain cancers,” Jacobson said. “There’s a pressing need to expand the grassroots movement for healthy, affordable food produced in a humane, sustainable way.” <p>Elsewhere in the current issue of <em>Nutrition Action</em>, longtime CSPI nutrition director Bonnie Liebman looks back at some of the <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/cover_-_unexpected_findings_from_last_40_years.pdf" target="cspi">surprising nutritional findings</a> of the last 40 years. (For instance, not only does coffee not contribute to pancreatic cancer, as once feared, it now seems likely that drinking coffee reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes—though too much caffeine can cause other problems.) And, CSPI senior scientist David Schardt looks at other <a href="http://cspinet.org/nah/articles/40yearsago.html" target="cspi">major changes in the food environment </a> in the last 40 years—from microwave ovens to the rise of organic foods to the fall of artificial <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/transfat" target="cspi">trans fat</a>. <p>“Back in the ’70s, foods like tofu, whole wheat bread, and brown rice were hard to come by,” Schardt writes. “We cooked more and snacked less. We ate less and weighed less.” <p><a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nah" target="cspi"><em>Nutrition Action Healthletter</em></a>, first published in 1974, has 850,000 subscribers, including 100,000 subscribers to a separate Canadian edition. Besides publishing CSPI’s famous restaurant studies, <em>Nutrition Action</em> highlights on its popular back page various supermarket foods as either <a href="http://cspinet.org/nah/foodporn/janfeb2011.html" target="cspi">Right Stuffs or Food Porns</a>. Oprah Winfrey called <em>Nutrition Action</em> “the mastermind critic that sounded the food alarms.” <em>Nutrition Action</em> is, as always, advertising-free and CSPI does not accept any corporate donations or government grants—so consumers can have confidence that the group’s advice is based on sound science and not on special interests. 2011-02-03 http://cspinet.org/new/201102022.html <b>Supermarket Could Have Used Bonus Card Data to Contact Individuals Who Purchased Tainted Eggs & Peanut Products, But Didn’t</b><p>WASHINGTON—Safeway should have known that Dee Hensley-Maclean purchased peanut butter crackers and Nutter Butter sandwich cookies that were part of a nationwide recall of products tainted with Salmonella. <p>That’s because Hensley-Maclean used her Safeway Club card when she purchased those products. Safeway’s computers should have had her Ravalli County, MT, mailing address, phone number, and email address. And even though those cookies and crackers could have put Dee or one of her two teenage kids in the hospital with a life-threatening case of salmonellosis, Safeway made no attempt to warn her. <p>Today, along with a San Francisco woman who bought contaminated eggs at her local Safeway, and with the backing of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, Hensley-Maclean <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/safeway_complaint.pdf" target="cspi">filed a lawsuit</a> against the California-based grocery giant. In a complaint filed today in California Superior Court, the women ask that they and others who bought recalled food be refunded the price of those purchases, and that Safeway commit to using its Club card data to contact consumers in the event of future recalls. <p>“As a concerned parent I take care with my purchases and I assume that the foods we bring home from Safeway will be safe to eat,” said Hensley-Maclean, a 53-year-old civic volunteer. “If Safeway knows that there is a problem, and they know how to get in touch with me, quite frankly I’m astonished that they wouldn’t try to spare me or my children from a preventable foodborne illness.” <p>Hensley-Maclean also purchased some similar snack foods made with peanuts at Costco. But unlike Safeway, Costco uses its membership data to contact consumers who purchased recalled food, and Hensley-Maclean received a letter from that company advising her not to eat the food and instructing her how to get a refund. <p>Jennifer Rosen, a 40-year-old drama and Improv teacher, learned from a neighborhood listserv that the eggs she purchased from Safeway might have been contaminated with Salmonella. She and her family had already consumed several of them—some when they nibbled on raw cookie dough—though none of the Rosens became ill. Rosen was stunned that Safeway didn’t contact her and warn her not to eat the contaminated eggs, even though she, like Hensley-Maclean, used her Safeway Club card when she made her purchase. <p>“My kids are little so I worried that if they got sick, they could get really sick,” Rosen said. “When I had my husband check the numbers on the carton, I couldn’t believe we had contaminated eggs. Safeway sends me emails all the time with paperless coupons. I can’t believe they wouldn’t text or email me with news of a recall.” <p>Safeway is one of the biggest grocery chains that does not have a system that uses loyalty card data to notify consumers who purchased recalled foods. Ralphs, Kroger, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco, Giant Food, Harris Teeter, Wegmans, and ShopRite all routinely issue food safety alerts using a variety of methods, including emails and automated phone calls, according to CSPI. Examples of Costco’s alerts from the 2009 peanut-product recall are <a href="http://cspinet.org/audio/CliffBarRecall.mp3" target="cspi">here</a> and <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/costcoletter.pdf" target="cspi">here</a>. <p>“Safeway aggressively uses its Club card data to churn out coupons, analyze its customers’ shopping habits, and otherwise boost sales,” said CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/litigation" target="cspi">litigation</a> director Steve Gardner. “Yet when it knows it has sold products that may be contaminated with E. coli, Salmonella, or other hazards, it does not use its robust marketing database to prevent illnesses or deaths. That is hardly the “safe way” and just shows Safeway’s reckless disregard for the health and safety of its shoppers.” <p>CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201005061.html" target="cspi">notified Safeway</a> in May that it might seek a court order directing the company to notify customers who bought food subject to Class 1 recalls if the company did not agree to do so on its own. In a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/safewayletter.pdf" target="cspi">letter to Safeway</a>, CSPI said that selling food with deadly contaminants makes those foods “misbranded” and “adulterated” under federal law and California’s Health and Safety Code. Refusing to notify consumers of the fact that they are at risk is a violation of California’s Business and Professions Code. <p>Besides CSPI’s litigation unit, the plaintiffs are represented by Craig Briskin and Steven A. Skalet of the Washington, D.C. law firm of Mehri & Skalet, PLLC, and Daniel T. LeBel of the San Francisco-based Consumer Law Practice. Skalet’s firm earlier worked with CSPI to obtain a historic agreement with <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200706141.html" target="cspi">Kellogg</a> that set nutrition standards for the foods that company markets to young children. <p>In February of 2009, CSPI publicly called on the supermarket industry and other retailers that use bonus or <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200902031.html" target="cspi">loyalty card</a> programs to contact customers who bought recalled food. In addition, for customers who used a credit card to pay for the food, companies could use their bonus card data to automatically refund the purchase price of the recalled items, according to CSPI. 2011-02-02 http://cspinet.org/new/201101311.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>For 30 years, the Dietary Guidelines has offered basically the same, sensible advice: eat fewer calories; less saturated fat, sodium, and sugar; and more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Only about 10 percent of Americans have followed that advice. The new <a href="http://usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2011/01/0040.xml" target="cspi">Dietary Guidelines</a> acknowledges that most people find healthy eating like swimming upstream, given the aggressive marketing and ubiquity of foods laden with calories, saturated fat, salt, white flour, and added sugars. <p>This time around, the messages are clearer than in the past. Rather than simply saying "increase fruits and vegetables," the news Guidelines recommend people fill half their plate with fruits and vegetables. Rather than just giving the vague advice to lower sugar intake, they now recommend drinking water in place of <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/liquidcandy" target="cspi">soda</a> and other sugary drinks, which are by far the largest source of sugar in Americans' diets. Importantly, the Guidelines call for "an immediate, deliberate reduction in the sodium content of foods" and for "effective policies to limit food and beverage marketing to children." <p>Another major difference is that Obama administration officials have done more than just publish a pamphlet, cross their fingers, and hope that Americans eat better. They're enacting stronger policies and programs-like improving <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201012021.html" target="cspi">school foods</a>, requiring menu labeling in chain restaurants, and funding communities to promote healthy eating and physical activity-and urging food companies to improve their products and practices. But without even more serious governmental efforts-such as banning artificial <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/transfat" target="cspi">trans fat</a> and limiting <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/salt/hspackaged.html" target="cspi">sodium in packaged foods</a>-the Dietary Guidelines will not be sufficient to fend off the costly and debilitating diet-related illnesses that afflict millions of Americans. 2011-01-31 http://cspinet.org/new/201101251.html <b></b><p>WASHINGTON—Foodborne illnesses due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been occurring since the 1970s, according to a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/abrfoodbornepathogenswhitepaper.pdf" target="cspi">recent study</a> by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which signals that antibiotics used on the farm may be causing more serious pathogens in the nation’s food supply. CSPI’s analysis shows a steady increase of such outbreaks in every decade since the 1970s, though that may be due to increased testing and reporting, the group said. In its study of 35 documented outbreaks, raw milk, raw milk cheeses and ground beef appeared to carry the resistant pathogens most frequently. <p>“Outbreaks from antibiotic resistant strains of Salmonella, though rare, can not be ignored by our food safety regulators. The problem has clearly emerged with respect to some high risk foods,” said CSPI <a href="http://cspinet.org/foodsafety" target="cspi">food safety</a> director Caroline Smith DeWaal. “Both humans and animals rely on antibiotics to stay healthy. But overuse in some sectors may squander their effectiveness and leave consumer vulnerable to hard-to-treat foodborne infections.” <p>Multi-drug resistance was found in 10 out of 14 outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant foodborne illness reported between 2000 and 2009, according to the study. CSPI says the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria needs much greater scrutiny by federal government if antibiotics are to remain effective in treating human and veterinary illnesses. Cataloging outbreaks of foodborne illness and then testing the pathogens for antibiotic resistance is a critical step if policymakers are to document the link between antibiotic use on farms animals and human illness from antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the group says. <p>Antibiotic resistance is an inevitable consequence of antibiotic use, according to the CSPI report. The more antibiotics are used, the more bacteria will develop resistance. Patients who develop an infection from antibiotic-resistant bacteria are more likely to have longer and more expensive hospitalizations and increased mortality. And, the antibiotics that finally do provide successful treatment to resistant bacteria can be more toxic to humans, with more serious side effects than common antibiotics. <p>CSPI presented its findings at a one-day conference it cosponsored with the Pew Charitable Trusts, Managing the Risk of Foodborne Hazards: STECs and Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens. Besides DeWaal, other presenters at the conference included the USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety Elisabeth Hagen, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael Taylor, Patricia Griffin from the CDC, and Danilo Lo Fo Wong from the World Health Organization. 2011-01-25 http://cspinet.org/new/201101241.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>In 2009, the food industry’s fatally flawed <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200910202.html" target="cspi">Smart Choices</a> labeling program became a national laughingstock for putting its logo on junk foods like Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes. Today, the industry is striking out again with its new front-of-package <a href="http://www.gmaonline.org/issues-policy/health-nutrition/providing-innovative-and-healthy-choices/nutrition-keys-front-of-pack-labeling-initiative/" target="cspi">Nutrition Keys</a>. It’s a scheme consisting of confusing icons that will be largely ignored by consumers. <p>It’s unfortunate the industry wouldn’t adopt a more effective system or simply wait until the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/23/can-wal-mart-make-us-healthier/the-fda-should-be-bolder-than-wal-mart" target="cspi">Food and Drug Administration</a> developed a system that would be as useful to consumers as possible. <p>The whole point of front-label nutrition information or symbols should be to convey quickly and simply how healthful a food is. A system with green, yellow, and red dots to indicate whether a food has a good, middling, or poor nutritional quality would probably be a lot more effective than industry’s system. Alternatively, numerical ratings from -100 to +100 or 0 to 10 would allow people to easily compare one brand of food to another. In contrast, Nutrition Keys system appears to be designed to distract consumers’ attention from, not highlight, the high content of sodium, added sugars, or saturated fat in all too many processed foods. 2011-01-24 http://cspinet.org/new/201101201.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>I applaud Walmart for using its marketplace muscle to move the food industry in a healthier direction. This <a href="http://walmartstores.com/pressroom/news/10514.aspx" target="cspi">announcement</a> will virtually eliminate artificial <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/transfat" target="cspi">trans fat</a> in packaged foods and help spur food manufacturers to cut the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/salt" target="cspi">sodium</a> in their products over the next several years. Those two moves by Walmart ultimately should save thousands of lives each year that might otherwise be lost to heart disease or stroke. <p>I hope this move emboldens the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture, which should immediately pull the plug on partially hydrogenated oil and set reasonable limits on sodium levels in different categories of packaged foods. 2011-01-20 http://cspinet.org/new/201101191.html <b>7 States Earn ‘A’s … and 14 States Get ‘F’s from CSPI</b><p>WASHINGTON—A <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/alloverthemap.pdf" target="cspi">nationwide report card</a> grading the 50 states and the District of Columbia on how well they detect, investigate, and report outbreaks of foodborne illness finds great variability—indicating that many states are only reporting a small fraction of the number of outbreaks as states with better detection and reporting systems. <p>Using 10 years of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/outbreak/pathogen.php" target="cspi">Outbreak Alert!</a> database, CSPI assigned a letter grade and created an outbreak profile for each state. CSPI used two states that are widely recognized for having strong investigating and reporting systems as benchmarks. Those states, Oregon and Minnesota, have excellent laboratory facilities and public health departments that are quick to interview individuals who are suspected to have been <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/outbreak_report.html" target="cspi">outbreak</a> “cases.” They report nine and eight outbreaks per million people per year, respectively. Those two states, and five states that reported equally high reporting rates for outbreaks, received ‘A’s: Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Washington, and Wyoming. <p>In contrast, 14 states reported only one outbreak of foodborne illness per million people: Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia. <p>“States that aggressively investigate outbreaks and report them to CDC can help nail down the foods that are responsible for making people sick,” said CSPI food safety director Caroline Smith DeWaal. “But when states aren’t detecting outbreaks, interviewing victims, identifying suspect food sources, or connecting with federal officials, outbreaks can grow larger and more frequent, putting more people at risk.” <p>In its report, <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/alloverthemap.pdf" target="cspi"><em>All Over the Map</em></a>, CSPI acknowledges that it may seem counter-intuitive to give higher grades to states with more outbreaks. But, in fact, those states are the most likely to have robust detection and reporting systems, according to the group. The report card suggests that states that received ‘D’s or ‘F’s may lack adequate funding for public health services, leading to health departments that are understaffed and overburdened. <p>CSPI also identified a troubling trend. The percentage of solved outbreaks—those with both an identified food and an identified pathogen—has declined over the 10-year period, from 1998 through 2007. The peak reporting year was 2001 when 44 percent of outbreaks reported to CDC were solved; the lowest year, when only 34 percent were reported, was 2007. But CSPI says that the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201101032.html" target="cspi">signed into law </a> by President Obama earlier this month, requires the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC to <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/50_state_fsma_fact_sheet.pdf" target="cspi">enhance coordination between federal, state, and local surveillance systems </a> and improve epidemiological tools available to the states. And within a year, the law directs the federal government to name five state health departments as regional Centers of Excellence to serve as resources for public health officials in response to outbreaks. <p>“Hopefully, this report will stimulate discussions among public health officials, food safety policy makers, legislators and the public about the value of surveillance,” said Craig Hedberg, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. “Ensuring that all states benefit from effective foodborne disease surveillance is a long range goal. A network of Regional Centers of Excellence can develop and demonstrate the best practices that have helped Minnesota and Oregon maintain their excellent records of foodborne disease surveillance and outbreak investigation.” <p>CSPI recommends that consumers and doctors do their parts, too. Consumers should notify their local health department when they suspect they have suffered a foodborne illness, and should seek medical treatment when needed, the group says. Physicians should likewise report suspected cases to health departments, and be more assertive about pursuing laboratory testing to detect and confirm foodborne illnesses. <p>Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Vermont received ‘B’s, with each state reporting 6 or 7 outbreaks per million people. <p>Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Wisconsin received ‘C’s, with each state reporting 4 or 5 outbreaks per million people. <p>Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia received ‘D’s. Those states and D.C. each only reported 2 or 3 outbreaks per million people. <p>In developing this report, CSPI used CDC data from OutbreakNet Foodborne Outbreak Online Database which became available on September 17, 2009. According to CDC, data available via the OutbreakNet Online Database originate from a dynamic outbreak surveillance database. Reporting agencies (state, local, territorial, and tribal health departments, and CDC) can modify their NORS reports at any time, even months or years after an outbreak. Therefore, specific results from Foodborne Outbreak Online Database are subject to change. 2011-01-19 http://cspinet.org/new/201101141.html <b></b><p>WASHINGTON—A report today from the <a href="http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-102" target="cspi">Government Accountability Office</a> says the FDA needs more authority from Congress to help police potentially misleading claims on <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/foodlabeling/" target="cspi">food labels</a>. Specifically, GAO says FDA should be able to see food companies’ evidence for so-called structure/function claims—the increasingly familiar claims that a given product affects the structure or function of the body. Those claims typically take the form that a food with calcium, say, “builds strong bones.” But according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, structure/function claims are often unsubstantiated, or worse, illegally imply the food will prevent or treat a disease. <p>“If a company wants to claim a food will ‘maintain healthy joints’ or ‘support healthy eyes,’ the FDA should at least be able to see the company’s evidence for that, and if there is weak evidence the claim should not be allowed,” said CSPI senior regulatory counsel Ilene Ringel Heller. “Claims that a sugary drink, a yogurt, or a cereal provides ‘immunity’ to some unspecified disease would not and should not survive that kind of scrutiny.” <p>The GAO also called on the FDA to issue guidance to industry spelling out the type and strength of the scientific evidence needed to prevent false or misleading structure/function claims. CSPI says that for conventional foods, Congress should also give the FDA authority to disallow structure/function claims that are not backed by significant scientific agreement. 2011-01-14 http://cspinet.org/new/201101132.html <b>New &quot;Dietary Guidelines for Americans&quot; Due Later This Month</b><p>WASHINGTON—The Center for Science in the Public Interest says that Americans should aim to consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day—far less than either the 2,300 mg recommended by the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, or the 4,000 mg of sodium that the average adult currently consumes. CSPI is supporting a <a href="http://www.newsroom.heart.org/index.php?s=43&item=1237" target="cspi">new advisory</a> from the American Heart Association, published in the <a href="http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIR.0b013e31820d0793v1?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&fulltext=sodium&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&fdate=1/1/2011&resourcetype=HWCIT" target="cspi">journal Circulation</a>, which calls on the “public, health professionals, the food industry, and the government to intensify efforts to reduce the amount of sodium (salt) Americans consume daily.” <p>“Without question, the amounts of salt used in <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/salt/hspackaged.html" target="cspi">packaged</a> and <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/salt/hsrestaurant.html" target="cspi">restaurant</a> foods make it the deadliest ingredient in the food supply, causing high blood pressure, stroke, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200905111.html" target="cspi">heart disease</a>, and kidney problems,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “We hope that the soon-to-be-released revision of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans reflects the scientific consensus that Americans are consuming too much <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/salt" target="cspi">salt</a>. Even though reducing consumption to 2,300 milligrams—the target in the current Guidelines—would represent great progress, we urge the new Guidelines to provide the more desirable 1,500-mg target.” <p>As part of the AHA’s goal to reduce deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent, the organization is recommending a population-wide reduction of sodium intake to less than 1,500 mg daily. In 2005, CSPI filed a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200511081.html" target="cspi">regulatory petition</a> with the Food and Drug Administration calling on the agency to regulate salt as a food additive, and set reasonable limits on the amounts that can be used in different categories of processed food. <p>The next version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, produced jointly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, is expected to be released later this month. 2011-01-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201101131.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>I applaud <a href="http://usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2011/01/0010.xml" target="cspi">USDA</a> for proposing to bring school meal standards into the 21st century. The new standards represent an enormous improvement over the status quo. Capping calories, limiting French fries, and reducing salt will all help America’s school children avoid unnecessary weight gain and diet-related diseases. And requiring <a href="http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2009/School-Meals-Building-Blocks-for-Healthy-Children.aspx" target="cspi">school lunches</a> to provide more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables will teach kids healthy eating habits that may last a lifetime. <p>In addition, the recently passed <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201012021.html" target="cspi">child nutrition </a> reauthorization law will provide schools with more advice, model menus, healthy recipes, and funding to implement these rules once they’re finalized and adopted. 2011-01-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201101032.html <b>Food Safety Plans & Inspections Will Reduce Recalls & Outbreaks, Says CSPI</b><p>WASHINGTON—Legislation that will dramatically upgrade the food safety functions of the Food and Drug Administration will be signed into law tomorrow by President Barack Obama, giving the agency a broad new mandate to prevent food from becoming contaminated. The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, a long-time proponent of modernizing FDA’s food safety framework, says that implementation of the law will give Americans greater confidence in the safety and security of the food supply and will reduce the number of outbreaks of foodborne illness. <p>“This is a historic victory for consumers, who can now look forward to a future of safer food,” said CSPI food safety director Caroline Smith DeWaal, who has been advocating for FDA reform for more than 10 years “For far too long, the FDA has been in reactive mode, chasing down contaminated food after people are already sick with E. coli, Salmonella, or other dangerous pathogens. Now, by incorporating modern scientific and legal tools, the FDA will put the horse before the cart, requiring food manufacturers and farmers to implement plans aimed at preventing contaminated products. This is the most important food safety advance in 70 years.” <p>In recent years, the bill enjoyed the support of a broad coalition of consumer and industry groups. Besides CSPI, the coalition included the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, as well as the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Survivors of foodborne illness and relatives of deceased victims also played an important role lobbying for passage of the bill. <p>“Soon parents should be able to shop without worrying that the spinach, tomatoes, peanut butter, or eggs in their cart are going to cause illness and misery,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “Once implemented, the law will give consumers greater confidence that the food they purchase comes from farms and facilities that follow good food safety practices, and that FDA inspectors can help verify that companies are adhering to those practices.” <p>Besides requiring companies to develop food safety plans and increasing the frequency of federal inspections, the bill gives the FDA authority to recall potentially contaminated food from the marketplace—a power the agency now lacks. The bill also improves surveillance of outbreaks of foodborne illness and sets higher standards for the safety of imported foods. <p>“This bill reflects years of work by a number of Members of Congress, especially Representatives John Dingell, Rosa DeLauro, Frank Pallone, and Henry Waxman, and Senators Dick Durbin and Tom Harkin,” said DeWaal. “President Obama deserves credit for making food safety an early priority of his Administration. But FDA’s job of implementing the bill will require Congressional oversight and new appropriations to ensure that the agency can effectively use the tools it has been given.” <p>Tomorrow’s bill-signing caps the most significant legislative year ever for food policy advocates and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Besides passing the food safety bill, Congress set the stage for eliminating junk food from schools, when it passed landmark <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201012021.html" target="cspi">child nutrition legislation</a>. And in March, another of CSPI’s longstanding legislative priorities became law when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed. Besides providing unprecedented amounts of funding for state and local campaigns to promote healthier diets, the health reform law requires chain restaurants to list calories on menus and menu boards. 