Michael Taylor's Got a New Job Title

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Jan 13, 2010 at 21:52:06 PM PST

Michael R. Taylor, J.D., was named Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, on Jan. 13, 2010. He is the first individual to hold the position, which was created along with a new Office of Foods in August 2009 to elevate the leadership and management of the Foods Program.

- From MarlerBlog

I don't know if this means he's got any change in job responsibilities, since this already was his basic function at FDA. It seems to me he's just got a new job title and a revised org chart to go along with it.

UPDATE: Here are articles on this from NYT and WaPo. H/t Naomi Starkman

All Your Baby Are Belong To... Bisphenol A?

by: JayinPortland

Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 05:02:57 AM PST

Previous studies have found BPA in the urine of 93% of Americans tested. But Wednesday's study is the first to find it in the cord blood of U.S. newborns.

"It's alarming," Janet Gray, director of the Environmental Risks and Breast Cancer project at Vassar College, said of the study results. "What more evidence do we need to act?"

More than 6 billion pounds of BPA are used each year to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. The chemical is used in thousands of common products, including the lining of nearly all food and beverage cans and as coating for carbonless paper receipts.

FDA was supposed to complete their latest 'review' on the use of BPA on Monday, but the decision has been postponed.  Since we're already into December, I'm assuming the decision will not be made until well after the New Year.  Or, just like their first decision in 2008... maybe they'll sneak the news that they plan to do nothing into another end-of-the-week news dump sometime around, say, December 23 or 24?  Pardon my cynicism.

Many studies have linked BPA exposure to everything from increased risks for obesity by triggering fat-cell activity, to diabetes, heart disease in women, fertility defects, an increased risk of developing breast cancer later in life from fetal exposure, and erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems in men.

Tales from the Larder: Olive, the Empress of Oil (part 1)

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 13:36:59 PM PST

One tablespoon of olive oil contains 120 calories and 14 grams of fat, but the fat is mostly monounsaturated and has a beneficial effect on blood cholesterol levels. It is no wonder that Mediterranean countries where olive oil is consumed extensively such as Greece, France, Italy and Spain, there is a low incidence of cardiovascular diseases. It also protects the body's digestive tract.

Cross-posted on the Evil Orange.

Melamine limits for baby formula too high, study finds

by: Deep Harm

Sun Oct 25, 2009 at 08:04:03 AM PDT

Researchers found that cases of pediatric nephrolithiasis nearly doubled with when infants were exposed to less than 0.2 mg/kg per day of melamine.  That is the World Health Organization's recommended "tolerable daily intake" (TDI) for infants.  That finding also calls into question the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's somewhat lower limit of 0.063 mg/kg for infants because we do not know how much lower than 0.2 mg/kg one has to go to reach a "no observed adverse effects level" or NOAEL.  Another finding, that the risk from melamine increases "with the duration of exposure," calls into question FDA's limit for adults and older children, also.  So far, however, the FDA and the Department of Agriculture (which share food safety responsibilities) and the news media have been silent about the study.

FDA Announces Food Safety Improvements (And a New Website)

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Sep 09, 2009 at 10:26:37 AM PDT

All companies that manufacture, process or distribute food for people or animals to eat must now report any problems that could lead to food-borne illness within 24 hours, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday.

Notification must be made using the online Reportable Food Registry, which was mandated by Congress two years ago in the hope of speeding up the process of alerting the FDA of contaminated foods and cutting down on the distribution of such food.

Here's the bit about this from the FDA website. According to the press release, this was announced by the FDA in June and a comment period followed.

Meanwhile, both HHS and the USDA (the FDA is under HHS) jointly announced a new food safety website, which they have brilliantly named FoodSafety.gov. From the press release:

Consumers can sign up in one easy place to receive email and RSS alerts on recalled or potentially unsafe food and hear from the top scientific experts across the government on food safety. Later phases of the site to be launched will include recall feeds for texting and mobile phones. The site will also feature a foodsafety.gov widget that the public and the media are encouraged to download and promote on their Web sites and social networking sites. The widget will instantly update viewers with the latest food safety recalls and will be a valuable public health and safety tool.

I hate to say it, but I think we have Michael Taylor (the FDA's Food Safety Czar and Monsanto's former lobbyist) to thank for this.

BPA Decision Coming In November

by: JayinPortland

Wed Aug 19, 2009 at 14:43:42 PM PDT

The timeline was criticized by some environmental activists who say the government has had more than enough time to consider the chemical's effects.

[...]

The FDA ruled last August that BPA was safe for all use. The FDA's own advisory board rejected the ruling, noting that it was based on two studies, both of which had been financed by the plastics industry.

Canada and a handful of US States and localities have already banned use of the substance in baby bottles, and others are currently considering doing so.

Bisphenol A is a known endocrine disruptor commonly used in the production of many household items, from baby bottles to plastic food containers to soup cans to dental fillings; and exposure via tap water and house dust is now also thought possible.  Many studies have linked long term, low-level BPA exposure to everything from increased risks for obesity by triggering fat-cell activity, to diabetes, heart disease in women, fertility defects and an increased risk of developing breast cancer later in life from fetal exposure.

Safe Leafy Greens, Tomatoes, and Melons

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Jul 31, 2009 at 16:20:59 PM PDT

Dave Theno had it right - Secretaries Vilsack and Sebelius should pay attention

by: bmarler

Fri Jul 17, 2009 at 17:46:20 PM PDT

House Passes Budget Increases for FDA! (Thank You Rosa DeLauro!)

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) told DeLauro that "We're stealing our grandchildren's future by spending so much money," and introduced an amendment to keep funding levels the same. (Wait - wasn't he the guy who wanted to make 2010 the Year of the Bible? Are we supposed to pray the E. coli away?) DeLauro replied that Broun's proposal "in fact would put this agency back in jeopardy. We just cannot afford to neglet our food safety system any longer." Hell yeah, Rep. DeLauro!!!

(I have an idea for Broun - why don't we save our grandkids' money by no longer buying more F-22 fighter jets for the military... these things are the ultimate pork. They have parts made in 44 different states, so Congress keeps ordering more planes to create jobs in their states even though the military says NO MORE F-22s! The F-22 was made to fight the Soviets - but it's not just that they are outdated. They are also complete crap. They only fly an average of 1.7 hours at a time before breaking down! Let's use the money the House just set aside for F-22s for food safety instead.)

Back to the FDA budget story, here's some more info on the budget from the WSJ:

Much of the increase in funding will target food safety initiatives, an area where the FDA has faced numerous challenges in the last year amid concerns as to how the agency responded to a variety of foodborne health problems involving peanuts, pet food and hot peppers. Rep. DeLauro said it will allow the FDA to review more food that enters the country's borders and hire an additional 1,150 foreign and domestic inspections.

Michael Taylor's Views on Food Safety

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Jul 07, 2009 at 23:17:57 PM PDT

Obama White House Appoints Former Monsanto Lobbyist to FDA

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Jul 07, 2009 at 22:35:57 PM PDT

The FDA just announced the appointment of Michael Taylor as a Senior Advisor to the FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg.

Taylor previously worked at the USDA from 1976-1981 as a staff lawyer. He left government to work at King & Spaulding, a law firm representing Monsanto.

He returned to government - this time to the FDA - for a stint as Deputy Commissioner for Policy from 1991-1