2011-01-03 http://cspinet.org/new/201101031.html <b>Health Groups, Local Agencies, and Nutrition Experts Support CSPI’s Call</b><p>WASHINGTON—The federal government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that people drink less soda and other sugary drinks. To help implement that advice, today a number of health groups, state and municipal agencies, and prominent nutrition experts are calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require health notices where they will most help consumers—right on the bottle or can. In a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/soda_letter_to_fda.pdf" target="cspi">letter to FDA </a> Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, the health advocates said that the agency should use its authority to require a rotating series of messages on labels of sugar-sweetened drinks, warning about the risks of weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and other health problems. <p>“In light of the overwhelming evidence linking soft drinks to serious diseases, consumers deserve to know—and soft drink labels should disclose—those health risks,” the organizations and experts wrote. <p>The Center for Science in the Public Interest formally <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200507131.html" target="cspi">petitioned the FDA </a> in 2005 to require health messages on soda labels. While the petition has languished, CSPI hopes that the Obama Administration, which has placed a high priority on reducing childhood obesity, will look more favorably on the petition than the Bush-era FDA did. <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/liquidcandy" target="cspi">Soda pop </a> and other sugary drinks are now the single largest contributor of calories to the diet, providing as much as 10 to 15 percent of teens’ caloric intake, according to one study cited in today’s letter. <p>“Our leading source of calories is a nutritionally worthless beverage that promotes obesity, diabetes, and other debilitating and expensive conditions,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “A warning label would not solve the obesity problem, but it would be a simple, inexpensive way to remind consumers of key facts when they are considering buying a major cause of the problem. A comprehensive effort to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks would be one of the single most important things that government could do to reduce obesity in children and adults.” <p>Signers of today’s letter include the American Public Health Association, the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, Shape Up America!, and the Trust for America’s Health. Notably, a number of health departments also signed on to the letter, including the New York State Department of Health, the Boston Public Health Commission, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, and the El Paso, TX, Department of Public Health. <p>Some of the health messages proposed in the letter include: <ul> <li>The U.S. Government recommends that you drink fewer sugary drinks to prevent weight gain, tooth decay, heart disease, and diabetes.</li> <li>Drinking too many sugary drinks can promote diabetes and heart disease.</li> <li>For better health, the U.S. Government recommends that you limit your consumption of sugary drinks.</li> <li>This drink contains 250 calories. Consider switching to water.</li> </ul> <p>Even toddlers are drinking fruit drinks and soda pop, according to CSPI. The group estimates that one- and two-year-olds are drinking an average of seven ounces per day. Older boys drink even more. CSPI says that the average 12- to 19-year-old male drinks about 28.5 ounces—or 350 calories’ worth—each day. <p>Individual cosigners on the letter include Henry Blackburn of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health; George Bray of the Pennington Biological Research Center at Louisiana State University; Carlos Camargo, JoAnn Manson, and Eric Rimm from Harvard Medical School; Barry Popkin from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Walter C. Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health. 2011-01-03 http://cspinet.org/new/201012291.html <b></b><p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture today released <a href="http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-32485.pdf">final rules</a> for the labeling of meat and poultry--rules that have been stalled at the agency for 10 years. Unfortunately, the rules provide no new consumer benefit, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. <p>Under the rules, packages of ground beef, a major source of saturated fat, and ground poultry must bear Nutrition Facts labels by January 2012. However, the Center for Science in the Public Interest said that most ground beef already has such labeling. <p>The group <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/meatlabel.pdf">had urged USDA</a> to prohibit "percent lean" statements on labels of ground meat. CSPI says that its research shows that the term "lean" misleads consumers into thinking that, say, "80 percent lean" ground beef is lower in fat than it really is. The term "low fat," as defined by the Food and Drug Administration, could not be used on products that contain more than 3 grams of fat per serving, a level that no ground beef meets. When consumer and health organizations opposed "percent lean" claims in the 1990s, USDA shelved its proposed rule. Now the agency is allowing the claims because, it says, consumers are used to seeing them. <p>"Use of the word 'lean' in the context of ground beef is designed to deceive," says CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. "The meat industry has insisted on labeling ground meat that way to make ground beef appear leaner. Consumers assume that they are following advice to eat lean meat when they purchase ground beef that is 80 percent lean, yet it is one of the fattiest meats on the market. Nutrition Facts labels don't correct that deception." <p>For steaks, chops, roasts, and other cuts of meat, USDA is requiring nutrition information either on labels or on signs in supermarkets. To date, supermarkets have always chosen to post signs rather than use labels. CSPI says that the signs are hard to find, difficult to decipher, and show nutrition information for relatively puny 4-ounce servings, thereby understating the calorie and fat content of typical servings of steaks. <a href="http://cspinet.org/nah/articles/kindestcut.html">Many Americans actually consume steaks that weigh two, three, or four times the official USDA serving size</a>. <p>"It's too bad that USDA missed an opportunity to give consumers easy-to-use, on-package information about how many calories and how much saturated fat is in steaks, roasts, and other cuts of meat," Jacobson said. <p>CSPI had urged the agency to require that single-serving packages of meat—one steak, say—bear nutrition information for the whole cut as sold. Alternatively, said CSPI, labels could have stated "Nutrition Facts are based on a 4-oz. serving. This package contains multiple servings." <p>"USDA should err on the side of protecting consumers' health," Jacobson said. "But I fear that when the food industry wants one thing and consumers another, consumers get the short end of the stick." 2010-12-29 http://cspinet.org/new/201012151.html <b>Practice Illegally Exploits Children, Says CSPI</b><p>WASHINGTON—A mother of two from Sacramento, Calif., says that McDonald’s uses toys as bait to induce her kids to clamor to go to McDonald’s and to develop a preference for nutritionally poor Happy Meals. With the help of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, today the mom, Monet Parham, is filing a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/mcdonald_scomplaint.pdf" target="cspi">class action lawsuit</a> aimed at stopping McDonald’s use of toys to market directly to young children. The suit will be filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco shortly after the court opens for business Wednesday morning. <p>According to Parham, the main reason her six-year-old daughter, Maya, asks to go to McDonald’s is to get toys based on Barbie, i-Carly, Shrek, or Strawberry Shortcake. The food seems almost beside the point to the kids, says Parham, because the toy monopolizes the attention of Maya and her two-year-old sister Lauryn. <p> <object width="325" height="250"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5YQOZoPtCO0"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5YQOZoPtCO0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="325" height="250"></embed> </object> </p> <p>“I am concerned about the health of my children and feel that McDonald’s should be a very limited part of their diet and their childhood experience,” Parham said. “But as other busy, working moms and dads know, we have to say ‘no’ to our young children so many times, and McDonald’s makes that so much harder to do. I object to the fact that McDonald’s is getting into my kids’ heads without my permission and actually changing what my kids want to eat.” <p>Documents cited by CSPI in the lawsuit show that the Parham family’s experience isn’t accidental. It is entirely by design. <p>“Go after kids,” is how Roy Bergold, who headed McDonald’s advertising for 29 years as chief creative officer, described the company’s strategy in an article in QSR magazine. “Ray Kroc said that if you had $1 to spend on marketing, spend it on kids. Why? Because they can’t get to your restaurant by themselves and they eat a lot.” Bergold also acknowledged in a separate QSR column that “companies have found that kids are a lot more tempted by the toys than the food.” McDonald’s “gets into the parents’ wallets via the kids’ minds,” according to an online presentation by Martin Lindstrom, who advises McDonald’s on branding and “neuromarketing.” <p>And Joe Johnston, who was on the advertising-agency team that developed the McDonald’s Fun Meal, which pre-dated the Happy Meal, bluntly explained the centrality of the toy to the meal’s marketing: “Yes, even then, we knew that we needed the toy to make it work.” <p>Fast-food companies—with McDonald’s by far in the lead—spent over $520 million in 2006 on advertising and toys to market children’s meals. Toy premiums made up almost three-quarters of those expenses, totaling over $350 million. <p>According to the Institute of Medicine and the American Psychological Association, kids as young as Maya do not have the cognitive maturity to understand the persuasive intent of advertising. Advertising that is not understood to be advertising is inherently deceptive—an idea that CSPI’s lawsuit points out is well established in law. “Every time McDonald’s markets a Happy Meal directly to a young child, it exploits a child’s developmental vulnerability and violates several states’ consumer protection laws, including the California Unfair Competition Law,” said CSPI litigation director Steve Gardner. <p>Even though Happy Meals <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YQOZoPtCO0" target="cspi">television advertising</a> shows brief glimpses of healthier products, such as Apple Dippers and low-fat milk, the default options put into Happy Meal by McDonald's employees are usually French fries and sugary sodas. In a CSPI study of 44 McDonald’s outlets, French fries were automatically included in Happy Meals 93 percent of the time. Soft drinks were the first choice offered to customers 78 percent of the time. <p>According to CSPI, a reasonable lunch for a typical sedentary four- to eight-year-old should not exceed a third of a day’s worth, or about 430 calories. Of the Happy Meal combinations that are possible, only a handful fall under that threshold—and even those have more than one-third of day’s worth of sodium. But none of the Happy Meals that are served with fries or a soda are healthy for children aged four to eight, according to CSPI. A meal of a cheeseburger, fries, and a Sprite has 640 calories, 7 grams of artery-clogging saturated fat, and 35 grams—or 9 teaspoons—of sugar. <p>“McDonald’s congratulates itself for meals that are hypothetically possible, though it knows very well that it’s mostly selling burgers or chicken nuggets, fries, and sodas to very young children,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “In other words, McDonald’s offerings consist mostly of fatty meat, fatty cheese, French fries, white flour, and sugar—a narrow combination of foods that promotes weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease—and may lead to a lifetime of poor diets.” <p>“What kids see as a fun toy, I now realize is a sophisticated, high-tech marketing scheme that’s designed to put McDonald’s between me and my daughters,” Parham said. “For the sake of other parents and their children, I want McDonald’s to stop interfering with my family.” <p>In June, CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201006221.html" target="cspi">first notified</a> McDonald’s it might be the target of a lawsuit. Repeatedly, CSPI offered to meet with McDonald’s to try to reach an agreement that would avoid litigation, but McDonald’s refused. <p>In anticipation of filing its suit, CSPI <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/retention_letter_mcdonald_s_121410.pdf" target="cspi">served McDonald’s with a letter </a> on Tuesday instructing the company to preserve any documents in its possession related to the use of toys to market Happy Meals to children. Lawyers for Parham will seek to examine those documents in discovery as the case proceeds. In addition to CSPI's Litigation Unit, Parham is also represented by private attorney Richard Baker of Baker Law, P.C. in Birmingham, Alabama. <p>CSPI’s <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/litigation" target="cspi">litigation unit</a> has taken on food marketing to children before. In 2006, CSPI notified Kellogg that it would be sued for marketing sugary cereals and other junk food directly to children. After negotiating for more than a year, CSPI and Kellogg reached a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200706141.html" target="cspi">historic settlement agreement</a> that set nutrition standards for the foods the company may advertise on media with young audiences. Since then, Kellogg only advertises to young audiences if a serving of the food meets certain nutrition criteria. Subsequently, numerous other companies announced voluntary nutrition standards for their advertising. <p>In previous fast-food litigation, CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200606121.html" target="cspi">sued KFC</a> for using partially hydrogenated oil, which made KFC’s chicken high in trans fat. CSPI dropped that lawsuit when the company agreed to <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200610301.html" target="cspi">phase out </a> partially hydrogenated oils. KFC chicken is now trans-fat free. <p>McDonald’s use of toys to market to children is also beginning to come under scrutiny by local officials. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors recently <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201011091.html" target="cspi">passed an ordinance</a> setting nutrition standards for children’s meals sold with toys, and CSPI is urging other jurisdictions to consider similar legislation. <p>See what experts are saying about Parham v. McDonald’s <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/what_they_re_saying.pdf" target="cspi">here</a>. 2010-12-15 http://cspinet.org/new/201012132.html <b>CSPI Cites Dangerous Allergic Reactions</b><p>WASHINGTON—A nonprofit nutrition and food safety watchdog group is urging Nestlé not to purchase Quorn, a line of fungus-based fake meats that causes severe allergic reactions—including vomiting, diarrhea, and anaphylactic reactions—in some people. In a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/quornnestleletter.pdf" target="cspi">letter to Nestlé</a>, the Center for Science in the Public Interest says that it will continue to press government agencies to withdraw <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/quorn" target="cspi">Quorn</a> from the market or at least require that it bear labels warning consumers of the risks of eating it. <p>Scientists first discovered Quorn’s fungus, Fusarium venenatum, in 1967 in a soil sample from the British town of Marlow. Grown in giant fermentation vats and continuously fed a supply of oxygen, glucose, and nutrients, Quorn’s fungus spawns a protein-rich paste. That paste is further processed into vaguely meaty chunks or strips. And in 1985, Marlow Foods introduced a “savoury pie” composed of what it now calls “mycoprotein.” Today, Quorn typically takes the shape of patties or nuggets designed to simulate chicken, as well as a one-pound cylindrical “Turk’y Roast” and ethnic dishes such as the “Tikka pieces” and “Fillets in Tomato and Olive Sauce” it sells in the U.K. <p>The scientists who found Quorn’s fungus might have had an inkling about their discovery when they chose the Latin venenatum—or “filled with venom”—for its name. Sure enough, an early study by Quorn’s manufacturer found that 10 percent of 200 human subjects fed Quorn developed nausea or a stomachache. Other scientists found that Quorn caused allergic reactions in some patients. And in 2003, CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson published a letter in the journal Allergy characterizing the <a href="http://cspinet.org/quorn/medical_research.html" target="cspi">adverse reactions</a> of 284 Quorn consumers (CSPI has a Web site to collect such <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/cgi-bin/quorn/quorn.cgi" target="cspi">reports</a>). A subsequent article in the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200309231.html" target="cspi">American Journal of Medicine</a> reported that, according to a CSPI-commissioned telephone survey in Britain, a higher percentage of people believe they are sensitive to Quorn than to shellfish, milk, peanuts, wheat or other common allergens. Though no deaths have yet been linked to Quorn, anaphylaxis can be life-threatening. <p>“It was clearly a mistake for <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200304231.html" target="cspi">food safety</a> regulators in Europe, the United States, and <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201009231.html" target="cspi">Australia</a> to approve Quorn for human consumption in the first place,” Jacobson said. “It would be a real tragedy for a major food company like Nestle to start marketing foods made with this harmful ingredient on a bigger scale. There’s so much concern about allergic reactions to conventional foods, so it’s especially inappropriate to broaden the marketing of an unnecessary and novel powerful allergen.” <p>Quorn is presently owned by U.K.-based Premier Foods. It has been previously owned by private equity firms and the drug company AstraZeneca. CSPI has been urging the <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/quorn_mcclellan_letter_4-23.pdf" target="cspi">Food and Drug Administration</a> to revoke its “generally recognized as safe” designation for Quorn mycoprotein, and CSPI’s litigation unit has <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200909171.html" target="cspi">filed suit </a> on behalf of an Pennsylvania woman who had a severe reaction from eating Quorn. Those efforts have not yet succeeded in getting Quorn off the market or requiring warning labels on the product, though previously CSPI got the company to at least acknowledge on the label that mycoprotein comes from a fungus. <p>“I was curled in a ball on the bathroom floor for almost three hours continually throwing up,” said Marisa Santanna, a behavioral health case manager from Harrisburg, PA, who ate Quorn nuggets and cutlets. “It got so bad that I started to throw up blood. The next morning I felt fine, and I made the connection that the last time this happened I ate Quorn, too. I read the ingredients on the box and decided to look up mycoprotein and was shocked at what I found online. There isn’t even a warning on the box.” <p>Quorn’s manufacturer used to claim that its signature ingredient was “mushroom based,” but the company still describes Fusarium venenatum as “an edible fungi [sic] like mushrooms, morels, or truffles.” But Fusarium venenatum is quite unlike mushrooms, and is actually a form of mold—some of which are edible and some not. Other members of the Fusarium genus produce dangerous mycotoxins and have been studied for potential use as biological weapons or herbicides. <p>“We have so many safe, sustainable, and wholesome fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to enjoy on their own and from which to make meat substitutes,” Jacobson said. “Why resort to vat-grown, allergenic mold? To me, Quorn seems better suited to dystopian science fiction than health food stores.” 2010-12-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201012131.html <b>Statement of CSPI Director of Nutrition Policy Margo G. Wootan</b><p>Getting junk food out of schools has been ten years in the making. This bill is a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201012021.html" target="cspi">historic step</a> toward reducing childhood obesity and helping parents feed their children better. It’s the result of the hard work of many, but would not have passed without this Administration’s leadership. The President's and First Lady's tireless advocacy brought the child nutrition bill back to life several times as it made its way through Congress. 2010-12-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201012021.html <b>Bill Tackles Hunger and Childhood Obesity by Improving School Meals and Eliminating Junk Food</b><p>WASHINGTON—The U.S. House of Representatives passed landmark child nutrition legislation today, providing the biggest increase in funding for the school lunch program in decades. The bill makes it easier for qualified children to receive free school meals, extends after-school meals to more at-risk children, and provides additional technical assistance to local school food service providers. And, when signed into law by President Obama, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act sets the stage for the elimination of soda and other junk foods from schools nationwide. <p>The bill’s passage is the second big victory won by food policy advocates in the lame-duck session of Congress this week. The Senate passed historic <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201011301.html" target="cspi">food safety legislation</a> Tuesday. <p>“Simultaneously tackling childhood obesity and hunger, this bipartisan bill gets a lot of junk food out of schools and a lot of healthier food into schools,” said Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. <p>The bill requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture to update its nutrition standards for foods that can be sold through vending machines, a la carte lines, and elsewhere on school grounds. Current standards are 30 years out of date and apply only to the cafeteria during mealtimes. <p>In addition to providing higher reimbursement rates for school lunches, the bill includes several no-cost provisions to strengthen school food finances, increasing the funds available for healthy school food. The bill sets schools on a path to gradually increase the price of paid school meals to make them comparable to the reimbursements USDA provides for free meals; it provides guidance to schools about which indirect costs are allowable; and ensures that money meant for healthy school meals is not diverted to subsidizing junk food sold through a la carte lines in the cafeteria. <p>“More American children depend on the school lunch and breakfast programs than ever before, and this act will ensure that those meals are more nutritious than ever,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “CSPI has been trying to get junk food out of schools for three decades.” <p>Besides CSPI, some 1,350 health, education, and anti-hunger groups supported passage of the bill, which even gained the support of many major food companies. The bill enjoyed the vocal support of the Administration, particularly First Lady Michelle Obama, whose Let’s Move initiative is focused on reducing childhood obesity. <p>“I’m glad the House of Representatives rejected the know-nothing nincompoopism of Sarah Palin, who apparently thinks junk food in schools is good for families,” Wootan said. “Most parents want the lunch money they send off with their kids to be spent on healthy meals and snacks, not on sugary drinks and candy bar. It's disappointing that the Republican leadership decided to play politics with the bill—and children's health. The last-minute Republican amendment, concerning background checks for child-care workers, was a transparent attempt to kill the bill, which would have left children less healthy and more hungry.” 2010-12-02 http://cspinet.org/new/201012011.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>The news that the Food and Drug Administration, in response to CSPI’s <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200806022.html" target="cspi">2008 petition</a>, will convene an advisory committee <a href="http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-30187.pdf" target="cspi">meeting</a> to discuss the link between food dyes and children’s behavior is welcome and overdue. Yellow 5, Red 40, and other commonly used food dyes have long been shown in numerous clinical studies to impair children’s behavior. But for years, FDA—which actually commissioned one of the first controlled studies—dismissed the mounting evidence against the dyes. <p>The continued use of synthetic food dyes is hardly <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201006291.html" target="cspi">worth the risk</a>. What’s the benefit? Junk food that’s even more appealing to children than it already is? Why, when we’re medicating so many children for hyperactivity, would we let food manufacturers worsen some children’s problems? Behavioral problems aside, animal studies indicating that dyes pose a cancer risk provide another reason for banning those chemicals. <p><img src="/images/nutri-grain.JPG"><b><br>Photo Credit: CSPI<br>Nutri-Grain bars sold in Britain contain natural colorings, like beetroot red, but the same product sold in the United States uses Red 40 and other synthetic dyes.</b><p> <p>Fortunately, a few companies are adopting smarter policies even in the absence of government action. Starbucks does not permit dyes in any of its beverages or pastries, NECCO has switched to safer natural colorings for its famous Wafers, and Frito-Lay is testing dye-free snack foods. <p>Food safety officials in Europe have moved much more quickly to protect children from <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/fooddyes" target="cspi">artificial dyes</a>. The British government has urged companies to stop using most dyes, and the European Union requires a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201007201.html" target="cspi">warning notice</a> on most dyed foods. As a consequence, Kellogg, Kraft, McDonald’s, and other American companies that do business in Europe use safe, natural colorings there—but harmful, synthetic <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200810221.html" target="cspi">petrochemicals</a> here. I hope that the FDA’s March meeting portends the end of artificially dyed foods in the United States. 2010-12-01 http://cspinet.org/new/201011301.html <b>One More Stop in House Required Before Presidential Signature</b><p>WASHINGTON—Historic food safety reform legislation passed the Senate today on a bipartisan 73 to 25 vote. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act requires every food processing facility to implement a food safety plan and requires the Food and Drug Administration to conduct more frequent inspections of the farms and factories that produce America’s food. The bill, which is the first major overhaul of food safety law for the Food and Drug Administration in 70 years, represents the culmination of over 10 years of research and advocacy by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Its passage was supported by a broad coalition of consumer and industry organizations, including many survivors of foodborne illness. <p>The House of Representatives must pass the Senate version before it heads to President Obama’s desk for his signature. In July, the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200907301.html" target="cspi">House</a> passed an even stronger food safety bill with 283 votes. <p>“Everyone who eats will benefit from this historic legislation,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “FDA will have new tools to help ensure that America’s food supply is safer, causing fewer illnesses and deaths. Preventing contamination in the first place is paramount to reducing the health care and economic costs that are caused when unsafe food makes people sick.” <p>Every year, foodborne illness sends several hundred thousand Americans to the hospital and kills five thousand, according to CDC estimates. <p>Under current law, many peanut butter factories, spinach fields, and egg farms can go five or 10 years without a visit from an FDA inspector. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act requires high-risk producers to be inspected much more frequently. And importantly, it gives the FDA mandatory recall authority. Currently, the FDA can only ask companies to recall contaminated foods on a voluntary basis. The bill also sets responsible standards for produce safety and for the safety of imported food. <p>“And after every outbreak, we learn how infrequently some of America’s food processing facilities are inspected by authorities,” said CSPI food safety director Caroline Smith DeWaal. “This legislation will give Americans the confidence that the fruits, vegetables, seafood, eggs and packaged foods we serve our families are safe to eat.” <p>The bill has been <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201009081.html" target="cspi">stalled in the Senate </a> for over a year and its passage was only possible after Senate leaders agreed to several weakening compromises, including exemptions for many smaller facilities and reductions in the frequency of inspections. CSPI hopes that all those shortcomings will be corrected in future years. <p>CSPI would like to thank Senators Durbin and Harkin for their long standing efforts on food safety culminating in the passage of this law. 2010-11-30 http://cspinet.org/new/201011171.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>I applaud the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm234109.htm" target="cspi">FDA</a> for tackling youth-oriented caffeinated alcoholic drinks and effectively getting them reformulated. Four Loko and Joose might no longer have caffeine, but they still contain three to four beers’ worth of alcohol in 23-ounce, single-serving cans. That’s a bad idea that deserves further scrutiny from regulators at the federal, state, and local levels. That these drinks are made with kid-friendly flavors like watermelon, blue raspberry, and lemonade says all one needs to know about their target audience. Government regulators would save a lot of young people from preventable traffic crashes, sexual assaults, and alcohol poisonings by regulating these drinks’ serving-sizes and alcohol content with greater care. 2010-11-17 http://cspinet.org/new/201011091.html <b>McDonald’s, Other Chains Exploit Children by Using Toys to Market Junk Food, According to CSPI</b><p>WASHINGTON—The controversial practice of using toys to market unhealthy fast-food meals to children was dealt another blow today by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. By a vote of 8 to 3, the board gave final approval to a <a href="http://www.sfbos.org/index.aspx?page=11214" target="cspi">measure </a> sponsored by Supervisor Eric Mar that requires meals sold with toys not to exceed ceilings for calories, fat, sugar, and sodium, and to contain a half a cup of fruit and at least three-quarters of a cup of vegetables. <p>“That’s good news for San Francisco’s parents and children,” said Center for Science in the Public Interest executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “It’s time for fast-food companies to stop exploiting children in order to sell more junk food, and this measure would at least set basic nutrition standards for meals sold with toys. Fatty meat, French fries, white flour, and sugary drinks are the last foods we should encourage kids to eat.” <p>The measure now heads to the desk of Mayor Gavin Newsom, now the Lieutenant Governor-elect. Newsom has indicated he may veto it, but it seems the board has enough votes to override a veto. The Santa Clara, Calif., Board of Supervisors passed a <a href="http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/scc/aspecial?path=%252Fv7%252FSCC%2520Public%2520Portal&contentId=662e022125068210VgnVCM10000048dc4a92____" target="cspi">similar measure </a> in April. <p>“I hope that other health-conscious legislators around the country adopt their own laws to discourage the marketing of unhealthy foods to young children who, after all, do not yet have the cognitive ability to understand the persuasive intent of marketing,” Jacobson said. “That would deliver a strong message to McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s that those companies should not use toys to market foods or to limit the inclusion of toys to only healthier meals.” <p>Separately, CSPI will soon send its own message to McDonald’s about toy-based marketing. It is planning on <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201006221.html" target="cspi">filing a lawsuit</a> aimed at stopping the practice of using toys to lure children to Happy Meals—a practice that CSPI says is unfair and deceptive. 2010-11-09 http://cspinet.org/new/201011011.html <b>Statement of CSPI Director of Nutrition Policy Margo G. Wootan</b><p>A new study shows that unhealthy beverages were still in reach for almost half of all elementary students in the 2008-2009 school year. While the volume of sugar drinks sold in elementary schools is much lower than in high schools, unhealthy beverages—and foods—don't belong in any schools. <p><img src="/images/takomaparkelementarysodamachine.JPG"></br>Photo Credit: Jane Welna, CSPI<br><b>These vending machines in Takoma Park Elementary School in Maryland <br> offer students sugary soft drinks and junk food. Congress needs to pass the <br>child nutrition bill soon to get vending machines like these out of schools.</b></p> <p>Congress has the chance to change this by passing the <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/201007152.html" target="cspi">Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act</a> when it returns for the lame duck session. That bipartisan bill passed the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201008051.html" target="cspi">Senate</a> unanimously in August and includes a provision to get junk food and soda out of schools. <p>Unlike a decade ago, improving school foods is no longer controversial. The child nutrition bill has the support of not only public health organizations, but also school groups and food and beverage companies, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. <p>Given the sky-high rates of childhood obesity, Congress needs to support parents and protect kids by passing the child nutrition bill to finally get sugary drinks and junk food out of all schools. 2010-11-01 http://cspinet.org/new/201010272.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>If the findings of <a href="http://goranlab.com/pdf/Ventura%20Obesity%202010-sugary%20beverages.pdf" target="cspi">new laboratory analysis</a> of popular soft drinks can be replicated, the soda industry will have a lot of explaining to do. The study, fittingly published in the journal Obesity, claims that up to 65 percent of the sugars in Coca-Cola and Pepsi are fructose. That’s surprising, because the soda industry has always claimed that the high-fructose corn syrup used in soda is only 55 percent fructose—a percentage much closer to that of table sugar, or sucrose, which is 50 percent fructose. <p>Because the new analyses seem so improbable, confirmatory studies using the best analytical method need to be done before the alarm bells ring too loudly. <p>Most scientists haven’t been willing to say that high-fructose corn syrup is some kind of nutritional boogeyman that is much worse than ordinary sugar because both are roughly half fructose and half glucose. If Coke and Pepsi actually contained much higher levels of fructose, that would make those and other HFCS-sweetened drinks even more harmful than previously thought since fructose appears to be especially conducive to weight gain. <p>But no one should think that they’d be doing themselves a huge favor by switching to <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/liquidcandy" target="cspi">soft drinks</a> made with sugar. Regardless of the percentage of fructose to glucose, the main problem with sugars is that they are an empty source of calories. Even worse, consumed in liquid form, those calories don’t provide the same kind of satiety solid foods do. As a result, all sugary soft drinks promote weight gain, obesity, diabetes, tooth decay, and other serious health problems. 2010-10-27 http://cspinet.org/new/201010271.html <b>Drug Company Must Pay $3.3 Million to States and Support Future Claims with Competent Scientific Evidence</b><p>WASHINGTON—Bayer will be barred from claiming that its One A Day multivitamins may cure, treat, or prevent any disease, including cancer, unless the company can back up such claims with competent and reliable scientific evidence. As part of a settlement agreement reached yesterday with Attorneys General from Oregon, California, and Illinois, Bayer must also make a $3.3 million payment to those states. A complaint, filed by Oregon Attorney General John Kroger, accused Bayer of “deceptively leveraging fear of prostate cancer” in order to market One A Day multivitamins for men. <p>Bayer claimed that “emerging research” suggested that the mineral selenium in One A Day might reduce the risk of prostate cancer. But according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, “emerging research” did no such thing. In fact, a seven-year, $118-million <a href="http://cme.nci.nih.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/SELECTJAMAresults2008" target="cspi">study funded by the National Institutes of Health </a> found that selenium does not prevent prostate cancer in healthy men. That massive trial, which involved 35,000 men, was abruptly halted when it became clear to researchers that selenium was not protecting the men from prostate cancer and may have been causing unexplained cases of diabetes. Yet Bayer continued to claim a protective benefit from selenium. <p>In October of 2009, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200910011.html" target="cspi">CSPI sued Bayer</a> in federal court in California over the selenium claims on One A Day, which a judge dismissed on technical grounds. CSPI was planning on filing suit on behalf of a California consumer in another court. But in the wake of the settlement agreement reached with the Attorneys General, CSPI is announcing that it will not move forward with the second suit. <p>“We are very glad that the Attorneys General have obtained a binding settlement prohibiting Bayer from exploiting men’s fear of prostate cancer in order to sell more vitamin pills,” said CSPI litigation director Steve Gardner. “And we’re also pleased that Bayer seems to have had a change of heart, since after CSPI publicly questioned the company’s unsupportable claims on One A Day, its response then was to threaten us with a libel lawsuit.” Bayer has since backed off that threat, Gardner said. <p>The agreement reached yesterday is the latest in a long rap sheet of settlement agreements, fines, guilty pleas, and other enforcement actions involving the German pharmaceutical giant. <p>In 2001, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/24/us/bayer-to-pay-14-million-to-settle-charges-of-causing-inflated-medicaid-claims.html" target="cspi">Bayer paid $14 million to U.S. and state governments </a> to settle allegations that the company’s actions helped health care providers submit inflated Medicaid claims for drugs. In 2003, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/17/business/bayer-agrees-to-pay-us-257-million-in-drug-fraud.html" target="cspi">Bayer pleaded guilty to a criminal charge and paid $257 million</a> in fines and penalties after a whistleblower exposed a scheme by the company to overcharge for the antibiotic Cipro. In 2004, <a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/press_releases/2004/204602.htm" target="cspi">Bayer pleaded guilty to a criminal charge and paid a $66 million</a> fine after a Justice Department investigation into Bayer’s role in a price-fixing conspiracy involving a chemical used to make rubber products. And in 2007, Bayer paid $8 million to resolve allegations by <a href="http://www.atg.wa.gov/pressrelease.aspx?&id=11916" target="cspi">state</a> attorneys <a href="http://www.ksag.org/page/attorney-general-morrison-announces-30-state-settlement-with-bayer-corporation" target="cspi">general</a> that the company failed to warn physicians and consumers about safety issues surrounding its now-withdrawn cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol. <p>Prior marketing for One A Day has also posed legal problems for Bayer. In 2007, it paid a $3.2 million civil fine as part of a <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/01/weightloss.shtm" target="cspi">consent decree</a> reached with the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. The case centered on weight-loss claims that the FTC said violated an earlier order requiring that all health claims for One A Day be supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. And in 2009, Bayer was required to run a $20-million corrective advertising campaign about its birth control pill Yaz and to submit its ads for FDA approval, as part of a legal settlement secured by a number of <a href="http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/pressroom/2009_02/20090209.html" target="cspi">state</a> attorneys <a href="http://www.oag.state.md.us/Press/2009/020909.htm" target="cspi">general</a> and the FDA. 2010-10-27 http://cspinet.org/new/201010132.html <b></b><p>WASHINGTON—The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest is announcing with regret the resignation of Bruce A. Silverglade, who has served as CSPI’s director of legal affairs for more than 25 years. Mr. Silverglade will be joining the Washington, D.C., law firm of Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Bode Matz PC as a principal on November 1, 2010. <p>“I greatly enjoyed working at CSPI, and it is difficult to say goodbye to long-time friends and colleagues, but it is now time to turn my career in a new direction,” Silverglade said. <p.Silverglade started at CSPI in 1981. He led the bipartisan campaign for the enactment of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990—requiring the adoption of easy-to-read Nutrition Facts labels on packaged foods. He worked to change U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration policy on labeling and additives, brought precedent-setting advertising complaints before the Federal Trade Commission, and worked with government officials from around the world to set safety and labeling standards for the global food trade. Silverglade recently helped negotiate voluntary agreements with international beverage companies that limited the sale of soft drinks in schools world-wide. <p>“Bruce has demonstrated extraordinary persistence in fighting to protect consumers from inadequate and deceptive food labeling and advertising,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “And he has become a recognized expert on cross-border regulatory and trade issues affecting the food industry. Speaking on behalf of everyone at CSPI, I wish Bruce well in this new phase of his career.” <p>Silverglade added, “I think that my experience finding solutions to complex public policy problems by working with government officials, industry leaders, and consumer groups fits well with Olsson Frank Weeda’s approach to proactively engaging government officials and using both conventional and creative approaches to advance the public policy process.” 2010-10-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201010131.html <b>CSPI Says System Should Also Include Added Sugars</b><p>WASHINGTON—A <a href="http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/Examination-of-Front-of-Package-Nutrition-Rating-Systems-and-Symbols-Phase-1-Report.aspx" target="cspi">report from the Institute of Medicine</a> concluded that simplified front-of-package food labeling could help improve Americans’ diets and health. That report, which the Center for Science in the Public Interest urged Congress to request, highlighted the importance of listing calories and three problem nutrients—saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium. <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/foodlabeling" target="cspi">CSPI</a> today said that added sugars should also be included on front-of-package labels for at least some foods. <p>“Unfortunately, without disclosing the amount of added sugars, a soft drink with that labeling would look pretty good because it has no fat and virtually no sodium,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “One solution would be to disclose calories and just one or two other nutrients, depending on the type of food. Soups, for instance, might focus on calories and sodium. Soda labels should highlight just calories and sugar.” <p>And rather than highlighting trans fat on package fronts, the Food and Drug Administration should just ban the artificial variety of trans fat, which comes from partially hydrogenated oil, according to CSPI. <p>“The biggest challenge is to figure out how best to display the information so as to encourage companies to produce and shoppers to choose the most healthful foods,” Jacobson said. “While the British government found that red-yellow-green color coding, or words like high, medium, and low, are most consumer-friendly, the food industry will fight tooth and nail to prevent the government from requiring such clear, understandable symbols. Companies don’t want their less healthful products clearly labeled as such, but that’s the kind of system that would most benefit consumers.” <p>CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200611301.html" target="cspi">first urged</a> the FDA to consider a front-of-package labeling system in 2006. A year ago, the agency asked the food industry to halt its front-of-package labeling system, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200910202.html" target="cspi">Smart Choices</a>. That program’s nutrition criteria allowed sugary cereals, such as Froot Loops and some white breads with no whole grains, to bear a Smart Choice icon. 2010-10-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201010071.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>The USDA should approve New York City’s sensible request to test excluding soda and other sugary beverages from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. <p>The empty calories in soft drinks pose a major public health problem by promoting tooth decay, obesity, diabetes, and other health problems. It’s also the case that those diseases have a disproportionate impact on low-income Americans. However, the extent to which SNAP recipients’ purchases of soft drinks is contributing to poor diets and obesity is unclear and controversial. I applaud New York City for seeking to get some real data to inform the debate. As it is, industry is enjoying about a $4-billion-a-year subsidy thanks to people spending SNAP benefits on soft drinks. 2010-10-07 http://cspinet.org/new/201010051.html <b>Jacobson Honored for Championing Science-based Nutrition and Food Safety Initiatives</b><p><img src="/images/CDCFoundationlogo.jpg"> <p>ATLANTA – Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., received the 2010 CDC Foundation Hero Award at an event at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC Foundation is honoring Jacobson for his instrumental role in improving public health by championing science-based nutrition and food safety initiatives, empowering consumers to make healthful choices and encouraging scientists to engage in public interest activities. <p>Jacobson is co-founder and executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nonprofit health advocacy organization focused on nutrition and food safety. CSPI is a key player in the ongoing battle to prevent diet-related chronic diseases and food-borne illnesses in America. CSPI both educates consumers and encourages government and corporations to take steps to protect the public’s health. <p>Since 1971, Jacobson and CSPI have used education, legislation and litigation to win important reforms, including laws requiring nutrition information on most food labels and warning notices on alcoholic beverage labels. CSPI's studies on the nutritional quality of restaurant meals generated worldwide interest and spurred major chains to add more healthful items to their menus. Jacobson and CSPI continue to address junk-food marketing aimed at kids, the nutritional quality of school meals, microbial contamination of foods, and the safety of food additives. <p>"As our nation’s health care costs continue to rise due in significant part to the growth of preventable, diet-related problems in our population, Dr. Jacobson’s seminal work will continue to play a critical role in our nation’s public health for many years to come," says New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who nominated Jacobson to receive the CDC Foundation Hero Award. <p>Jacobson holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is the author or co-author of numerous publications, including: Six Arguments for a Greener Diet (2006, CSPI); Restaurant Confidential (2002, Workman Publishing); Marketing Madness (1995, Westview Press); What Are We Feeding Our Kids? (1994, Workman); The Fast-Food Guide (1986, 1991 Workman); The Complete Eater’s Digest and Nutrition Scoreboard (1986; Doubleday & Co.); Salt: The Brand Name Guide to Sodium (1983, Workman); Eater’s Digest: The Consumer’s Factbook of Food Additives (1972, 1976, Doubleday & Co.). He is the recipient of the Food and Drug Administration’s Commissioner’s Special Citation and Harvey W. Wiley Medal and the Food Marketing Institute’s Esther Peterson Consumer Service Award. <p>“Obesity is an epidemic in this country," says Charles Stokes, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. “CDC and other public health scientists conduct research to identify the causes of obesity and to determine the best strategies to fight obesity at the community and national levels. Dr. Jacobson and CSPI have mobilized thousands of individuals, organizations and policymakers to help put that science into action." <p>First presented in 2005, the CDC Foundation Hero Award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to improving the public’s health through exemplary work in advancing CDC’s mission of promoting health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury and disability. Previous recipients include: <ul><li>William Foege, M.D., M.P.H., senior fellow of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and former CDC director</li> <li>Paul Farmer, M.D., Ph.D., founding director of Partners In Health</li> <li>Sir Michael Marmot, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., Ph.D., F.R.C.P., F.F.P.H.M., FMedSci, director of the University College London International Institute for Society and Health and MRC Research Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health</li> <li>Raymond J. Baxter, Ph.D., senior vice president for community benefit for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals</li> <li>The Honorable Rudy Giuliani, 107th Mayor of New York City</li> </ul> <p>Established by Congress, the CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do more, faster by forging effective partnerships between CDC and individuals, corporations and foundations to fight threats to health and safety. The CDC Foundation manages approximately 200 public health programs in the U.S. and in countries around the world. Each program involves a talented team of CDC experts and at least one outside funding partner. To learn more, please visit <a href="http://www.cdcfoundation.org" target="cspi">www.cdcfoundation.org</a>. <p>*Press release from CDC Foundation 2010-10-05 http://cspinet.org/new/201009301.html <b></b><p>WASHINGTON—How do you gussy up a dated restaurant menu item like lasagna? If you’re the culinary brain trust at Olive Garden, the answer is obvious: Throw it in the deep-fryer. <p>Eating it, however, is throwing caution to the wind. Described by the company as “Parmesan-breaded lasagna pieces, fried and served over Alfredo sauce, topped with Parmesan cheese and marinara sauce,” the Lasagna Fritta appetizer has half a day’s calories (1,030) and a day’s worth of saturated fat (21 grams) and sodium (1,590 milligrams). <p>But to the health watchdogs at <p>Nutrition Action Healthletter</em>, Lasagna Fritta is "<a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nah/foodporn/october2010.html" target="cspi">food porn</a>.” <p>Olive Garden already offered fried zucchini, fried mozzarella, and fried calamari appetizers. And other chains are innovating by deep-frying everything from balls of macaroni and cheese (The Cheesecake Factory) to pickles (Hooters). <p>“Lasagna’s not exactly health food to begin with, but bread it with cheese, deep-fry it, and plate it with cream sauce and still more cheese, and you have a killer app,” said Jayne Hurley, senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the nonprofit publisher of Nutrition Action. “Shared with four or five people it wouldn’t be the end of the world. But odds are these 1,000-calorie appetizers are split with just one, amidst all-you-can-eat breadsticks, and in advance of a 1,000-calorie entrée. Lasagna Fritta is just garden variety food porn.” <p>Food Porn is featured on the back page of every issue of <em>Nutrition Action</em>. Previous food porns include <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nah/foodporn/julyaug2010.html" target="cspi">Denny’s Grand Slamwich</a>, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nah/foodporn/may2010.html" target="cspi">Land O’Lakes Margarine</a>, and <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nah/foodporn/september09.html" target="cspi">Domino’s Bread-Bowl Pastas</a>. The same page also highlights a Right Stuff healthier food. This month, Nutrition Action recommends Organic Bistro Whole Life Meals—low-sodium frozen dinners that include a lemony Chicken Citron with spinach, quinoa and edamame. 2010-09-30 http://cspinet.org/new/201009271.html <b></b><p>WASHINGTON—Ben & Jerry’s <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/ben_jerry_ceo_letter.pdf" target="cspi">has agreed</a> to phase out its use of “All Natural” claims on labels on ice creams and frozen yogurts that contain alkalized cocoa, corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, or other ingredients that aren’t natural. The move amicably resolves a dispute arising from a letter that the Center for Science in the Public Interest <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201008121.html" target="cspi">sent last month</a> to Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever. The letter said that at least 48 products were improperly labeled. <p>“Ben & Jerry’s is doing the right thing by taking the phrase ‘all natural’ off its labels if the products have factory-made ingredients,” said <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">CSPI</a> executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “The Food and Drug Administration could do consumers and food manufacturers a great service by actually defining when the word ‘natural’ can and cannot be used to characterize a given ingredient.” <p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates meat and poultry, lets products be labeled “natural” if they do not include artificial colors or ingredients, or are not more than “minimally processed,” by which the agency means a process that doesn’t fundamentally alter the raw ingredient. But the FDA, which regulates all other foods, has no such definition. It told CSPI several years ago that defining the term was “not among our enforcement priorities.” <p>When it criticized Ben & Jerry’s misleading use of the word “natural,” CSPI said that none of the questionable ingredients the company used was unsafe (even the tiny amount of partially hydrogenated oil used in the Chubby Hubby flavor is harmless). CSPI also noted, though, that plenty of ingredients that really are “natural” are still bad for your health, such as the artery-clogging cream that is the main ingredient in Ben & Jerry’s ice creams. 2010-09-27 http://cspinet.org/new/201009231.html <b>“Mycoprotein” Meat Substitute Linked to Vomiting, Diarrhea, and Worse</b><p>WASHINGTON—An American nonprofit food-safety watchdog group is <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/australia_fsanz_quorn.pdf" target="cspi">calling on Australian officials</a> to prohibit the sale of <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200909171.html" target="cspi">Quorn</a> brand meat substitutes. Quorn foods are made from a fungus grown in giant vats, from whence a protein-rich paste is harvested. The paste is then processed into strips or chunks designed to resemble chicken, ground beef, or other foods. But a significant percentage of consumers suffer allergic <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/quorn/victims.html" target="cspi">reactions</a> after eating the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/quorn/" target="cspi">fake meats</a>, with the most common symptoms being nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. <p>Some consumers experience potentially life-threatening anaphylactic reactions, including swelling of the throat and difficulty breathing. A CSPI survey in the United Kingdom found that a higher percentage of people are sensitive to Quorn foods than are allergic to peanuts, milk, or shellfish, several common allergens. <p>On sale for several years in the United States and longer in Europe, Quorn’s fungus is now being sold Down Under for the first time. <p>“I urge you to protect Australians from powerfully allergenic Quorn foods—that are marketed as if they were health foods—by barring their sale,” wrote CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson in a letter to Food Standards Australia & New Zealand. “At the very least, a prominent notice on the fronts of packages should advise consumers that the products can cause serious and potentially fatal allergic reactions.” <p>Australian Joanne Roberts, of Frankston North, Victoria, first purchased Quorn Lasagna at Woolworth’s. Almost immediately, the 41-year-old homemaker realized something was not quite right. First came a gnawing pain in her upper abdomen, and then burping. Then, a tingling feeling in her limbs. Over the next six hours, she suffered severe and sometimes sudden vomiting. Following that, equally severe diarrhea—watery at first, then bloody. After various medications eased those symptoms, cramping and fatigue lingered in Roberts for a week. <p>“It’s such a shame that an alternative for vegetarians is so harmful to my health,” Roberts said. “This product should have been checked more before being released upon the public.” <p>Donna-marie Bradtke, a 47-year-old weight-loss consultant from Perth, had similar experiences after eating Quorn Southern Style Burgers, which she purchased from the retailer Coles. “I had such violent vomiting that my throat seemed to close and I really thought I was going to choke. I am very worried that someone old or very young may eat this product and have the same adverse reaction,” Bradtke said. <p>Quorn’s fungus is a strain of mold found in the 1960s in a British dirt sample. Scientists found that the fungus could be cultivated in fermentation vats and turned into an inexpensive source of protein. The name of the fungus, <em>Fusarium venenatum</em>, might have tipped off scientists and food safety officials: <em>venenatum</em> is Latin for “filled with venom.” But early Quorn marketing materials sought to convey a relationship with more desirable fungi, such as mushrooms and morels. But that relationship turned out to be more distant than consumers were led to believe. One mycologist—a fungus expert—said that calling Quorn a mushroom was like “calling a rat a chicken because both are animals.” Another expert in fungal taxonomy told CSPI that “mushrooms are as distantly related to Quorn’s fungus as humans are to jellyfish.” <p>“We were disappointed that food safety authorities in the U.S. and the U.K. would so quickly and incuriously welcome a brand new and powerful allergen into the human food supply, when the limited amount of testing that had been done raised so many red flags,” Jacobson said. “Unfortunately, notwithstanding all the evidence that Quorn foods are harmful, the Australian government has done the same thing.” <p>Quorn comes in <a href="http://www.quorn.us/Products/" target="cspi">many forms</a>, including artificial chicken patties and nuggets, turkey-like cylindrical “Roasts,” and meat-free analogues of several British delicacies like “Cornish Pasties” and “Toad in the Hole.” Quorn’s Web site says that dishes such as “Quorn Schnitzels Cheese and Spinach” are now available at Woolworth’s, Coles, and other Australian grocers. <p>CSPI has been trying to get Quorn off of American and British <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200312091.html" target="cspi">supermarket</a> shelves <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/quornpr_050102.html" target="cspi">since 2002</a>. Lawyers for the nonprofit group are presently representing an American woman who became violently ill after eating Quorn “Chik’n Patties.” Her <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200909171.html" target="cspi">lawsuit</a> seeks to compel the company to place notices on Quorn labels warning consumers about the adverse reactions. CSPI has also been collecting adverse reaction reports online (more than 1,500 to date), and recently began receiving reports from worried Australian consumers. <p>Debra Connell of Melbourne was home with her three-and-a-half year-old twins when she became ill with vomiting, diarrhea, and a red rash after eating Quorn Lasagna. She says she’s a careful label reader, but had no idea what to expect from eating “mycoprotein.” <p>“It took two days for my constricted chest, coughing, and burning sensation in my chest to subside,” Connell said, adding that “I’m beginning to wonder if there are going to be life-long side effects from eating Quorn.” <p>As of now, the web site for Food Standards Australia & New Zealand blandly claims that “Reported cases of adverse events (gastrointestinal disturbance and allergy) are very rare. No safety concerns identified.” 2010-09-23 http://cspinet.org/new/201009151.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>The term “high-fructose corn syrup” has misled many people into thinking that the sweetener is composed largely of fructose. But it is not. Sugar and <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm#hfcs" target="cspi">high-fructose corn syrup</a> are nutritionally the same. So soft drinks and other products sweetened with sugar are every bit as conducive to weight gain as products sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup. The bottom line is that people should consume less of all added sugars. <p>I don’t know if “corn sugar” is the best term to replace “high-fructose corn syrup” because it sounds like the sugars come right out of the corn. Canada calls the ingredient glucose–fructose syrup; another option might be “chemically modified corn sweetener.” 2010-09-15 http://cspinet.org/new/201009081.html <b>Consumer Groups, Survivors of Foodborne Illness, Call on Senate to Pass FDA Reform Legislation This Month</b><p>WASHINGTON—As the nation reels from the impact of a massive egg recall that has sickened well over 1,500 people, survivors of foodborne illness and consumer advocates say that antiquated laws and poor enforcement are to blame. According to a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/recipefordisaster-recalls.pdf" target="cspi">new report</a>, the massive <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201008191.html" target="cspi">egg recall</a> is only the latest—but largest—of 85 recalls that companies made while food safety reform legislation has been pending in the Senate, and since similar legislation passed the House in July of 2009. All told, at least 1,850 people have been sickened from foods subject to a recall, according to a report issued today by three consumer groups. And since foodborne illness is dramatically underreported, the actual toll of illness is almost certainly in the tens of thousands. <p>“Recalls and outbreaks are the most public consequence of our ‘horse and buggy’ food safety system,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety" target="cspi">food safety</a> director at the nonprofit <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a>. “Consumers are sometimes sickened and everyone up and down the chain has to check for, remove, and destroy the contaminated products. Only Congress can fix the underlying problems by passing legislation that has been languishing in the Senate for over a year.” <p>In the 13-month period since the House passed H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act, researchers from CSPI, Consumer Federation of America, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group identified 85 separate recalls linked to at least 1,850 illnesses. 36 of those recalls were due to Salmonella contamination of lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, green onions, and ground pepper. Hydrolyzed vegetable protein contaminated with Salmonella spurred the recall of a wide variety of soup and dip mixes, dressings, and seasonings. 32 recalls, mostly from contaminated cheeses, were due to dangerous Listeria bacteria. E. coli bacteria on shredded romaine lettuce sickened at least 26 people in 23 states and the District of Columbia. <p>At a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/carolinesmithdewaalstatement.pdf" target="cspi">press conference</a> in Washington, representatives from the consumer groups said that the Senate needs to take up food safety legislation immediately after it reconvenes. A conference committee will then have to craft a final bill before it can be sent to the President. For survivors of foodborne illness and their families, the wait has been too long. <p>“I want to know that the food on my plate is safe,” said 13-year-old <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/bio_-_rylee_gustafson.pdf" target="cspi">Rylee Gustafson</a>, of Henderson, Nev. In 2006, Rylee spent two-weeks on life support and was hospitalized for a month after eating spinach contaminated with E. coli. Since her illness, Rylee has been active with Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.), which assists victims of foodborne illness and advocates for reform. “I hope that the Senate can finish work on the food safety bill, and that other kids won’t have to suffer from a foodborne illness like I did.” <p>Both the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200907301.html" target="cspi">House-passed bill</a> and the bill <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200911181.html" target="cspi">pending in the Senate</a> require food manufacturers to develop written food safety plans and to implement preventive measures. Both bills give the FDA a mandate to conduct inspections of food processing facilities, and to conduct microbial testing. Under current law, many facilities go for five or 10 years without an inspection. The Senate bill would require high-risk producers to be inspected more frequently. Both bills give the agency the authority to order companies to recall potentially tainted foods. <p>“Most Americans probably assume that FDA inspects farms and food processing plants are inspected regularly and that when problems arise, FDA can quickly order tainted eggs or spinach off the market,” said Chris Waldrop, director of the Consumer Federation of America’s Food Policy Institute. “In fact, neither of those assumptions is true. The Senate food safety bill would give the FDA the authority it needs to do its job.” <p>“Unfortunately, the FDA is often in reactive mode, chasing down the source of an outbreak long after much of the food in question has been sold,” said Elizabeth Hitchcock, public health advocate for U.S. PIRG, which is activating its nationwide grassroots network to push for a vote on S. 510. “We need this food safety reform legislation so that the FDA can focus on preventing contamination in the first place—before the food ends up in Americans’ cupboards and refrigerators.” <p>In 2009, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid assured young Rylee, the survivor of the 2006 spinach outbreak, that food safety was a priority. “We’re going to do everything we can to get this legislation done,” Reid said. A month later, the bipartisan food safety bill was unanimously reported out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. But more than a year—and 59 recalls—later, no vote has been scheduled. <p>“My Salmonella infection from eggs was the most devastating thing I have ever been through,” said Sarah Lewis, a mother of two from Freedom, Calif. “I would hate for anyone else to have to go through anything like it, especially if they have small children who need care. The fact that this egg outbreak could happen on such a large scale makes it clear to me that food regulation needs to be improved.” <p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 76 million people suffer from foodborne illness each year. 325,000 will be hospitalized. And approximately 5,000 Americans will die. Children and the elderly are most likely to experience severe cases of illness and death from foodborne pathogens. 2010-09-08 http://cspinet.org/new/201008302.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal</b><p>While it is really helpful that <a href="http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/MajorProductRecalls/ucm223522.htm" target="cspi">FDA</a> is disclosing the results of their recent inspections of two facilities linked to a major illness outbreak from <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201008191.html" target="cspi">contaminated eggs</a>, FDA's findings are truly stomach churning. FDA found rodents and wild birds in the facilities, and five of the Wright County Egg facilities had giant manure piles inside their buildings. These violations are reminiscent of similar findings in another major outbreak linked to peanut butter. <p>Equally troubling is that the inspections occurred the month following the date that the new <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/eggtimeline.pdf" target="cspi">egg-safety regulation</a> went into effect. Both companies involved had been on notice that they needed to meet requirements of the new egg-safety rule for over a year. Instead of finding companies that were ready to meet those requirements, FDA's inspections document companies with long-standing violations and apparently little intention to comply. The decrepit conditions in these hen houses reflect the fact that companies know that FDA inspections are so rare—even following the adoption of a new safety regulation—that there is no urgency to fix their buildings and their operations to assure compliance with FDA statutes and regulations. 2010-08-30 http://cspinet.org/new/201008301.html <b>Nutrition Action Healthletter Illustrates How One ‘Serving’ Is Really More Like Two, Three, or Four</b><p>WASHINGTON—A typical burrito weighs about 5 ounces, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Yet a <strong>Chicken Burrito at Chipotle</strong> weighs four times as much, delivering 970 calories—including 300 calories from the white-flour tortilla alone. As <em>Nutrition Action Healthletter</em> illustrates in its <a href="http://cspinet.org/nah/articles/supersized.html" target="cspi">September issue</a>, Chipotle and other chain restaurants are reprogramming Americans’ expectations of what a “serving” of a food is. <p>Fortunately, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201003211.html" target="cspi">calorie counts</a> are soon coming to chain restaurant menu boards, thanks to the federal health care reform law now being implemented. And, from the article, here are 4 other examples of how far an actual serving exceeds the official serving size: <p><img src="/images/blueberrymuffin.jpg"></p> <p><img src="/images/panerasandwich.jpg"></p> <p><img src="/images/steak.jpg"></p> <p><img src="/images/starbuckscookie.jpg"></p> <p>“Chain restaurants have helped dissolve any sense of perspective when it comes to what a reasonable serving of food is,” said Bonnie Liebman, nutrition director at the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, Nutrition Action’s publisher. “When 300-calorie bagels and 1,000-calorie burritos became the norm, it’s easy to understand why two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese.” <p><a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nah" target="cspi"><em>Nutrition Action Healthletter</em></a> is the largest-circulation health newsletter in North America, with 850,000 subscribers. Introductory subscriptions are $10 in the U.S. and $15 in Canada. 2010-08-30 http://cspinet.org/new/201008191.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal</b><p>It is truly ironic that the largest <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/outbreak_report.html" target="cspi">egg recall</a> in history has unfolded just the month after long-awaited egg regulations went into effect. This outbreak will likely grow over the coming weeks, as at least 10 states are investigating outbreak clusters. <p>Jurisdiction over <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/eggtimeline.pdf" target="cspi">eggs</a> has been scrambled between numerous government agencies for the last 20 years, resulting in enormous delays in addressing the hazard posed by <em>Salmonella</em> enteriditis, a pathogen that infects the ovaries of chickens, causing their eggs to be internally contaminated. Today, FDA claimed that it did not have jurisdiction to inspection this facility until last month when the egg regulation finally took effect. <p>This outbreak demonstrates the need for a food safety cop-on-the-beat. FDA needs a strong inspection force with the tools to mandate recalls, impose civil and criminal penalties, and require testing at farms and production facilities. The agency should be able to impose fines for violations when they find them, detain and recall food, and impose enhanced criminal penalties when companies intentionally violate the law, resulting in harm to the public. <p>The Senate should move immediately to pass <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201005062.html" target="cspi">S. 510</a> and Congress should move a bill that incorporates the strongest enforcement provision of each bill promptly to the President's desk for signature. 2010-08-19 http://cspinet.org/new/201008171.html <b>Sales Reportedly Plummeted After State Attorneys General Won Labeling Concessions</b><p>WASHINGTON—The Center for Science in the Public Interest will not appeal a federal appeals <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/envigadecision.pdf" target="cspi">court decision</a> blocking a New Jersey woman’s lawsuit over false weight-loss claims made by Coca-Cola for Enviga. Enviga is a line of artificially sweetened green tea-based soft drinks whose labeling and advertising claims that the drink “burns calories.” Launched with considerable fanfare in 2006, Enviga has since faded into obscurity. <p>Under a February 2009 settlement agreement reached with 27 states and the District of Columbia, Coca-Cola agreed to pay $650,000 and to stop making overt weight-loss claims for Enviga. Coke (and partner Nestlé) agreed to add language to labels and marketing materials stating that the product will not promote weight loss without diet and exercise. Three months later, the trade publication New Nutrition Business reported an Enviga “sales collapse.” The Court of Appeals decision this week hinged on whether the plaintiff had documented her weight loss or gain, and not on the merits of CSPI’s allegations about Enviga’s deceptive claims. <p>“We believe that the Court of Appeals erred in not letting a consumer pursue her claim about the demonstrably false advertising and labeling on these expensive and fraudulent drinks,” said CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/litigation" target="cspi">litigation</a> director Steve Gardner. “But since the attorneys general cracked down and have since won modest labeling concessions, we won’t appeal. Consumers seem to have gotten the message that Coca-Cola does not have the science to back up its laughable ‘calorie burning’ claims for Enviga.” <p>The taste of Enviga might also be partly to blame for its decline. Tasters at Bevnet.com, an online site that covers the beverage industry, were generally unkind. The Wild Berry flavored Enviga “tastes pretty artificial and saccharine.” The Peach flavor, now discontinued, “is a bit too acidic, and allows some of the chemical sweeteners to intervene, creating something of an unpleasantly fuzzy mouthfeel.” The Green Tea flavor fared better but Bevnet wondered whether its “strong, tangy flavor” is “going to be too much” for dieting consumers. <p>CSPI’s <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200702011.html" target="cspi">lawsuit</a> sought an injunction barring Enviga from making deceptive claims. <p>“It’s ironic that Coke, a company that has been a major promoter of weight gain, is now pretending that it is coming to the rescue of overweight people,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson when the lawsuit was filed in 2006. “They should have called this drink ‘Fleece,’ since that’s what they’re trying to do to consumers. Plain old tap water has zero calories, five calories fewer than Enviga, but unlike Enviga, tap water doesn’t cost 15 bucks a gallon.” <p>Besides maintaining the Enviga doesn’t contain “negative calories,” CSPI is concerned about the caffeine levels in Enviga. The marketing materials urged consumers to drink three cans a day to achieve a maximum calorie burning effect. At 100 milligrams per can, three cans of Enviga would have the caffeine of nine cans of Coke. And that is at the upper limit of what experts consider safe for pregnant women or women who may become pregnant. <p>“If you want to lose weight, drink less Coke, not more Enviga,” said Jacobson. <p>Enviga aside, CSPI is moving full-speed ahead with a class action lawsuit against Coca-Cola over deceptive claims associated with its <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201007231.html" target="cspi">Vitaminwater</a> line of drinks. The company makes a wide range of dramatic—and according to CSPI, false—claims, including that its drinks variously reduce the risk of chronic disease, reduce the risk of eye disease, promote healthy joints, and support optimal immune function. Vitaminwater has 33 grams of sugar per bottle, but no juice from any of the fruits mentioned on the labels of its several flavors. The names of the drinks, along with other statements on the label, “have the potential to reinforce a consumer’s mistaken belief that the product is comprised of only vitamins and water,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge John Gleeson, denying Coca-Cola’s motion to dismiss. 2010-08-17 http://cspinet.org/new/201008161.html <b>Statement of CSPI Staff Attorney Sarah A. Klein</b><p>As August grilling season marches on and consumers top their burgers with lettuce, the unfortunate parade of outbreaks and recalls linked to contaminated food continues. USDA and FDA have each recently announced <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/outbreak_report.html" target="cspi">significant recalls</a> of ground beef contaminated with <em>E. coli</em> and bagged lettuce contaminated with <em>Listeria</em>. <p>Valley Meat Company is recalling approximately one million pounds of frozen ground beef patties and bulk ground beef products that may be contaminated with <em>E. coli</em> O157:H7. At least seven consumers have already been sickened. <em>E.coli</em> 0157:H7 can cause severe illness with lifelong medical repercussions, or death. Consumers should check their freezers for meat labeled with any of the product names or codes listed here: <a href="http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_048_2010_Release/index.asp" target="cspi">http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_048_2010_Release/index.asp</a>. In addition, consumers should always cook ground beef to at least 160 degrees, using a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the patty to determine this. Consumers should also be careful when thawing and handling ground beef to avoid cross-contamination on cutting boards, utensils, and kitchen surfaces. <p>Fresh Express has recalled nearly 3,000 cases of Veggie Lovers salad because it may be contaminated with <em>Listeria monocytogenes</em>. <em>Listeria</em> is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, and can cause miscarriage, still-birth, or severe birth defects. Consumers are advised to check their refrigerators for this product, labeled with a Product Code of I208 and Use-by Date of August 10, 2010. Unfortunately, re-washing bagged lettuce does not remove pathogens and may spread contamination around the kitchen. <p>Consumers who suspect they may have contracted a foodborne illness should seek medical care and contact their local health department. 2010-08-16 http://cspinet.org/new/201008121.html <b>Alkalized Cocoa, Hydrogenated Oil, Fake Vanilla Among Them, Says CSPI</b><p>WASHINGTON—At least 48 out of 53 flavors of Ben & Jerry’s “All Natural” ice cream and frozen yogurt contain alkalized cocoa, corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, or other ingredients that either don’t exist in nature or that have been chemically modified. Calling products with unnatural ingredients “natural” is a false and misleading use of the term, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Today, CSPI <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/benandjerrysunileverletter.pdf" target="cspi">urged Ben and Jerry’s</a> to drop the claim or else the nonprofit watchdog group will take its concerns to the Food and Drug Administration and state attorneys general. <p>Founded in 1978 by Vermonters Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Ben & Jerry’s is now a unit of the Anglo-Dutch consumer product conglomerate Unilever, which besides owning familiar food brands such as Hellman’s and Lipton, also makes Vaseline, Dove soap, and Axe deodorant. Thanks to the ice cream company’s concerns about the environment, the company has garnered consumer trust and a reputation for social responsibility—but that image risks being sullied by the allegations of misleading labeling. <p><img src="/images/ChubbyHubby.JPG"></br><b>The label claims the ice cream is all natural, <br>but it contains cocoa processed with alkali, <br>partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and corn syrup.</b></p> <p>In 2002, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200207301.html" target="cspi">CSPI alerted the FDA</a> and the company to Ben & Jerry’s deceptive use of the “All Natural” claim, but neither took action, and the problem seems to have only gotten worse, according to CSPI. The consumer group says that the deceptive labeling is as unfair to competitors as it is to consumers. <p>For instance, “All Natural” Chubby Hubby ice cream contains three non-natural ingredients: alkalized cocoa, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and corn syrup. Dublin Mudslide contains alkalized cocoa and anhydrous dextrose. A list of all the improperly labeled flavors and their ingredients is included in <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/benandjerrysunileverletter.pdf" target="cspi">CSPI’s letter</a>. <p>“These ingredients are safe—only a small amount of partially hydrogenated oil is used—but it’s a stretch to call any of them ‘natural,’” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “Ben & Jerry’s sylvan labels notwithstanding, these ingredients come from the factory, not the farm. And slapping an ‘all natural’ label on the products certainly implies that the products are top quality and deserve to fetch a higher price.” <p>Cocoa processed with alkali is the most frequently used unnatural ingredient as it used in 36 Ben & Jerry’s flavors. Treating cocoa with an alkalizing agent changes the chemical structure, taste, and appearance of cocoa and reduces its acidity and flavonol content. Flavonols are antioxidants with possible health benefits. Indeed, Unilever itself recently sponsored research to investigate an association between flavonol intake and the <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dietary-flavonol-intake-may-lower-stroke-risk-98227739.html" target="cspi">incidence of stroke</a>. In addition, the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition (part of the candy company) <a href="http://www.hersheys.com/nutrition-professionals/cocoa-powder/composition/natural-alkalized.aspx" target="cspi">specifically distinguishes </a> alkalized cocoa powder from natural cocoa powder. Corn syrup and corn syrup solids are created by chemically or enzymatically converting cornstarch into sugar and short chains of sugar molecules. They occur in 28 flavors. Other artificial ingredients in Ben & Jerry’s frozen desserts include dextrose and maltodextrin (both are chemically or enzymatically converted from cornstarch) and vanillin (a synthetic vanilla flavor). <p>Although the FDA does not have a formal definition of the word natural, the agency’s acting director of regulatory guidance explained in a letter that the agency has “consistently discouraged the use” of the term “because its meaning is ambiguous and may unjustifiably imply to consumers that foods labeled as ‘natural’ are inherently superior to other foods…” Later, the agency wrote that the term natural means “that nothing artificial or synthetic … has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected in the food.” <p>In any event, emphasized CSPI, the biggest problem with Ben & Jerry’s ice creams is saturated fat—a major promoter of heart disease. A one-scoop (half-cup) serving of a typical flavor has about half-a-day’s worth of saturated fat. 2010-08-12 http://cspinet.org/new/201008051.html <b>Junk Foods Out, Good Foods In, as Child Nutrition Reauthorization Passes in Senate</b><p>The United States Senate achieved a rare, bipartisan consensus this afternoon as it passed by unanimous consent child nutrition legislation in advance of the food programs' September 30 expiration date. The legislation, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, increases reimbursements to school systems for lunches, provides more training to help schools serve healthier meals, and strengthens school wellness policies on nutrition and physical activity. Passage of the bill also signals an eventual removal of junk foods from school vending machines, hallways, and elsewhere on the school grounds as it requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set science-based nutrition standards for foods that may be sold. <p>"The Senate bill changes the school food landscape in ways that are all positive," said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. "Put simply, it will get junk food out of, and put more healthy food into, America's schools. It preserves the free and reduced-cost meals that many families depend on in an economic downturn. And it supports farmers by improving farm-to-school programs. Chairman Blanche Lincoln and Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss deserve credit for forging a bipartisan agreement on the bill and for fighting to secure a vote despite a crowded Senate schedule." <p>According to CSPI, First Lady Michelle Obama made an important, last-minute push for the bill with a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/01/AR2010080103291.html">widely noticed op-ed</a> in the Washington Post on Monday, reflecting on her work with children in the White House garden and the Let’s Move campaign to reduce childhood obesity. "The last thing parents need or want is to see the progress they're making at home lost during the school day," Mrs. Obama wrote. "Right now, our country has a major opportunity to make our schools and our children healthier. It's an opportunity we haven't seen in years, and one that is too important to let pass by." <p>CSPI and other members of a broad coalition of health groups are urging the House to pass <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/201007152.html">its version of the legislation</a>, and then to have the two bills conferenced, before the programs expire on September 30. 2010-08-05 http://cspinet.org/new/201007291.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>Congress has a lot on its plate this legislative session, but it needs to address what's on kids' plates: now! Renewal of the Child Nutrition programs has been delayed for a year. Our children can't wait any longer. <p>The <a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s3307pcs.txt.pdf" target="cspi">Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act</a> (S. 3307) is a much needed step to address child nutrition and obesity. It would remove junk food from school vending machines, increase school lunch reimbursements, and provide more training to help schools serve healthier meals. Unlike the many controversial issues in Washington, this bill is bipartisan, won't add to the deficit, and is popular with voters. It should take no more than a day of the Senate's time. <p>Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell need to bring the child nutrition bill to the Senate floor for a vote before they go home for summer recess, and kids go back to school. A day is not much to ask for our kids' health and well being. 2010-07-29 http://cspinet.org/new/201007231.html <b>Court Finds Coke in Violation of Various FDA Regs and Denies Its Motion to Dismiss the Lawsuit</b><p>WASHINGTON—A federal judge has <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/order_on_m-dismiss_doc_44.pdf" target="cspi">denied Coca-Cola’s motion</a> to dismiss a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200901151.html" target="cspi">lawsuit</a> over what the Center for Science in the Public Interest says are deceptive and unsubstantiated claims on the company’s “vitaminwater” line of soft drinks. The company claims that vitaminwater variously reduces the risk of chronic disease, reduces the risk of eye disease, promotes healthy joints, and supports optimal immune function, and uses health buzz words such as “defense,” “rescue,” “energy,” and “endurance” on labels. <p><img src="/images/vitaminwater2.JPG"></br>Photo Credit: Jeff Cronin <br><b>Vitaminwater is hardly a health drink with 33 grams of sugar in each 20-ounce bottle.</b></p> <p>Besides denying Coca-Cola’s motion to dismiss, the ruling contains other bad omens for the company. Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York found that the company’s use of the word “healthy” violates the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations on vitamin-fortified foods. The FDA’s so-called “Jelly Bean” rule prohibits companies from making health claims on junk foods that only meet various nutrient thresholds via fortification. The judge also found that vitaminwater’s claim on the “focus” flavor of vitaminwater that it “may reduce the risk of age-related eye disease” runs afoul of FDA regulations. <p>The judge also took note of the fact that the FDA frowns upon names of products that mention some ingredients to the exclusion of more prominent ingredients such as, in the case of vitaminwater, added sugar. The names of the drinks, along with other statements on the label, “have the potential to reinforce a consumer’s mistaken belief that the product is comprised of only vitamins and water,” Gleeson wrote. <p>“In sum, plaintiffs’ allegations sufficiently state a claim that defendants have violated FDA regulations by making health claims about vitaminwater even though it does not meet required minimum nutritional thresholds, by using the word ‘healthy’ in implied nutrient content claims even though vitaminwater’s fortification does not comply with FDA policy, and by using a product name that references only two of vitaminwater’s ingredients, omitting the fact that there is a key, unnamed ingredient [sugar] in the product,” Gleeson continued. <p>“For too long, Coca-Cola has been exploiting Americans’ desire to eat and drink more healthfully by deceiving them into thinking that vitaminwater can actually prevent disease,” said CSPI litigation director Steve Gardner. “In fact, vitaminwater is no more than non-carbonated soda, providing unnecessary added sugar and contributing to weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and other diseases. We look forward to representing all Americans whom Coke has deceived.” <p>The judge also rejected Coke’s argument that disclosing sugar content on Nutrition Facts labels eliminates the possibility that consumers may be misled into thinking the product has only water and vitamins, and little or no sugar. Gleeson cited a similar case involving deceptive fruit imagery on packages for <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200901021.html" target="cspi">Gerber’s Fruit Juice Snacks</a>, which are mostly corn syrup and sugar. That court held that “reasonable consumers should [not] be expected to look beyond misleading representations on the front of the box to discover the truth from the ingredient list in small print on the side of the box.” Vitaminwater has 33 grams of sugar in each 20-ounce bottle. <p>The judge excluded one group of New Jersey-based plaintiffs from the case but otherwise rejected Coke’s arguments to dismiss on jurisdictional grounds, paving the way for the plaintiffs’ lawyers to ask to take depositions of Coca-Cola executives, to ask for discovery of key vitaminwater marketing documents, and to seek certification as a class action. Besides CSPI’s litigation unit, Reese Richman LLP and Whatley Drake & Kallas, LLC are representing the plaintiffs. Michael Reese of Reese Richman and CSPI’s Gardner argued in court for the plaintiffs. <p>CSPI is also on the verge of suing <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201006221.html" target="cspi">McDonald’s</a> over its use of toys to market unhealthful foods directly to young children. In previous cases, CSPI has won a major pre-lawsuit settlement agreement improving the nutritional quality of the foods <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200706141.html" target="cspi">Kellogg</a> markets to children, and a settlement refunding millions of dollars to consumers who were deceived by the marketing of <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200808142.html" target="cspi">Airborne</a>, a dietary supplement. CSPI is also in court in another case against Coca-Cola over deceptive claims by the company that its <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200702011.html" target="cspi">Enviga</a> green-tea-flavored soft drink has “negative calories,” thus promoting weight loss. 2010-07-23 http://cspinet.org/new/201007201.html <b>Products with Yellow 5, Red 40, Other Dyes “May Have an Adverse Effect on Activity and Attention in Children”</b><p>WASHINGTON—Starting today in the European Union, most foods that contain artificial food dyes must bear <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?language=EN&type=IM-PRESS&reference=20080707IPR33563" target="cspi">warning labels</a> stating that the food “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.” As a practical matter, it’s unclear exactly how many foods will have to use that language on labels, since dyes were never as widely used in Europe as in the United States. Also, the British government asked companies to remove most dyes by last December 31st. The <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a> says it hopes the European labeling rule gets the attention of officials at the Food and Drug Administration, which to date has not shown interest in protecting American consumers from the controversial dyes, as well as American companies—including those that are not using dyes in Europe. <p><img src="/images/chinesecoloring.jpg"><br>Photo Credit: Michael Jacobson<b><br>Companies should replace Red 40, Yellow 5 and other synthetic dyes with natural colorings like these. British consumers enjoy food products free of most food dyes, but the same can't be said for Americans.</b></p> <p>Synthetic food dyes have been suspected of triggering behavior problems in children since the 1970s, when <a href="http://www.feingold.org/" target="cspi">Dr. Ben Feingold</a>, a San Francisco allergist, reported that his patients improved when their diets were changed. Numerous controlled studies conducted over the next three decades proved that some children’s behavior is worsened by artificial dyes. A 2004 meta-analysis concluded that artificial dyes affect children’s behavior, and two recent studies funded by the British government found that mixtures of dyes (as well as the preservative sodium benzoate) adversely affect kids’ behavior. <p>In 2008, CSPI filed a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/petition-food-dyes.pdf" target="cspi">regulatory petition</a> that called on the FDA to ban dyes because of the problems documented in children. <p>“At this point, American food manufacturers and regulators alike should be embarrassed that we’re feeding kids foods with chemicals that have such a powerfully disruptive impact on children’s behavior,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “European officials are taking the issue much more seriously, and are moving toward a safer food supply as a result.” <p>Because the FDA hasn’t encouraged food manufacturers to switch to safer natural colorings, many American food companies use the chemicals in the United States products but not in the U.K. equivalents. For example, the topping for a McDonald’s Strawberry Sundae sold in the United States contains Red 40. <p>In the U.K., the topping’s color comes from strawberries. Representative Louise Slaughter, Chairman of the House Rules Committee and the only microbiologist serving in Congress, has written the FDA twice expressing concern about the widespread use of artificial dyes in food. <p>“This is a sensible policy and a smart move to help protect the health and well being of children in Europe,” Slaughter said. “For too long, studies have raised questions about the impact food dyes are having on the development of children and the possible link between dyes and behavior. I have been troubled by the lack of solid data on this issue for more than a decade. It’s my hope that the Food and Drug Administration reviews the abundance of science on this issue and considers implementing a similar restriction or outright ban.” <p>Besides being linked to behavior problems in children, food dyes are also inadequately tested and may pose cancer risks as well, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201006291.html" target="cspi">according to a CSPI</a> report—Food Dyes: Rainbow of Risks—published last month. 2010-07-20 http://cspinet.org/new/201007152.html <b>Statement of CSPI Director of Nutrition Policy Margo G. Wootan</b><p>The Center for Science in the Public Interest congratulates Chairman George Miller and strongly supports his <a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h5504ih.txt.pdf" target="cspi">Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act</a> (H.R. 5504), which passed out of the House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee today. <p>This bill includes a landmark provision to get soda and junk food out of school vending machines, which is supported not only by parents, health groups, and the Administration, but also by leading food and beverage companies. The bill also would provide resources and training to improve the nutritional quality of school lunches, expand nutrition education for children, and strengthen school nutrition and physical activity wellness policies. <p>The bill’s passage will hopefully give a nudge to the Senate to pass its child nutrition bill, the <a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s3307pcs.txt.pdf" target="cspi">Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act</a> (S. 3307). That bill passed unanimously out of the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201003242.html" target="cspi">Senate Agriculture Committee</a> in March, but has yet to be brought to the Senate floor for a vote. To be sure, there’s a lot on the Senate’s plate. But unlike a lot of truly contentious issues, passing of child nutrition bill would only require about a day of Senate floor time, and is bipartisan. <p>The clock is ticking. Congress has less than three weeks left until they go home for summer recess and then, kids go back to school. Both the House of Representatives and Senate need to make our children’s health their next priority and vote on child nutrition as soon as possible. 2010-07-15 http://cspinet.org/new/201007151.html <b>Scientists Question Whether Federal Nutrition Assistance Funds Should Be Used to Buy Obesity-Promoting Sugar-Sweetened Beverages</b><p>WASHINGTON—The soft drink industry receives a $4 billion subsidy from taxpayers each year, according to an <a href="http://ajph.aphapublications.org/first_look.shtml" target="cspi">editorial published today</a> in the American Journal of Public Health. <p>According to the paper, that’s about how much carbonated soda is purchased with money from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), the program formerly known as Food Stamps. And that total doesn’t include non-carbonated soft drinks. Considering that the overconsumption of <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/liquidcandy" target="cspi">sugar-sweetened beverages</a> is helping fuel an epidemic of obesity that disproportionately affects low-income people, the authors raise the question of whether it is time to exclude soda or other junk foods from the SNAP program in the same way that alcohol, tobacco, dietary supplement pills, and hot prepared foods are already excluded. <p>To be sure, efforts to limit SNAP purchases to healthier foods would draw intense opposition, writes Jonathan D. Shenkin, clinical assistant professor of the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine and Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. SNAP participants appear to purchase at least 40 percent more carbonated soft drinks than other consumers do. At one major supermarket chain, SNAP participants bought 4.3 percent of carbonated soft drinks even though they only represented 1.8 percent of transactions. At another large chain, carbonated soft drinks accounted for 6.19 percent of the grocery bills of SNAP participants. <p>“The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is intended to help low-income families buy the foods they need to promote good health. It’s time to question whether the program should support the purchase of foods that promote disease,” said Shenkin. <p>If disallowing the use of SNAP funds to buy sugar-sweetened beverages proved to be politically unfeasible, as the authors acknowledge it might, a less controversial option might be to provide SNAP participants with a financial incentive to purchase the healthiest foods. Recipients’ Electronic Benefit Transfer cards could be credited with 30 additional cents for every dollar spent on fruits, vegetables, or whole grains, for example. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for every 10 percent decrease in the price of fruits or vegetables, SNAP recipients would increase their purchase by 6 or 7 percent. <p>The federal government’s largest nutrition education program is also funded by SNAP. Called SNAP-Ed, the program gives almost $400 million in matching grants to states to encourage low-income consumers to adopt healthier diets. But Shenkin and Jacobson point out that the USDA actually prohibits the use of SNAP-Ed grants for campaigns that steer people away from junk foods. USDA stopped health officials in the city of San Francisco, and the states of Maine, California, and Wyoming from using federal money for programs aimed at reducing soda consumption. CSPI has called on the Obama administration to end what it calls a “gag rule” instituted during the Bush administration. <p>“The federal government should be doing everything it can to reduce the consumption of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages, which promote tooth decay, weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and other diet-related diseases,” said Jacobson. “SNAP should be oriented toward increasing the consumption of good, healthy food. None of the $65 billion invested in nutrition assistance in 2010 should end up paying for Coke, Pepsi, or Mountain Dew.” <p>Shenkin and Jacobson also say that Congress should fund an Institute of Medicine review of the goals, successes, and limitations of the SNAP and SNAP-ed programs. Such a report could identify ways that the programs could foster healthier diets and provide an authoritative basis for Congress to make changes. <p>The authors point out that another powerful means of discouraging soft drink consumption is taxation. A federal excise tax of 12 cents per 12 ounces could raise upward of $15 billion a year and decrease consumption by about 10 percent. Taxes on that order have been proposed in New York State, Philadelphia, and nationally, but have been beaten back by well-funded industry lobbying and advertising campaigns. At least 24 states and the city of Chicago have special sales or excise taxes on soda that raise substantial revenues, but aren’t large enough to decrease consumption. <p>Though excluding sugar-sweetened beverages from the SNAP program is controversial, setting nutrition standards for government food programs is hardly new. The school lunch and breakfast programs administered by USDA comply with strict nutrition standards that exclude soda and junk food, as does the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, which is geared to pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children. <p>“Soda is already one of the cheapest things in the supermarket, and it promotes expensive-to-treat diseases and stark health disparities,” Jacobson said. “Short of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, it’s hard to imagine a product less worthy of a government subsidy than soda. It’s time to put the ‘N’ back in SNAP.” 2010-07-15 http://cspinet.org/new/201007071.html <b>CSPI Says Federal Labeling Cops Should Raid Their Own Cafeteria</b><p>WASHINGTON—On a recent visit to the sprawling new Food and Drug Administration headquarters in the White Oak area of Silver Spring, Md., a lawyer from the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest stopped for a quick, healthy lunch. Hiding in plain sight in the FDA cafeteria—quite literally under the noses of the officials tasked with policing misleading labels—were at least three beverages with illegal claims on their labels. The contraband drinks included: <ul><li>Purity.Organic Functional Drinks Pomegranate Blueberry. Its label claims it has “Ginkgo Biloba to enhance your memory and keep you thinking straight,” but government-funded studies show ginkgo has no effect on memory and does not lower incidence of Alzheimer’s or dementia, either. Ginkgo may have been “grown by monks for millennia” as the web site claims, but it isn’t Generally Recognized as Safe (or GRAS) as a food additive, according to FDA. (Plus, this product has more added sugar than it has pomegranate or blueberry juice.)</li> <p><img src="/images/drinks.JPG"><br>Photo Credit: Jeff Cronin<b><br>These drinks, all with illegal claims on the labels, were found in the FDA cafeteria.</b><p> <li>Crystal Light Immunity Berry Pomegranate. This bright purple beverage’s label pictures blueberries and a pomegranate, yet the drink has no juice of any kind. Natural flavoring accounts for less than 2 percent of the product, and only an unknown fraction of that comes from the named fruits. The color comes from Red 40 and Blue 1 and the artificial sweetness comes from sucralose and acesulfame potassium. Vitamins A, B, C and E are listed on the ingredients list, but there is no evidence to support the implication that this drink will ward off colds or diseases, which is what is implied by the use of the word “immunity.” CSPI urged the FDA to take enforcement action against this product in 2008. (Plus, the bottle CSPI found in the FDA cafeteria was long past its “Best before 26 December 2007” expiration date.)</li> <li>SoBe Lifewater B-Energy Black Cherry Dragonfruit. Again, this drink has no black cherry or dragonfruit juice, but it does have guarana and ginseng (neither considered GRAS by FDA although the food industry considers them safe) and added vitamins. Using the word “energy” in the name and claiming that its B vitamins “help your body unlock the energy in foods,” implies that the drink will make one feel more energetic. But while B vitamins do help to convert protein, fat, and carbohydrates into energy, they don’t provide an energy boost that can be felt by the body. The “all natural” claim is unjustified because Lifewater contains added citric acid. And those without magnifying glasses might miss the fact that the bottle (described improbably as 2.5 servings) will supply 62.5 milligrams of caffeine, more than what you’d find in a 12-ounce can of Coke. </li> <p>“To be fair, the FDA under the Obama Administration has done more to crack down on deceptive <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/foodlabeling" target="cspi">food labeling</a> in the last 12 months than the Bush FDA did in eight years,” said CSPI legal affairs director Bruce Silverglade. “But the fact that we were able to find so many labeling problems in the FDA’s own cafeteria neatly illustrates why the agency needs to issue industry-wide rules, not just send warning letters to individual companies.” <p>Last December, CSPI sent the FDA a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/food_labeling_chaos_report.pdf" target="cspi">158-page report</a> documenting more than 50 false or misleading claims, ingredient obfuscations, and other labeling shenanigans that it found in supermarkets. CSPI recommended that FDA establish a systematic regulatory framework to prohibit misleading health-related claims, and require that nutrition information be based on realistic serving sizes—something that the drinks CSPI found in the FDA cafeteria fail to do. <p>“Consumers who want to ensure that they’re getting enough vitamins and minerals should focus on eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables first,” Silverglade said. “No one should believe that the added vitamins, herbs or other ingredients in these flavored waters are going to ward off disease, improve memory, or make one more energetic. The FDA should frog-march these products into the food label penitentiary.” 2010-07-07 http://cspinet.org/new/201007011.html <b>Florida Ends Food Safety Inspections in Day Cares, Hospitals, and Nursing Homes</b><p>WASHINGTON—State budget cuts have led to yet another fatality—the death of food safety inspections at facilities serving the state’s most vulnerable populations. A sweeping budget bill signed by Governor Charlie Crist last month eliminates food safety inspections at hospitals, day cares, and nursing homes—facilities feeding those people who are already most at-risk from <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety" target="cspi">foodborne illness</a>. Three state agencies are responsible for food inspections, but House Bill 5311 means that none of these agencies will have the authority or the mandate to inspect these facilities from now on. Foodborne illnesses linked to these facilities have sickened hundreds of Florida consumers in at least 15 separate outbreaks since 1995. <p>“Florida politicians were clearly not thinking about their young children or their aging parents when they passed this bill,” says Sarah Klein, a staff attorney at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “These consumers—and anyone who is immuno-compromised—are already at greater risk of being hospitalized from foodborne illness. Ending food safety inspections in the kitchens that feed those populations is like taking seatbelts out of their cars and hoping no one has an accident.” <p>News of the change to Florida’s inspection policy comes on the heels of a recommendation by the Institute of Medicine, urging the Food & Drug Administration to delegate more food facility inspections to the states. Consumer groups have criticized the recommendation, in part because state health departments are already understaffed and underfunded. Florida’s action provides more evidence that at least some states are unequipped to accept any additional inspection duties. <p>“Florida consumers deserve more from their legislature than budget cuts to critical public health services,” says Klein. “A budget savings on the front end, by eliminating inspections, can lead to huge costs later—when people get sick from foodborne illness. And if it’s your child, or parent, or sick loved one…you can bet those savings weren’t worth it.” Inspections at restaurants and prisons will continue. 2010-07-01 http://cspinet.org/new/201006291.html <b>Cancer, Hyperactivity, Allergic Reactions</b><p>WASHINGTON—Food dyes—used in everything from M&Ms to Manischewitz Matzo Balls to Kraft salad dressings—pose risks of cancer, hyperactivity in children, and allergies, and should be banned, according to a <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/food-dyes-rainbow-of-risks.pdf" target="cspi">new report</a> by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. A top government scientist agrees, and says that food dyes present unnecessary risks to the public. <p>The three most widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are contaminated with <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/dyes-problem-table.pdf" target="cspi">known carcinogens</a>, says CSPI. Another dye, Red 3, has been acknowledged for years by the Food and Drug Administration to be a carcinogen, yet is still in the food supply. <p>Despite those concerns, each year manufacturers pour about 15 million pounds of eight synthetic <a href="http://www.iatp.org/brainfoodselector/" target="cspi">dyes into our foods</a>. Per capita consumption of dyes has increased five-fold since 1955, thanks in part to the proliferation of brightly colored breakfast cereals, fruit drinks, and candies pitched to children. <p>“These <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/fooddyes/" target="cspi">synthetic chemicals </a> do absolutely nothing to improve the nutritional quality or safety of foods, but trigger behavior problems in children and, possibly, cancer in anybody,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson, co-author of the 58-page report, “Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks.” “The Food and Drug Administration should <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200806022.html" target="cspi">ban dyes</a>, which would force industry to color foods with real food ingredients, not toxic petrochemicals.” <p>Blue 1, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 have long been known to cause allergic reactions in some people. CSPI says that while those reactions are not common, they can be serious and provide reason enough to ban those dyes. Furthermore, numerous studies have demonstrated that dyes cause <a href="http://cspinet.org/fooddyes/testimony.html" target="cspi">hyperactivity</a> in <a href="http://cspinet.org/cgi-bin/fooddyes/fooddyes.cgi" target="cspi">children</a>. <p>But the biggest concern is cancer. Back in 1985, the acting commissioner of the FDA said that Red 3, one of the lesser-used dyes, “has clearly been shown to induce cancer” and was “of greatest public health concern.” However, Secretary of Agriculture John R. Block pressed the Department of Health and Human Services not to ban the dye, and he apparently prevailed—notwithstanding the Delaney Amendment that forbids the use of in foods of cancer-causing color additives. Each year about 200,000 pounds of Red 3 are poured into such foods as Betty Crocker’s Fruit Roll-Ups and ConAgra’s Kid Cuisine frozen meals. Since 1985 more than five million pounds of the dye have been used. <p>Tests on lab animals of Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 showed signs of causing cancer or suffered from serious flaws, said the consumer group. Yellow 5 also caused mutations, an indication of possible carcinogenicity, in six of 11 tests. <p>In addition, according to the report, FDA tests show that the three most-widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are tainted with low levels of cancer-causing compounds, including benzidine and 4-aminobiphenyl in Yellow 5. However, the levels actually could be far higher, because in the 1990s the FDA and Health Canada found a hundred times as much benzidine in a bound form that is released in the colon, but not detected in the routine tests of purity conducted by the FDA. <p>“Dyes add no benefits whatsoever to foods, other than making them more ‘eye-catching’ to increase sales,” said James Huff, the associate director for chemical carcinogenesis at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ National Toxicology Program. “CSPI’s scientifically detailed report on possible health effects of food dyes raises many questions about their safety. Some dyes have caused cancers in animals, contain cancer-causing contaminants, or have been inadequately tested for cancer or other problems. Their continued use presents unnecessary risks to humans, especially young children. It’s disappointing that the FDA has not addressed the toxic threat posed by food dyes.” <p><a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">CSPI</a>’s report notes that FDA’s regulations mandate a stricter standard of safety for color additives than other food additives, saying that there must be “convincing evidence that establishes with reasonable certainty that no harm will result from the intended use of the color additive.” The standard of “convincing evidence” does not apply to preservatives, emulsifiers, and other additives. <p>CSPI charges that the FDA is not enforcing the law in several regards: <ul><li>Red 3 and Citrus Red 2 should be banned under the Delaney amendment, because they caused cancer in rats (some uses were banned in 1990), as should Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, which are tainted with cancer-causing contaminants.</li> <li>Evidence suggests, though does not prove, that Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, and Yellow 6 cause cancer in animals. There certainly is not “convincing evidence” of safety.</li> <li>Dyed foods should be considered adulterated under the law, because the dyes make a food “appear better or of greater value than it is”—typically by masking the absence of fruit, vegetable, or other more costly ingredient. </li></ul> <p>In a letter sent today, CSPI urged the FDA to ban all dyes because the scientific studies do not provide convincing evidence of safety, but do provide significant evidence of harm. <p>A ninth dye, Orange B, is approved for coloring sausage casings, but in 1978 the FDA proposed banning it because it was found to be toxic to rats. The industry has not used Orange B in more than a decade. Also, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has labeled Citrus Red 2 a carcinogen, and the FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives said “this color should not be used as a food additive.” However, it poses little risk because it is approved only for coloring the skins of oranges. <p>Because of concerns about dyes’ impairment of children’s behavior, the <a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/chemsafe/additivesbranch/colours/hyper/" target="cspi">British government</a> asked companies to phase out most dyes by last December 31, and the <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:354:0016:0033:en:PDF" target="cspi">European Union</a> is requiring, beginning on July 20, a warning notice on most dyed foods. CSPI predicted that the label notice—“may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children”—likely will be the death knell for dyes in all of Europe. <p>The greater government oversight and public concern across the Atlantic results in McDonald’s Strawberry Sundae in Britain being colored with strawberries, but in the United States with Red dye 40. Likewise, the British version of Fanta orange soda gets its bright color from pumpkin and carrot extract, but in the United States the color comes from Red 40 and Yellow 6. Starburst Chews and Skittles, both Mars products, contain synthetic dyes in the United States, but not in Britain. <p>Fortunately, says CSPI, many natural colorings are available to replace dyes. Beet juice, beta-carotene, blueberry juice concentrate, carrot juice, grape skin extract, paprika, purple sweet potato or corn, red cabbage, and turmeric are some of the substances that provide a vivid spectrum of colors. However, CSPI warns that “natural” does not always mean safe. <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200901055.html" target="cspi">Carmine and cochineal</a>—colorings obtained from a bright red insect—can cause rare, but severe, anaphylactic reactions. Annatto, too, can cause allergic reactions. <p>“Food Dyes: Rainbow of Risks” was written by Sarah Kobylewski, a Ph.D. candidate in the Molecular Toxicology Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Jacobson is author of <em>Eater’s Digest: The Consumer’s Factbook of Food Additives</em> (Doubleday, 1972). 2010-06-29 http://cspinet.org/new/201006241.html <b>Deadly Vibrio Vulnificus Bacteria, Not Oil, Contaminate Gulf Oysters Every Summer</b><p>WASHINGTON—Gulf Coast politicians are tripping over themselves to assure consumers that seafood from the Gulf is safe to eat. And to be sure, some shrimp and finfish may not be contaminated by the petroleum gushing from the Deepwater Horizon spill. But those statements from officials obscure the real danger presented to some consumers by Gulf Coast oysters—nearly all of which are contaminated with deadly <em>Vibrio vulnificus</em> bacteria during warm summer months, according to the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a>. CSPI is calling on federal and state government officials to remind consumers that the normal risks associated with Gulf oysters are still present. <p>“We’ve seen several reassuring statements that seafood from the Gulf on the market is safe,” said David W. Plunkett, a CSPI staff attorney. “While some Gulf oysters may be ‘safe’ from oil contamination, that doesn’t mean they are ‘safe’ to eat,” he explained. At risk populations should not eat raw oysters from the Gulf, Plunkett said. <p><em>Vibrio vulnificus</em> is a common bacterium that thrives in warm Gulf waters in the spring and summer and contaminates Gulf oysters. While it may cause mild illnesses in healthy individuals, it can kill people who have diabetes, liver disease, hemochromatosis or compromised immune systems. <p>Last year, serious <em>Vibrio vulnificus</em> infections from eating raw oysters claimed 26 victims, 10 of whom died, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In any year, half the people who develop serious symptoms die, and many of those who survive live with the scars from the skin debridement or amputation that may have been necessary to keep them alive. <p>It is especially shocking to see statements on the Food and Drug Administration’s website that shellfish harvested from areas unaffected by the spill are safe to eat, Plunkett said. Only <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200910191.html" target="cspi">last fall</a>, Mike Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods at FDA, called <em>Vibrio vulnificus</em> a significant hazard, saying that “seldom is the evidence on a food safety problem and solution so unambiguous,” and announced plans to require post-harvest processing of Gulf oysters to destroy the bacteria. <p><a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200911091.html" target="cspi">FDA</a> eventually backed down from its plans under pressure from Members of Congress who responded to industry posturing over potential job losses. To date, only California has implemented an effective control plan to protect its consumers, according to CSPI. <p>“While everyone wants to support people in the Gulf right now, government statements that ignore well-known risks only mean that more could suffer unnecessarily,” Plunkett said. 2010-06-24 http://cspinet.org/new/201006221.html <b>Using Toys to Promote “Happy Meals” Is Unfair, Deceptive & Illegal, Group Says, Citing State Laws</b><p>WASHINGTON—Tell it to the judge, Ronald: A nutrition watchdog group will sue McDonald’s if the fast-food chain continues to use toys to promote Happy Meals. According to the nonprofit <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a>, using toys to lure small children into McDonald’s is unfair and deceptive marketing and is illegal under various state consumer protection laws. CSPI <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/mcdonalds-demand-062210.pdf" target="cspi">today served McDonald’s a notice </a> of its intent to sue, fulfilling a legal requirement of several states in which CSPI might bring the lawsuit. <p>“McDonald’s is the stranger in the playground handing out candy to children,” said CSPI litigation director Stephen Gardner. “McDonald’s use of toys undercuts parental authority and exploits young children’s developmental immaturity—all this to induce children to prefer foods that may harm their health. It’s a creepy and predatory practice that warrants an injunction.” <p><img src="/images/mcdtoy1.jpg"><br>Photo Credit: Jeff Cronin<b><br>CSPI will sue McDonald's if it continues to use toys <br> to market directly to small children.</b><p> <p>McDonald’s is currently offering children toys related to Dreamworks’ latest Shrek movie. (CSPI’s action is unrelated to the recent recall of McDonald’s Shrek drinking glasses contaminated with the toxic heavy metal cadmium.) While Shrek may appear on packaging for low-fat milk and Apple Dippers, when children or parents order Happy Meals they are given French fries 93 percent of the time, according to a <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200808041.html" target="cspi">CSPI study</a>. <p>In 2007, McDonald’s made a pledge to an industry-funded self-regulatory group not to advertise to children meals that have more than 600 calories and no more than certain percentages of fat and sugar. Thus, the brief glimpses of actual food in McDonald’s youth-directed advertising, show Apple Dippers and low-fat milk as part of either a 4-piece Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal or a Hamburger Happy Meal. But toys, a powerful temptation for kids, are included with all Happy Meals, regardless of nutrition. <p>Of the 24 possible Happy Meal combinations that McDonald’s describes on its web site, all exceed 430 calories (430 is one-third of the 1,300- calorie recommended daily intake for children 4 to 8 years old). A Happy Meal of a cheeseburger, French fries, and Sprite has half a day’s calories and saturated fat (640 and 7 grams, respectively), about 940 milligrams of sodium, and about two days’ worth of sugar (35 grams). And even that meal might have come with a toy related to Star Wars, iCarly, How to Train Your Dragon, Night at the Museum, or, of course, Shrek. Getting children accustomed to eating burgers, fries, and soda puts them at greater risk of developing obesity, diabetes, or other diet-related diseases over the course of their lifetimes, according to CSPI. <p>"But regardless of the nutritional quality of what’s being sold, the practice of tempting kids with toys is inherently deceptive,” said CSPI executive director <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/mcdonalds-lawsuit-threat-mfj.pdf" target="cspi">Michael F. Jacobson</a>. “I’m sure that industry’s defenders will blame parents for not saying ‘no’ to their children. Parents do bear much of the responsibility, but multi-billion-dollar corporations make parents’ job nearly impossible by giving away toys and bombarding kids with slick advertising.” <p>“We know from scientific research that young children—and even older ones—do not have the ability to understand how marketing has been designed to influence them,” said Kathryn Montgomery, professor of communication at American University and an expert on media and children. “In the era of digital marketing, these vulnerabilities are magnified even further. McDonald’s use of these techniques raises troubling questions, for health professionals, parents, and policy makers.” <p>The practice of using toy promotions to promote fast-food to children is under scrutiny elsewhere, too. In May, the Santa Clara County, Calif., Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance preventing McDonald’s and other restaurants from including toys or other kid-oriented incentives with the purchase of unhealthy meals. And the Federal Trade Commission may have something to say about toy promotions when it releases a set of voluntary standards for food marketers later this year. According to a 2008 report from the FTC, food companies spend more than $350 million on toy giveaways each year. <p>“McDonald’s makes my job as a parent more difficult,” said Sheila Nesbitt, 36, a project manager from Champlin, MN, and a parent of a six-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl. “They market cheap toys that appeal to kids and it works. My kids always want to go to McDonald’s because of the toys. I try my best to educate my kids about healthy eating but it's hard when I am competing against the allure of a new Shrek toy.” <p>“McDonald’s marketing has the effect of conscripting America’s children into an unpaid drone army of word-of-mouth marketers, causing them to pester their parents to bring them to McDonald’s,” wrote Gardner in a notice letter to McDonald’s vice chairman, CEO, and president Jim Skinner, and McDonald’s USA president Jan Fields. <p>CSPI’s notice letter says that McDonald’s toy-related promotions violate state consumer protection laws in Massachusetts, Texas, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and California. CSPI’s letter gives McDonald’s 30 days to agree to stop the practice before a suit is filed. <p>CSPI’s <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/litigation" target="cspi">litigation unit</a> has taken on food marketing to children before. In 2006, CSPI notified Kellogg that it would be sued for marketing sugary cereals and other junk food directly to children. After negotiating for more than a year, CSPI and Kellogg reached a historic <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200706141.html" target="cspi">settlement agreement</a> that set nutrition standards for the foods the company may advertise on media with young audiences. Since then, Kellogg only advertises to young audiences if a serving of the food has no more than 200 calories, zero grams of trans fat and no more than 2 grams of saturated fat, no more than 230 milligrams of sodium, and no more than 12 grams of sugar. <p>In previous fast-food litigation, CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200606121.html" target="cspi">sued KFC </a> for using partially hydrogenated oil, which made KFC’s chicken very high in trans fat. CSPI dropped that lawsuit when the company agreed to <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200610301.html" target="cspi">phase out</a> partially hydrogenated oils. KFC chicken is now trans-fat-free. <p>This is the first time that CSPI has planned to take McDonald’s to court. 2010-06-22 http://cspinet.org/new/201006152.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Attorney Sarah Klein</b><p>Congratulations to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for enacting restaurant food-safety grading. Beginning in July, consumers will finally be able to see how a restaurant fared on its most recent health inspection, simply by glancing at the letter grade in the front window or vestibule. <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/dirtydining/index.html" target="cspi">Foodborne illness</a> sickens 76 million Americans each year, and 40 percent of those illnesses are linked to restaurant food. With a greater emphasis on food safety in restaurant kitchens, we hope to see a lot fewer sick consumers in the New York City. <p>Los Angeles has been doing restaurant grading for over 10 years with great results—including a documented 20 percent decrease in hospitalizations due to foodborne illness. With cities on both coasts now providing this import food safety information to consumers, the only question remaining is: Why aren’t all cities doing restaurant grading? 2010-06-15 http://cspinet.org/new/201006151.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>Basic nutrition advice hasn't changed much over the 30 years that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans has been published. That key report has long advised people to eat less unhealthy fats, salt, and added sugars and more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains—and, for the most part, that advice has been ignored by individuals and institutions. <p>The new Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee <a href="http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/DGAs2010-DGACReport.htm" target="cspi">report</a>, at long last, recognizes that what is most needed is an unprecedented effort to help people follow the Dietary Guidelines, including changes in policy and the food environment. The report wisely recommends that USDA and HHS develop a national strategy to help people eat better, including ramping up nutrition education, expanding access to fruits and vegetables, and getting industry to provide more healthful products. 2010-06-15 http://cspinet.org/new/201006101.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>The Center for Science in the Public Interest applauds Chairman George Miller for pulling together a <a href="http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2010/06/house-democrats-to-introduce-n.shtml">strong child nutrition bill</a>. The bill would do much to help support and promote healthy eating by children. Like the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201003242.html">Senate child nutrition bill</a>, it is the beginning of the end for junk food and sugary drinks in schools. There also are a number of provisions to increase resources, technical assistance, and training to improve the nutritional quality of school meals. The bill would expand nutrition education in schools and strengthen school nutrition and physical activity wellness policies. <p>The clock is ticking for child nutrition. While Congress has a lot on its plate, it needs to address what's on children's plates—and soon. In order to ensure that the strong reforms in the House and Senate child nutrition bills reach children as soon as possible, the full Senate needs to pass the bipartisan bill that was unanimously passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee. The House also should move quickly to pass Chairman Miller's child nutrition package. <p>Both the House and Senate child nutrition bills contain a historic agreement between health groups and food and beverage companies to improve the nutritional quality of foods sold out of vending machines and other venues outside of school meals. Getting junk food out of schools is important for improving children's diets and ensuring that those so-called competitive foods don't undermine the school lunch program. 2010-06-10 http://cspinet.org/new/201006081.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal</b><p>Today’s <a href="http://www.nationalacademies.org/morenews/20100608a.html">report from the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council</a> offers several strong recommendations for improving food safety under the Food and Drug Administration, and serves as yet another call to Congress to pass critical food safety reform legislation. Many of the recommendations made in the report are contained in the food safety legislation pending in the Senate. <p>Among the improvements IOM suggests are the creation of a centralized risk-based analysis and data management center, and the development of a specialized food safety inspection workforce. The data center envisioned by IOM, which resembles that of the European Food Safety Authority, could be a useful model for FDA. IOM’s recognition of the need for a specialized food safety inspection workforce is a welcome suggestion, recognizing that inspectors cannot be cross-trained adequately in food safety, drugs, and medical devices. <p>Unfortunately, the report also recommends that FDA pursue delegating additional responsibility for food inspections to the states—an experiment destined to increase the number of food safety <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/outbreak_report.html">failures we have already experienced</a>. One need only look to the Peanut Corporation of America for evidence that states are ill-equipped to provide the level of inspection required. States and local governments have responsibility for food safety inspections of all <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200808071.html">restaurants</a>, hospitals, nursing homes, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200701301.html">schools</a>, and day care centers—responsibilities that are already taxing state governments. Instead of tasking overburdened and underfunded agencies with additional responsibilities, FDA should create a more efficient federal inspection force, including by utilizing other federal agencies. <p>The IOM also recommends moving toward a single unified food safety agency, a plan championed by CSPI and used with success by other countries. 2010-06-08 http://cspinet.org/new/201005261.html <b></b><p>WASHINGTON—When food manufacturers and chain restaurants reduced or eliminated artificial trans fat, the reformulated foods almost always ended up lower in their total amount of trans and saturated fat. That finding, published in the May 27 issue of the <a href="http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/362/21/2037" target="cspi">New England Journal of Medicine</a>, effectively disproves speculation that food manufacturers would merely replace partially hydrogenated oils—the source of artificial trans fat—with saturated fat from butter, lard, or palm oil. And, it means that getting rid of artificial trans fat usually resulted in foods that are healthier for hearts, according to the researchers. <p>In the largest survey of its kind ever done in the United States, researchers identified 83 brand-name packaged and restaurant foods that had been made with <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/transfat" target="cspi">trans fat </a> prior to 2007, but then were reformulated to largely eliminate the trans fat. <p>The study found that the overall content of both fats combined was reduced in 90 percent (52 of 58) of the supermarket products and 96 percent (24 of 25) of the restaurant products, with average total reductions of 1.2 and 3.9 grams per serving, respectively. The study was conducted by Dariush Mozaffarian of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health and Michael F. Jacobson and Julie S. Greenstein of the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a>. <p>“This study should alleviate concerns that most food manufacturers and restaurants would simply switch to a shortening high in saturated fat when they reformulated their products without trans fat,” Mozaffarian said. “In only a small handful of baked goods, more saturated fat was added than trans fat subtracted following reformulation. Still, because a gram of trans fat is more harmful than a gram of saturated fat, even those changes represented relative improvements. In the majority of products, trans fat was reduced or eliminated without corresponding increases in saturated fat. In the case of reformulated restaurant foods, not only was trans fat largely eliminated, but saturated fat also was reduced—making for a much healthier food.” <p>For example, a large order of McDonald’s French fries used to have 13 grams of saturated and trans fats, but ended up with only 3.5 grams. The total amount of trans and saturated fats in Gorton’s Crunchy Golden Fish Sticks declined from 7 grams to 4 grams. In one of the exceptions, an Entenmann’s frosted doughnut, which started with 5 grams of saturated fat and 5 grams of trans fats, ended up with no trans fat, but 12 grams of saturated fat. The authors note that some foods, such as pie crusts and pastries, may need a small amount of hard fat, like butter or palm oil, to have a flaky texture. <p>“This paper demonstrates that the U.S. food industry has been generally responsible in replacing partially hydrogenated oils with more healthful oils,” Jacobson said. “That should pave the way for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to eliminate partially hydrogenated oils from the food supply. The agency could do that quite easily by stating that it no longer considers partially hydrogenated oil to be ‘generally recognized as safe,’ and give companies a year or two to switch to healthier oils.” 2010-05-26 http://cspinet.org/new/201005251.html <b>Nutrition Action Healthletter Exposes 9 Caloric Heavyweights</b><p>WASHINGTON—Would you top a Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pepperoni Pizza with six Taco Bell Crunchy beef Tacos? And then eat the whole thing? Well, pass the Pepto-Bismol, please: The nutrition and food safety watchdogs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest today conferred its <a href=" http://www.cspinet.org/nah/articles/xtremeeating2010.html" target="cspi">Xtreme Eating awards</a> on nine items from seven American restaurant chains. <p>“One might think that chains like Outback Steakhouse and The Cheesecake Factory might want to lighten up their meals now that calories will be required on their menus, courtesy of the health care reform law signed in March,” said <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">CSPI</a> executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “But these chains don’t promote moderation. They practice caloric extremism, and they’re helping make modern-day Americans become the most obese people ever to walk the Earth.” <p><img src="/images/outbacksteaklamb.jpg"><b><br>Photo Credit: Melissa Pryputniewicz<br>The Outbeak Steakhouse New Zealand Rack of Lamb plus the <br>sides has 1,820 calories, 80 grams of saturated fat, and 2,600 <br> milligrams of sodium.</b><p> <p>Most people wouldn’t think to order two orders of deep-fried steak and eggs for breakfast at a casual chain like Bob Evans. But if you order <b>Bob Evans’ Cinnamon Cream Stacked & Stuffed Hotcakes</b>, you’ll be getting 1,380 calories and 34 grams of bad fat—about what you’d get in two country-fried steaks and four eggs. But the hotcakes are worse because seven grams of their bad fat comes from trans fat—more than one should get in three and a half days. Syrup adds another 200 calories for every four-tablespoon serving. <p>Pancakes, which are usually lightly fried white flour topped with sugary syrup, have never been a healthy breakfast. But Bob stuffs his hotcakes with cinnamon chips made of sugar and fat; adds a layer of cream-cheese-flavored filling; and tops them with sugary "cream" sauce, whipped topping, and powdered sugar. And that makes the item one of CSPI’s top Xtreme Eating dishonorees for 2010. <p>To put these numbers into context, keep in mind that the average American should consume about 2,000 calories per day, and consume no more than 20 grams of saturated fat. Others examples of Xtreme Eating include: <p><ul><li><b>California Pizza Kitchen Tostada Pizza with Grilled Steak</b>. With 1,680 calories,1½ day’s worth (32 grams) of saturated fat, and more than 2 day's worth (3,300 mg) of sodium ordering the single-serve pizza is like eating a Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pepperoni Pizza topped with six Taco Bell Crunchy beef Tacos. </li> <li><b>Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger</b>. At McDonald’s, most people probably wouldn’t opt for a second Quarter Pounder (410 calories each). But at one of the trendy Five Guys’ 550 outlets, one Bacon Cheeseburger sans toppings has 920 calories and a day-and-a half’s worth (30 grams) of saturated fat. A large order of French fries at Five Guys has 1,460 calories—about triple the calories of a large order of fries at McDonald’s. (Famous Five Guys <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1TxMKaYHYA" target="cspi">patrons</a> please <a href="http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/02/first_lady_michelle_obama_lunc.html" target="cspi">take note</a>.)</li> <li><b>P.F. Chang’s Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo</b>. You could eat 10 egg rolls and not top the 1,820 calories in this dish. “They fry these noodles to make them hard and crunchy, while you end up soft and flabby,” says CSPI nutrition director Bonnie Liebman. If this noodle dish does indeed have the 7,690 milligrams of sodium to which the chain confesses, that would be about three teaspoons of salt—a five-day supply. </li> <li><b>The Cheesecake Factory Pasta Carbonara with Chicken.</b> When CSPI first dubbed fettuccine Alfredo a “heart attack on a plate,” it was because CSPI’s lab tests found it had 1,500 calories and 48 grams of saturated fat. But, according to the company, this dish—with four cups of white-flour pasta, smoked bacon, chicken, and Parmesan cream and butter sauce—has 2,500 calories and more saturated fat (85 grams) than one should consume in four days. It’s like eating the chain’s onion-ring-topped Grilled Rib-Eye Steak with French Fries, and a slice of Tiramisu Cheesecake. </li> <li><b>The Cheesecake Factory Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake</b>. A tower of any food is rarely a good idea. This six-inch-long, three-quarter-pound slab of cake has 1,670 calories and two-and-a-half days’ worth (48 grams) of artery-clogging saturated fat. Feel like eating 14 Hostess Ho Hos for dessert? </li> </ul> <p>The full list of the 2010 Xtreme Eating Awards is published in the June issue of <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nah" target="cspi"><i>Nutrition Action Healthletter</i></a>. <p>“I wouldn’t accuse California Pizza Kitchen or P.F. Chang’s of being a threat to national security, but with a quarter of young Americans too heavy to join the military, these and other chains ought to get the extremes off their menus,” said Liebman. “At a minimum, they should disclose calories on menus now, even before federal regulations make it mandatory.” <p>Packaged-food manufacturers recently made a commitment to slash a trillion calories from the foods they produce by 2012. But the <a href="http://www.healthyweightcommit.org/" target="cspi">Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation </a> includes only one restaurant company, Darden, the parent company of Olive Garden and Red Lobster. And none of the companies involved in the initiative are revealing any details on how calorie reductions will be achieved. CSPI noted that, while a trillion calories sounds like a lot, it represents only a drop in the bucket of the more than 350 trillion calories that Americans consume every year. <p>“For all the industry’s rhetoric about providing consumers with ‘choice,’ the choices at restaurants mostly range from bad to terrible,” Jacobson said. “The healthy choices are largely afterthoughts and Xtreme Eating reigns supreme. If chain restaurants want to practice corporate responsibility, they should substitute fruits, vegetables, and whole grains for white flour, sugar, salt, and fat.” <p>The <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201003211.html" target="cspi">health-reform law</a> enacted in March gives the Food and Drug Administration a year to propose a regulation specifying how restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets should disclose calories on menus and menu boards. The law will also require chains to make information about saturated fat, carbohydrates, sodium, and other nutrients available to diners upon request. 2010-05-25 http://cspinet.org/new/201005131.html <b>Cheh Proposal Would Provide for Healthier School Foods</b><p>WASHINGTON—The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/letter_to_councilmembers_-_final.pdf">today called on members of the District of Columbia Council</a> to support a proposal by Council Member Mary Cheh to levy a penny-per-ounce tax on soda to help pay for healthier school meals. The nonprofit nutrition and food-safety group is aiding a petition drive in support of the proposal along with Save the Children, Earth Day Network, and other organizations at <a href="www.supporthealthyschools.org">www.supporthealthyschools.org</a>. <p>Cheh's Healthy Schools Revenue Act would provide $6.5 million a year to fund the Healthy Schools Act. Together, the acts would improve school nutrition, provide free breakfast in all District schools, eliminate the reduced-price copayment for lunch, and triple the amount of physical and health education. An additional $6 million would fund healthy food access, faith-based anti-obesity programs, and programs to improve the diets and wellness of the elderly in the District. <p>"Soda consumption in the District is fueling an expensive epidemic of diet-related disease, including obesity, diabetes, and other health problems," said CSPI executive director and District resident Michael F. Jacobson. "A modest tax on this nutritionally worthless, disease-promoting product would give our seniors and children greater access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and other health-promoting foods." <p>Residents of Washington, DC, collectively spend about $472 million on the medical costs of obesity alone, Jacobson wrote in a letter delivered today to Council Members. Fifty-five percent of District adults and 35 percent of children are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and sugar-sweetened drinks are the only foods or beverages that have been shown to increase the risk of overweight and obesity. One study found that for each additional sugared drink consumed per day, the likelihood of a child becoming obese increases by 60 percent. <p>A <a href="http://www.nodcbevtax.com/">web site</a> set up by soda tax opponents lists a number of liquor stores and fast-food outlets that oppose the Cheh proposal. United Medical Center, the hospital formerly known as Greater Southeast Community Hospital, also appears on that list, apparently without authorization. The hospital told CSPI that it would ask to be taken off the list. <p>"I'm not surprised that Coke, Pepsi, liquor stores, and fast-food chains would object to a soda tax," Jacobson said. "But their concerns must take a back seat to the health of our students and seniors." 2010-05-13 http://cspinet.org/new/201005121.html <b>Statement of CSPI Legal Affairs Director Bruce Silverglade</b><p>The <a href="http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/Evaluation-of-Biomarkers-and-Surrogate-Endpoints-in-Chronic-Disease.aspx" target="cspi">Institute of Medicine report</a> gives the Food and Drug Administration a basis to establish a regulatory framework for health-related claims on foods and dietary supplements labels. While the FDA has recently begun a case-by-case crackdown on misleading food labeling claims, the agency lacks a comprehensive regulatory framework for many types of labeling claims. Misleading health-related claims on food labels are an industry-wide problem and need an industry-wide solution. <p>We support the IOM conclusion that when foods or dietary supplements claim to provide drug-like benefits, they should be held to rigorous scientific standards. Right now, FDA policies are riddled with loopholes that let companies make phony promises on weak scientific evidence. <p><a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">CSPI</a> petitioned the FDA in 2002 to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for foods with added ingredients that claim special health benefits. The IOM report now gives the agency a firm scientific basis to act. <p>Right now the supermarket is a jungle of unsupported health-related claims. We hope that the IOM report will provide the basis for fundamental change of how food labeling claims are regulated. 2010-05-12 http://cspinet.org/new/201005111.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>The <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/05/10/take-a-look-our-action-plan-solve-problem-childhood-obesity" target="cspi">White House</a> has laid out a <a href="http://www.letsmove.gov/tfco_fullreport_may2010.pdf" target="cspi">comprehensive strategy</a> that if made a national priority and implemented should reduce obesity. From urging companies to improve restaurant children’s meals and reduce unhealthy food marketing to getting good food in and junk food out of schools, the recommendations are bold, yet achievable. <p>Straight away, Congress could deliver on many of the <a href="http://www.letsmove.gov/taskforce_childhoodobesityrpt.html" target="cspi">Task Force </a> recommendations by completing the child nutrition reauthorization. With one day’s attention, the Senate could pass the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201003242.html" target="cspi">Agriculture Committee’s bill</a>, which would provide a historic increase in school lunch funding, get junk food out of vending machines, and help schools implement stronger nutrition and physical activity wellness policies. 2010-05-11 http://cspinet.org/new/201005101.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal</b><p>The newly announced <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/usdadocket.pdf" target="cspi">performance standards</a> for Salmonella and Campylobacter—the most common hazards in the meat and poultry supply—represent the most significant food-safety development from the <a href="http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os_gAC9-wMJ8QY0MDpxBDA09nXw9DFxcXQ-cAA_2CbEdFAEUOjoE!/?contentidonly=true&contentid=2010%2F05%2F0246.xml" target="cspi">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a> in 15 years. USDA has cut the target levels for Salmonella in poultry by over 60 percent, and set the first-ever performance standard for Campylobacter. <p>These long-awaited changes will push poultry processors to improve the safety of their products. When HACCP was first adopted in 1996, USDA promised it would continuously update its performance standards, but the agency never delivered on this promise, until now. Performance standards are the metric for measuring whether a company is maintaining control over the pathogens that are often present on poultry, and which cause millions of illnesses each year. Beginning in July, poultry processors will be operating under a stricter testing standard for Salmonella, and for the first time, the same products will be evaluated for Campylobacter, the most common foodborne pathogen in poultry. <p>These standards could have a greater impact on consumers than any food safety measure since 1996. Chicken and turkey will be safer once they are implemented, especially if retailers avoid companies that are named by USDA as needing improvement. Unfortunately, USDA still lacks authority to enforce these standards by closing failing plants—an authority stripped away in 2001 by a federal court in Supreme Beef, Inc. vs. USDA. For consumers to fully realize the benefits of the improved standards, Congress should reinstate USDA’s authority to enforce its performance standards. 2010-05-10 http://cspinet.org/new/201005062.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal</b><p>If members of the United States Senate need another reason to bring the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200911181.html" target="cspi">food safety bill</a> to the floor, may I recommend tomorrow’s newspapers? Once again, lettuce contaminated with dangerous bacteria, in this case, E. coli O145, is implicated in a multistate outbreak that has hospitalized at least 12 people so far and may be responsible for three cases of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). New York State identified the pathogen during testing of unopened bagged lettuce from Ohio-based Freshway Foods, and the Food and Drug Administration issued a recall of products from the Freshway plant. <p>While consumers wait for Congress to pass food safety legislation, the plants that process and bag lettuce and the farms that grow it are operating under an industry honor system which clearly failed in this case. The FDA can’t tell us when it last had inspectors in the plant where this lettuce was processed. Congress urgently needs to give the FDA the resources and authority from the farm forward, transforming it from a reactive agency to an agency focused on preventing contamination. <p>Freshway is conducting this recall on a voluntary basis, because – even with the presence of this serious food safety hazard – FDA lacks the ability to order a recall. Giving the FDA mandatory recall authority is another reason why the Senate should bring S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, to the floor without further delay. <p>In the meantime, consumers should check <a href="http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm211131.htm" target="cspi">FDA’s web site</a> for specific information about this recall. Reports from FDA indicate that the recalled lettuce was intended for food service establishments, including some supermarket salad bars, but not bagged lettuce for retail sale. 2010-05-06 http://cspinet.org/new/201005061.html <b>Unlike Other Chains, Safeway Won’t Use Club Card Data to Notify Members of Recalls, Says CSPI</b><p>WASHINGTON—Even though it collects phone numbers and email addresses from its Club Card members, Safeway won’t use that data to contact people who bought contaminated food. The nonprofit <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a> today <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/safewayletter.pdf" target="cspi">notified Safeway</a> that CSPI will file a lawsuit against the grocery chain if it fails to adopt a policy to notify Club Card members who purchased contaminated food subject to recalls. <p>Many other leading retailers do use customer contact information generated by their bonus card programs to notify consumers when they’ve purchased recalled food. In 2009, as thousands of <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200902031.html" target="cspi">peanut-containing products</a> tainted with deadly Salmonella bacteria were being recalled, chains such as Costco sent <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/costcoletter.pdf" target="cspi">letters</a> or automated <a href="http://cspinet.org/audio/CliffBarRecall.mp3" target="cspi">phone calls</a> out to people who bought those foods. That was also the practice of Giant, Harris Teeter, Price Chopper, ShopRite, Wegman’s, and other chains. Even though that outbreak sickened hundreds and claimed nine lives, Safeway did not contact its Club Card shoppers during that or other recalls. <p>“It shocks the conscience that a major retailer would sit on its hands, even though it has easy access to the emails, addresses, and phone numbers of those who have purchased food that might be contaminated,” said CSPI litigation director Steve Gardner. “Perhaps Safeway saves a few pennies by remaining silent. But why would you knowingly risk letting your customers fall ill, or worse, die?” <p>Unless Safeway makes a commitment to notify consumers of Class 1 recalls—those recalls of products “that predictably could cause serious health problems or death”—CSPI will file a lawsuit aimed at compelling the company to do so, the group said in a letter to Safeway chairman and CEO Steven A. Burd. In the <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/safewayletter.pdf" target="cspi">letter</a>, CSPI says that Safeway’s failure to notify consumers that they’ve bought potentially dangerous products violates state consumer protection laws in Texas, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and California. <p>According to the privacy policy on Safeway’s web site, Club Card data “may be used to help make Safeway’s products, services and programs more useful to its customers.” And, the company reserves the right to “disclose personal information to our related companies and third parties.” Yet, even when it has sold foods that might have been contaminated with E. Coli, Salmonella, botulism, or other deadly hazards, Safeway does not use its Club Card information to prevent customers from eating that food, according to CSPI. 2010-05-06 http://cspinet.org/new/201004262.html <b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson</b><p>New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has once again proven why it is the most effective health department in the country. The <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2010a%2Fpr179-10.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1" target="cspi">goals announced today</a> by the city-led National Salt Reduction Initiative will encourage major companies to begin cutting sodium. While I’m glad that 16 companies have chosen to participate in the initiative, too many companies—including giants such as PepsiCo, ConAgra, McDonald’s, and Burger King—have chosen to skip it. The limited participation indicates the need for federal health agencies to set mandatory national limits on the amount of sodium allowed in packaged and restaurant food. <p>Previously, under the leadership of prevention-oriented health commissioners and public-health advocate Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York has <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200612052.html" target="cspi">taken the lead</a> on putting calories on menus and menu boards of chain restaurants, phasing artificial trans fat out of restaurant foods, and mounting creative campaigns against smoking and <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201004141.html" target="cspi">soft drinks</a>. The city’s leadership of the National Salt Reduction Initiative will help put American consumers back in charge of their <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/201004201.html" target="cspi">salt intake</a>, and lead to longer, healthier lives for millions of people in New York and beyond. 2010-04-26 http://cspinet.org/new/201004261.html <b>Bob Evans, White Castle, & Long John Silver’s Still Using Heart-Stopping Artificial Trans Fat, Despite Known Danger</b><p>WASHINGTON—Just when you thought that artificial trans fat was dead, it staggers zombie-like out of the culinary graveyard: Bob Evans, White Castle, and Long John Silver’s are all still using artificial trans fat in French fries, onion rings, hotcakes, and other foods. But this nutritional zombie isn’t out for your brains; it’s after your heart. <p><a href="http://www.cspinet.org/transfat" target="cspi">Artificial trans fat</a> is such an uncommonly powerful promoter of heart disease that it has been dropped by the largest fast-food chains; it has been forced out of restaurants in New York City, California, and other jurisdictions; and has been increasingly hard to find in supermarkets since trans fat labeling went into effect in 2006. But while McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Starbucks, and other big chains have phased out their use of partially hydrogenated oil (the source of artificial trans fat), America’s chain-restaurant B-Listers have yet to get the memo, according to the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a>. <p>“Bob Evans, White Castle, and Long John Silver’s are now the roguish outliers among the restaurant industry,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “Many Americans might have thought that the era of artificial trans fat was over. At these chains, it lives tragically on.” The three chains, with total sales of $3 billion a year, range between the 39th- and 51st-biggest in the country. <p>Trans fat promotes heart disease by raising one’s LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, which clogs arteries, while lowering one’s HDL, the “good” cholesterol that guards against heart attacks. The Institute of Medicine recommends consuming as little trans fat as possible, while still eating a healthy diet, and the American Heart Association advises people to limit trans fat to no more than 2 grams per day. Since small amounts of trans fat occur naturally in milk and beef, that doesn’t leave much room for trans fat from artificial sources, according to CSPI. <p>At Bob Evans, the fries aren’t the problem; it’s the pancakes: An order of Stacked & Stuffed Caramel Banana Pecan Hotcakes has 7 grams of trans fat; a standard order of three unadorned Bob Evans Buttermilk Hotcakes has 9 grams. At White Castle, even Harold and Kumar might look askance at the French fries, onion chips, and onion rings, which have between 2 and 10 grams of trans fat per order, depending on the product and the size, says CSPI. <p>CSPI said it was particularly disappointed to find that zombie trans fat still lurks at Long John Silver’s. That chain, owned by Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, knows better, according to the group. KFC phased trans fat out of its fried foods in 2006, four months after <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200610301.html" target="cspi">CSPI filed a lawsuit</a> against the chain. Taco Bell also phased out artificial trans fat several years ago. Nevertheless, at LJS, battered fish and shrimp has between 2.5 and 4.5 grams of trans fat; a side order of cryptic “Crumblies” has 4 grams; and every single meal on the chain’s Dollar Stretcher menu has artificial trans fat, ranging from the Small Golden Fries (2.5 grams) to the Two Jr. Fish and Fries (7 grams). <p> “The FDA has all the scientific evidence and legal authority it needs to send partially hydrogenated oil to the chemical boneyard quickly and permanently, but it has failed to do so,” Jacobson said. “Banning it would save thousands of lives annually.” 2010-04-26 http://cspinet.org/new/201004201.html <b>CSPI Urges FDA and USDA to Set Limits on Salt</b><p>WASHINGTON—Legislators and public health groups today praised a <a href="http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/Strategies-to-Reduce-Sodium-Intake-in-the-United-States.aspx" target="cspi">long-awaited report</a> from the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine that calls for urgent, government action to reduce salt in packaged and restaurant foods. <p>“Limiting salt in packaged and restaurant foods is perhaps the single most important thing that the Food and Drug Administration could do to save hundreds of thousands of lives and save billions of dollars in health-care expenses,” said <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a> executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “The FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture should quickly implement the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations, starting with mandatory limits on salt, which could be phased in gradually over time.” <p>For more than 30 years, CSPI has been pressing the federal government to take steps to reduce salt in packaged and restaurant foods. A <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200511081.html" target="cspi">2005 regulatory petition</a> filed by CSPI asks the Food and Drug Administration to treat salt as a food additive, subject to reasonable limits. CSPI supports limits, since the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/salt/" target="cspi">high levels of salt</a> in the American diet promote high blood pressure, which in turn promotes stroke and heart disease. Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Rosa DeLauro also joined CSPI in support of limits on salt. <p>“As this report points out, Americans’ salt intake has continued to increase since the early 1970s, and thus so have our taste preferences,” said DeLauro. “The problem is, we have reached a point where our sodium intake is endangering our health, and we are paying a heavy price in heart attacks, strokes, and hypertension. The public health implications of this are really astounding. According to the IOM, reducing salt intake could prevent more than 100,000 deaths a year. The FDA should set national standards for sodium content in foods.” <p>“Removing the barriers to healthy living leads to longer, healthier lives and lower health care costs down the road,” said Harkin. “It is difficult for Americans to control the amount of sodium they consume when dangerously high amounts are being added to processed foods. Nearly 80 percent of our daily sodium intake isn’t added at the table or during cooking—it’s added in processing plants before it ever gets to us. When sodium is so clearly linked to heart disease and strokes, it’s time to give Americans more information and better control over their daily intake. This is good common sense and it is a wise investment in our public health too.” <p>“As the Institute of Medicine report unambiguously points out, 40 years of voluntary initiatives on the part of manufacturers have failed to reduce salt intake,” Jacobson said. “But we call on food manufacturers and restaurant chains to step up their efforts at salt reduction while the FDA and USDA implement the IOM’s recommendations.” Jacobson noted that 20 percent of Americans’ salt intake actually comes from the meat- and poultry-containing products regulated by the USDA. <p>Seventy percent of the population—a group that includes the elderly, African Americans, and people with existing high blood pressure—should consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day, according to the federal government. Everyone else should limit themselves to 2,300 mg per day. But according to CSPI, average sodium intake is actually north of 4,000 mg per day. And some <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/top_ten_salty_foods__restaurant_.pdf" target="cspi">restaurant meals </a> are capable of providing even more than that in a single meal. At Chili’s, a meal made of Buffalo Chicken Fajitas and a bowl of Black Bean Soup contain 7,770 mg of sodium—more sodium than is safe for most people to consume in five days. The <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200905111.html" target="cspi">Admiral’s Feast</a> with a Caesar Salad, a Cheddar Bay Biscuit and a Light Lemonade at Red Lobster has 5,925 mg of sodium. In 2009, CSPI sued restaurant chain <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200907231.html" target="cspi">Denny’s</a> to disclose sodium levels on its menus and include warnings for high sodium content. Even foods <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/top_ten_salty_foods__packaged.pdf" target="cspi">purchased at the grocery store </a> have unsafe levels of salt, says CSPI. A Swanson Hungry Man frozen dinner of Grilled Bourbon Steak Strips in sauce with rice and green beans contains 1,990 mg of sodium. Even foods intended for children, like an Oscar Mayer Lunchables with Lean Ham and Cheddar Cracker Stackers has more than 1,000 mg of sodium—nearly an entire day’s worth for kids aged four to eight. <p>“Outrageously <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nah/articles/salt.html" target="cspi">high salt levels</a> are turning Americans hearts and brains into ticking time bombs. It’s about time for policymakers at all levels of government to bring salt levels back down to safer, more reasonable levels,” Jacobson said. <p>According to CSPI, intervention by the British government to reduce sodium has succeeded in bringing many packaged foods’ sodium levels below the levels of comparable foods sold in the United States. 2010-04-20 http://cspinet.org/new/201004141.html <b>Taxes, Media Campaigns, Warning Labels Could Reduce Consumption Further, Says CSPI</b><p>WASHINGTON—Health advocates see an encouraging trend in the fight against obesity and diet-related disease: Americans are drinking less soda pop. Per capita consumption of carbonated soft drinks has declined for 11 straight years, according to data from Beverage Marketing Corporation. Per capita consumption of sugary soft drinks is 22 percent below its peak in 1998, according to the trade publication <a href="http://www.beverage-digest.com/pdf/top-10_2010.pdf" target="cspi">Beverage Digest</a> and calculations by the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a>. <p>To be sure, even with the declines in consumption in recent years, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Dr. Pepper Snapple, and other companies produced 9.4 billion cases of sugary soda and energy drinks in 2009. At the 1998 peak, when CSPI first published its Liquid Candy report, companies were producing 638 8-ounce servings of non-diet soft drinks per person. By 2009, that figure was down to 543 8-ounce servings. Still, that’s about 140 empty calories a day, for every man, woman, and child in the United States. <p>“The recognition that soda pop promotes weight gain and disease is gaining traction, contributing to the steady decline in soda consumption,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “Ten years from now, it would be great to see that Americans are drinking a can and a half a week, instead of a can and a half a day.” <p>Besides concern over obesity, Jacobson said that the growing popularity of bottled water, the low-carb Atkins and South Beach diets, bans on soft drinks in schools, and rising unemployment rates are all partly responsible for the decline in soda consumption. <p>According the United States Department of Agriculture and Beverage Digest, the proportion of carbonated soft drinks that are non-caloric diet drinks increased from 23 percent to 30 percent between 1998 and 2009. <p>CSPI and other health advocates are urging state legislators to <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/liquidcandy" target="cspi">increase soda taxes</a> where they already exist, or to institute them for the first time. A state such as California, which already imposes a small sales tax on soft drinks, could raise nearly $2 billion each year if the state added a penny-per-ounce excise tax on soda. The state could put some of that money toward the state’s share of the $10 billion in medical expenses incurred each year by obese Californians. The revenues could also fund programs to encourage healthy eating and physical activity, such as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F4t8zL6F0c" target="cspi">media campaigns</a> to discourage the consumption of sugary beverages. <p>“Reasonable taxes could help drive down consumption a bit more, particularly among children,” Jacobson said. “And if those taxes could fund hard-hitting media campaigns, like the one being run in New York City, that’s even better. The goal should be to restore sugary soda to what it once was—an occasional treat in a reasonable portion, not the every-day super-sized tub.” <p>Another policy approach would be to require health notices on soft-drink containers, something that in 2005 <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200507131.html" target="cspi">CSPI petitioned</a> the Food and Drug Administration to do. CSPI proposed “The U.S. Government recommends that you drink less (non-diet) soda to help prevent weight gain, tooth decay, and other health problems,” as one such notice. The FDA hasn’t yet acted on that proposal. 2010-04-14 http://cspinet.org/new/201004051.html <b>CSPI Calls on FDA, State Attorneys General to Crack Down on “Slack Fill”</b><p>WASHINGTON—A biggish box of Hamburger Helper only half full of food. A giant box of Ginger Snaps half full of air. A solitary chicken quesadilla in a Lean Cuisine box that could easily fit two. The food industry calls it "slack fill." But the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a> calls it a form of deception—and an environmental nightmare to boot. The nonprofit nutrition and food safety watchdog group is urging the Food and Drug Administration and state attorneys general to crack down on illegal slack fill in food packages. <p><img src="/images/gingersnaps.JPG"><b><br>Photo Credit: Stephen Schmidt<br>What seems like a full bag of ginger snaps before opening <br>the box is actually a half-full combination of food and air—<br>what the industry calls "slack fill." CSPI calls it deception. </b><p> <p>The federal government already has regulations on the books regarding slack fill, which is defined as the difference between the capacity of a container and the volume of product inside. Those rules are meant to restrict slack fill to those situations where some air in the packaging actually helps protect the contents, or where some settling of the product makes a little slack fill unavoidable. But according to CSPI, food manufacturers and the regulators who oversee them don’t seem overly concerned with the spirit of those regulations. <p>"It would be disheartening, even shocking, if it weren’t so commonplace," said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. "But as consumers we’ve almost come to expect that our food packages will be half full of food and half full of air. Slack fill is just one trick that food marketers employ to make us thing we’re getting more for our money than we are." <p>A box of Betty Crocker Wholesome Hamburger Helper is roughly 19 centimeters tall, 12 cm wide, and three-and-a-half cm deep. If it were filled to the very top, it could accommodate nearly 800 cubic cm of food. Instead, a small plastic bag of macaroni and a flat packet of sauce mix take up only about half of the package. The box does include the 5.8 ounces of food described on the label, but would the company dare do this if the package were see-through, asks CSPI? <p>And what of the environmental cost of shipping half-full containers around the country and world? "If food companies cut packages of Ginger Snaps or Hamburger Helper in half, what now takes two trucks to ship would only take one," Jacobson said. "Some of us might appreciate some extra space in our cupboards, too. I wish the Food and Drug Administration or state attorneys general would take steps to ensure that consumers are getting their money’s worth at the grocery store." <p><a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/memo_-_slack_fill.pdf" target="cspi">"Cut the Slack"</a> is the lead editorial in the April issue of CSPI’s flagship publication, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nah" target="cspi">Nutrition Action Healthletter</a>. Introductory subscriptions are $10 a year. 2010-04-05 http://cspinet.org/new/201003242.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>America’s schools are one step closer to being junk-food-free today. <p>Congratulations to Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) for passing a strong child nutrition bill out of the Senate Agriculture Committee. This bipartisan bill contains numerous important steps to improve child nutrition and address childhood obesity, including a historic agreement between health groups and food and beverage companies to improve the nutritional quality of foods sold out of vending machines and other venues outside of school meals. Getting junk food out of schools is important for improving children’s diets and ensuring that those so-called competitive foods don’t undermine the school lunch program. <p>Although USDA regularly adjusts school meal reimbursement rates for inflation, this is the first time in four decades that Congress would provide an additional increase in funding. The reimbursement rate increase is supported by several other provisions that expand financial resources, increase technical support to schools, and strengthen compliance with school meal nutrition standards to ensure healthier school meals for children. 2010-03-24 http://cspinet.org/new/201003241.html <b>Better Reporting of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks Could Speed Recalls and Save Lives</b><p>WASHINGTON—The <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/Produce_Safety_Project/PSP-Scharff%20v9.pdf?n=1136" target="cspi">national cost</a> of foodborne illness has been estimated at the astronomical sum of $152 billion annually, but the information on who is getting sick and what is causing those illnesses is part of a state-by-state surveillance system that shows mixed results around the country, raising important new questions about how to improve state outbreak reporting. <p>In 2006, more than 200 people fell ill and 5 died after eating <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200609151.html" target="cspi">spinach</a> contaminated with deadly E. coli bacteria. So in 2007, which also saw several nationwide outbreaks, state and local public health agencies should have been on full alert to investigate illnesses and report outbreaks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to an analysis of 2007 <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/statereport2010.pdf" target="cspi">outbreak reporting data</a> by the nonprofit <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a>, outbreak <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/reportedoutbreaks.pdf" target="cspi">reporting varied widely</a> from state to state: nine states reported 10 to 15 outbreaks per million people, but many others reported only one. If states’ reporting performance during 2007 (the most recent year when such information is available) is any indication, at least 23 states need to make dramatic improvements in their surveillance and reporting systems, according to CSPI. <p>“State and local health departments are our first line of defense when it comes to identifying the food that causes an outbreak,” said CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety" target="cspi">food safety </a> director Caroline Smith DeWaal. “But some states may not have enough investigators or the money to train and equip their staff, which can lead to lower-quality investigations and lower rates of reporting.” <p>Oregon and Minnesota are well-recognized as having strong programs for foodborne outbreak surveillance, investigation, and reporting. Those states, which have excellent laboratory facilities and which quickly interview people who test positive for dangerous pathogens, each reported 10 outbreaks per million people in 2007. CSPI considered that a baseline for its analysis, and found that 7 states had even better reporting records, including Maine, Kansas, Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, Hawaii and North Dakota. Those states generated more reports and provided CDC with better information to prevent future outbreaks. <p>On the other end of the spectrum, twelve states reported just one outbreak of foodborne illness per million people, and 11 states had reporting rates almost as low. Because there is no reason to think that those states would have such low incidences of outbreaks, CSPI is concerned that this variability in reporting reflects a failure to identify, fully investigate, and report outbreaks. The 23 states with the lowest reporting rates in 2007 were Delaware, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts, each with three outbreaks per million; Missouri, New Jersey, Virginia, Alabama, West Virginia, and Kentucky, each with two outbreaks per million; and Texas, North Carolina, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, Utah, Arkansas, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, each reporting just one outbreak per million. <p>In September of 2007, 19-month-old Isabelle Reinert of Sauk Rapids, MN, became violently ill with unrelenting diarrhea and a 104-degree fever. Her diarrhea persisted for nearly six weeks, and her mother Amy Reinert told the Associated Press that it “was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced as a parent.” Epidemiologists working for the state of Minnesota were eventually able to identify the source of the Salmonella that sickened Isabelle and others that year: Banquet Turkey Pot Pies. That link between the outbreak and ConAgra’s pot pies led to a recall of over 3 million pot pies and new package cooking instructions, including advice that the pies should be cooked to 165 degrees F. <p>Legislation that passed the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200907301.html" target="cspi">House of Representatives</a> would help improve state reporting, according to CSPI. The <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200911181.html" target="cspi">FDA Food Safety Modernization Act</a>, now pending in the Senate, would require FDA to improve coordination between federal, state and local surveillance systems; develop a national network of laboratories; and improve epidemiological tools available to the states. The bill would also integrate foodborne illness surveillance with other bio-surveillance capabilities. <p>“State outbreak reporting is a vital piece of our national food safety system, and the information gathered in the course of outbreak investigations can reduce the impact of outbreaks and prevent future ones. Action on Senate bill would help strengthen both federal and state food safety programs,” DeWaal said. <p>According to recent research done by <a href="http://www.safetables.org/index.cfm" target="cspi">S.T.O.P.</a>—Safe Tables Our Priority, a number of factors may also explain the variation in state investigations. <p>“States’ systematic differences in response to foodborne illness case reporting may also explain variations in rates,” said S.T.O.P’s public health specialist, Susan Vaughn Grooters. “Time differences in surveying cases of foodborne illness and lack of integrated data collection may also affect how well states accurately capture data.” DeWaal will present CSPI’s findings today at a food safety conference in Atlanta cosponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and NSF International. 2010-03-24 http://cspinet.org/new/201003211.html <b>CSPI Celebrates &quot;Huge Victory for Consumers&quot; After 7-Year Fight</b><p>WASHINGTON—Tucked neatly inside the health reform legislation headed to the Oval Office for a presidential signature is language that will require <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/healthreformmenulabeling.pdf" target="cspi">calorie labeling </a> on chain restaurant menus, menu boards, and drive-through displays, as well as on vending machines. The legislation applies to chains with 20 or more outlets, and requires them to provide additional nutrition information on request. <p><a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/ml_map.pdf" target="cspi">Similar measures </a> are already in effect or are awaiting implementation in California, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, New York City, Philadelphia, and a dozen other localities. The federal standard will supersede the varied state and local requirements. <p><img src="/images/subway.jpg"><b><br>This Subway in New York City has posted calorie information <br>for all menu items since the implementation of the local <br>menu-labeling law in 2007. Soon all chain restaurants with <br>20 or more outlets nationwide will be required to post this <br>information on menus, menu boards, drive-through displays <br> and vending machines.</b><p> <p>"Coffee drinks can range from 20 calories to 800 calories, and burgers can range from 250 calories to well over 1,000 calories," said CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G. Wootan. "With the health reform legislation passed today, Congress is giving Americans easy access to the most critical piece of nutrition information they need when eating out. While it’s a huge victory for consumers, it’s just one of dozens of things we will need to do to reduce rates of obesity and diet-related disease in this country." <p><a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">CSPI</a> began pressing for <a href="http://www.menulabeling.org" target="cspi">nutrition labeling</a> at chain restaurants in 2003. In past sessions of Congress, stand-alone menu labeling bills were introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). New York City became the first jurisdiction to enact menu labeling, via regulations issued by the city’s Board of Health, in 2006. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed California’s menu labeling law in 2008, after vetoing a similar measure the year before. The National Restaurant Association dropped its longstanding objection to menu labeling last year, and actually supported the language passed by Congress today. <p>"The historic legislation that President Barack Obama will sign will do so much to give more Americans access to health care, but it also does much to help prevent disease in the first place," Wootan said. "Menu labeling at restaurants will help make First Lady Michelle Obama’s mission to reduce childhood obesity just a little bit easier." <p>The bill exempts small businesses, and does not apply to daily or temporary specials and customized orders. It requires the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to propose specific regulations not later than one year from now. Those regulations will be finalized through a formal rulemaking process, and the FDA must make quarterly reports on its progress to Congress. 2010-03-21 http://cspinet.org/new/201003181.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>In an otherwise contentious time in Washington, it's good to know that Republicans and Democrats can come together for the sake of child nutrition and health. The agreement that Chairman Blanche Lincoln and Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss have forged, along with the support of <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/nsns_senate_letter.pdf" target="cspi">industry leaders</a> and health groups, will allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure that the federal investment in healthy school meals isn't undermined by foods that harm kids' health. <p>USDA is currently updating the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200910201.html" target="cspi">school meal standards</a>; now Congress is poised to allow USDA to take care of the rest of school foods. The current national nutrition standards for foods sold out of school vending machines and a la carte lines in cafeterias are 30 years out of date and no longer make sense. They don't address key nutrition problems like calories, fats, salt, and sugar. <p>USDA needs to update its nutrition standards for school foods sold outside of meals, and apply those standards to the whole campus, the whole school day. We're pleased that industry leaders like Mars, Nestlé, Coke, and Pepsi see the need for this as well. <p>There has been an absolute sea change when it comes to parents' expectations for the foods that are available in schools. Many cities, states, and companies have already begun to improve the nutritional quality of foods they sell in school. However, two-thirds of states still have weak or no school nutrition standards. When Congress passes the <a href="http://www.schoolfoods.org/" target="cspi">child nutrition reauthorization bill</a>, it will help get all junk food out of every school once and for all. 2010-03-18 http://cspinet.org/new/201003171.html <b>CSPI Urges Other Jurisdictions to Do the Same</b><p>WASHINGTON—New York City's trailblazing Department of Health and Mental Hygiene voted yesterday to require the city’s restaurants to post letter grades reflecting the establishment's cleanliness. That move was applauded today by the nonprofit <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a>, which has been calling on cities and state legislatures to adopt such measures. Letter grades have been used in Los Angeles County restaurants for the past 11 years, and that popular measure is credited with reducing the number of hospitalizations due to foodborne illness there. <p>A <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200808071.html" target="cspi">2008 CSPI review </a> of 539 restaurant inspections in 20 cities found that two-thirds of restaurants had troubling critical food safety violations. That report, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/dirtydining/index.html" target="cspi">Dirty Dining</a>, contained harrowing accounts of chicken salad stored at a bacteria-friendly 50 degrees, mouse droppings in ice machines, and roaches scampering across cutting boards. CSPI found that many of those inspection reports were hard for the public to obtain; CSPI investigators had to pry reports from some secretive health departments with formal requests made under the Freedom of Information Act. <p>"When some said it was impossible to get artificial trans fat out of restaurant food, New York City proved them wrong," said CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety" target="cspi">food safety</a> attorney Sarah Klein. "When others said that calorie counts on menus were impractical, New York City made it look easy. L.A. was the first to put food safety letter grades in restaurant windows. But with 24,000 restaurants representing virtually every cuisine on Earth, <a href="http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/city-health-board-agrees-to-require-letter-grades-for-restaurant-cleanliness/" target="cspi">New York City</a> can show that if you can make it happen there, you can make it happen anywhere." <p>Klein will represent CSPI at the Conference on Food Protection in Providence, RI, next month. That conference brings together food industry stakeholders, consumer groups, and food-safety officials from state, local, and federal agencies, and makes recommendations to the Food and Drug Administration on updating its model food code. That code forms the scientifically sound technical and legal basis for regulating retail food sales, and is then typically adopted by state and local agencies. CSPI wants it to include letter grades for restaurants. <p>"Of course, we also want to prevent food from being contaminated before it even enters a restaurant, which is why Congress needs to give the FDA the authority and resources it needs to do that job," Klein said. The Senate is expected have a vote on final passage of the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200911181.html" target="cspi">FDA Food Safety Modernization Act</a> this spring. 2010-03-17 http://cspinet.org/new/201003161.html <b>Coca-Cola Will Still Target High School Kids in Most Countries</b><p>WASHINGTON—PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi has announced that the company will phase out full-sugar carbonated soft drinks from all schools around the world. The move followed from the <a href="http://www.dumpsoda.org/" target="cspi">Global Dump Soft Drinks Campaign</a> led by the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a>. The group proposed negotiations in 2008, which were led by the Geneva-based World Heart Federation with PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and the International Council of Beverage Associations. <p>PepsiCo's <a href="http://www.pepsico.com/PressRelease/PepsiCo-Sets-Industry-Standard-By-Establishing-the-First-Consistent-Global-Appro03162010.html" target="cspi">policy</a> will still allow the sale in high schools of non caloric drinks and sports drinks such as Gatorade that have about half the calories of regular carbonated soft drinks, and the policy will not limit the portion sizes of fruit juice. <p><a href="http://origin.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/global_school_beverage_guidelines.html" target="cspi">Last week Coca-Cola</a>, the world’s largest purveyor of what CSPI calls <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/liquidcandy" target="cspi">“liquid candy,”</a> announced a policy, which also springs from the negotiations, that the company will “not offer our beverages for sale in primary schools.” But the policy then states that if school authorities request drinks “to meet hydration needs, we will endeavor to meet those requests.” The Coke policy explicitly allows the sale of its sugary soft drinks in high schools. <p>Smaller regional and national companies represented by the International Council of Beverage Associations, and others not represented by the association, did not make any commitments to change their policies. <p>"We applaud PepsiCo for its global commitment not to sell carbonated sugary soft drinks in schools," said Bruce Silverglade, legal affairs director of CSPI and president of the International Association of Consumer Food Organizations, which represented CSPI and other consumer groups in the talks. "But shame on Coca-Cola for insisting on targeting high school students in most countries around the world. Childhood obesity is a world-wide problem and high school students everywhere deserve the same help as American high schoolers." <p>The new policies come on the heels of a study by the American Beverage Association that shows that in the United States the industry has made very <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/201003081.html" target="cspi">significant progress in getting high-calorie sodas out of all schools </a> as a result of state and local pressure to remove soft drinks, a threat of litigation, and a 2006 agreement with health groups. That study found that non-diet soda, sports drinks, diluted fruit drinks, and ice teas have decreased dramatically over the past five years. <p>When the school lunch and other child nutrition programs are reauthorized by Congress this year, health advocates expect that the bill will require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to update the nutrition standards for foods sold in vending machines and a la carte programs in cafeterias, presumably excluding soda and other high-calorie drinks. <p>Pepsi's new policy takes effect on January 1, 2011, and the company says it hopes to have full compliance by January of 2012. The company says that in some countries, parts of the distribution chain are out of its control. Coca-Cola's policy does not go into effect until 2013 when the company says its existing beverage contracts with schools will expire. The International Diabetes Federation was also represented in the negotiations leading up to PepsiCo’s and Coca-Cola’s announcements. 2010-03-16 http://cspinet.org/new/201003111.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Attorney Sarah Klein</b><p>Now that the <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g9LcUIAg-72ZFn6tDkvVdKaKirogD9EC5ON00">CDC has shown </a>that customer loyalty cards provided crucial information to pinpoint the items that sickened nearly 250 people in 44 states, this valuable tool should be used by all retailers to alert their customers when they purchase food products that are later recalled. <p>A year ago, <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200902031.html">CSPI called on retailers</a> to use the information generated by bonus cards to contact consumers who have purchased recalled products. That’s already the practice of Costco, Wegman’s, and Price Chopper. These cards which speeded identification of the contaminated salami and prevented another giant outbreak are a valuable tool. This get other grocery chains thinking about how they can protect their customers when the next dangerous outbreak hits. <p>The bonus cards swiped at grocery stores can do more than just save consumers money and generate powerful marketing databases for retailers. If a retailer knows the address, phone number, or email address of someone who has purchased contaminated peanut butter, spinach, or salami, the company should take advantage of that opportunity to prevent future illnesses from recalled products. 2010-03-11 http://cspinet.org/new/201003091.html <b>Few Have Any Policies in Place at All, According to CSPI Report Card</b><p>WASHINGTON—Most food and entertainment companies have received Fs from the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, which today <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/marketingreportcard.pdf" target="cspi">issued a report card</a> that rates 128 companies’ policies with regard to food marketing aimed at children. Three-quarters of companies are getting an F, either for having weak policies or for failing to have any policies whatsoever. <p>CSPI's highest grade, a B+, went to Mars, Inc., though the group emphasized that the grade is not for the foods Mars sells, but rather for its policy on marketing to children. Mars' policy excludes <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/statement_report_card.pdf" target="cspi">marketing to children</a> under 12 and covers most of the key marketing tactics used to reach children. The entertainment company given CSPI’s highest grade, a B, is Qubo, a family-friendly children's television channel delivered nationwide over ION Media Networks 59 local digital television stations. Qubo’s policy is comprehensive, applying reasonably good nutrition standards to its full range of programming, according to <a href="http://www.cspinet.org" target="cspi">CSPI</a>. <p>One food company (Procter & Gamble, which makes Pringles) received a B, six got a B-, 17 got a C, and 7 a D. Ninety-five companies received an F. <p><img src="/images/chucktoy.JPG"><br>Photo Credit: Jeff Cronin<br><b> The Most Disappointing Toy Ever? At first glance it resembles the classic Easy Bake, but the <a href="http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/mostdisappointingtoy.pdf" target="cspi">Chuck E. Cheese's</a>® EZ-2 Make!™ Pizza Maker doesn't even have a heating element; it’s just a cheap plastic shell.</b></p> <p>"Despite the industry's self-regulatory system, the vast majority of food and entertainment companies have no protections in place for children," said CSPI <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy" target="cspi">nutrition policy</a> director Margo G. Wootan. "If companies were marketing bananas and broccoli, we wouldn’t be concerned. But instead, most of the marketing is for sugary cereals, fast food, snack foods, and candy. And this junk food marketing is a major contributor to childhood obesity." <p>According to the Institute of Medicine, TV commercials affect children's food choices, food purchase requests, diets, and health. And the mere act of watching commercial television is linked to obesity <p>CSPI gave restaurant chain Denny's an F for marketing to children through its children's menu, which includes many nutritionally poor items; games on its Web site; and a kid's birthday club. Lucasfilms received an F for not having a policy. Presently, Lucasfilms is licensing Star Wars toys as a premium to go with McDonald's Happy Meals, many of which are nutritionally poor. Candy company Topps also got an F. That company makes, among other things, Baby Bottle Pop, a powdered candy sold in a miniature baby bottle, eaten by dipping a candy nipple in a sugary powder and licking it off. Over the years Topps has retained the services of the Jonas Brothers and Clique Girlz singing groups to convince children to purchase that infantilizing product, whose 140 calories all come from sugar. <p>Companies spend about $2 billion each year marketing foods and beverages to children. Food manufacturers and restaurants more often had policies for television, radio, print, Internet, and product placement than for digital marketing, like cell phones, iPods, and social networks, characters, games, and contests on food packages, toy give-aways with children's meals at fast-food restaurants, or branded marketing programs for schools. Half of the entertainment companies with policies, like the Cartoon Network, apply nutrition standards to the licensing of their characters, but few have policies for their television advertising or Web site, which are the primary ways they market to children. <p>In 2006, the Council of Better Business Bureaus announced a self-regulatory program called the <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200909221.html" target="cspi">Childrens Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative</a>. Sixteen major food and restaurant companies, representing about 80 percent of television food advertising expenditures, have joined the program and announced that they will not market foods to children under 12 that don’t meet companies’ individual nutritional standards. But those standards often are carefully tailored and still allow a considerable volume of junk-food advertising to reach young kids, according to CSPI. The group's analysis of advertising on <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200911241.html" target="cspi">Nickelodeon</a>, conducted in November, found that 80 percent of food ads on the popular children's network were for junk food. <p>While 64 percent of food manufacturers that advertise to children have marketing policies, only 24 percent of restaurants and 22 percent of entertainment companies do. For Qubo’s part, the company says its nutrition policy reinforces an overall message about healthy living and providing children with the foundations for self-esteem that the company promotes in popular kids’ programs such as Turbo Dogs, Willa's Wild Life and Babar. <p>"Shortly after the launch of the Qubo kids' channel in 2007, we established very stringent nutritional guidelines for advertising only healthy foods to children," said Brandon Burgess, chairman and CEO of ION Media Networks, the parent company of the Qubo Channel. "We were responding to the alarming increase in childhood obesity and the seminal work established by the FCC's Task Force on Media and Childhood Obesity. Then and now, we were happy to work with policymakers, CSPI, and our industry colleagues to fight childhood obesity and provide children with important educational building blocks in making healthy lifestyle choices." <p>In the next few weeks, the Federal Trade Commission together with other federal agencies is expected to propose a set of nutrition criteria and other standards for foods marketed to children that, when finalized in July, the agency hopes companies will adopt on a voluntary basis. <p>"If food, toy, and media companies fail to adopt those voluntary standards, they will be clanging the death knell for their self-regulatory initiative and inviting strong government involvement in food marketing aimed at kids," Wootan said. 2010-03-09 http://cspinet.org/new/201003081.html <b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan</b><p>We congratulate the beverage industry for working to <a href="http://www.ameribev.org/nutrition--science/school-beverage-guidelines" target="cspi">remove sugary sodas</a> from schools. Together with stronger state laws and local school wellness policies, the country is making good progress in getting sugary drinks out of schools. <p>But, there is still much work to be done. According to the industry study, unhealthy full-calorie sodas, sports drinks, imitation fruit drinks, and ice teas have decreased from three-quarters to one-third of the beverages sold in high schools over the past five years. <p>We're pleased that the beverage industry and many snack food companies support having Congress address school beverages and snacks through this year's reauthorization of the school lunch and other child <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy" target="cspi">nutrition</a> programs. It’s time to pass national legislation to finish getting sugary drinks out of schools and to also address junk foods. 2010-03-08 http://cspinet.org/new/201003041.html <b>Statement of CSPI Food Safety Attorney Sarah Klein</b><p>The massive voluntary recall announced today by Basic Food Flavors, Inc.—of products containing a widely used flavor enhancer,<a href="http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/HVPCP/"> hydrolyzed vegetable protein,</a>—is yet more proof that the Food and Drug Administration needs more authority, more inspectors, and more resources to ensure that our food supply is safe. Fortunately, this recall has been started before any illnesses have been linked to this strain of Salmonella. <p>Most Americans would be stunned to learn that FDA doesn't even have the authority to make recalls like these mandatory. And it's worth asking: When was the last time an FDA inspector visited this particular facility in Nevada? This is why the <a href="https://secure2.convio.net/cspi/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=901" target="cspi">Senate must act now</a> to pass the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, so that the agency can help prevent contamination in the first place, rather than chase down tainted products long after they've left the manufacturer. 2010-03-04 http://cspinet.org/new/201003031.html <b>Statement of CSPI Legal Affairs Director Bruce Silverglade</b><p>The FDA's coordinated enforcement actions today against 16 food manufacturers, including Gerber, Beech-Nut, Gorton's, Sunsweet, Nestlé, Pom, and Diamond, should send a loud and clear signal to industry that time is running out on misleading health-related claims on labels. For far too long, manufacturers have exaggerated the healthfulness of their products, or even implied that their products contain special "functional" ingredients that provide drug-like protection against various diseases. The previous administration tolerated such shenanigans, but I hope that the party is now over. <p>While today's action is the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/default.htm" target="cspi">largest crackdown </a> on deceptive food labeling in more than a decade, the FDA must now turn its individual enforcement actions into binding regulations. <p>Some companies highlighted in CSPI's <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200912291.html" target="cspi">recent report</a> found themselves targets of FDA action today, while others apparently escaped scrutiny. The FDA dodged some issues, like not cracking down on false claims that Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice and other foods help strengthen your immune system. And the agency should have banned misleading "0 grams trans fat" claims for foods high in saturated fat, instead of just instructing companies to add a disclosure like "see nutrition panel for saturated fat information." FDA also needs to set standards for claims such as "made with whole wheat" by specifying that the percentage of whole grains appear on the label in conjunction with the claim. <p>In addition to issuing industry-wide regulations to halt misleading claims, the FDA should update the 20-year-old <a href="http://www.cspinet.org/new/200912071.html" target="cspi">Nutrition Facts label</a> and improve the readability of ingredient lists. The FDA currently is studying various schemes for providing key pieces of nutrition information prominently on front labels. <p>The warning letters sent by FDA today are a welcome step. But unless the FDA uses its authority to issue new, industry-wide regulations to prevent such abuses, the agency will forever be playing a game of Whac-A-Mole with companies that use deceptive labeling. 2010-03-03 htt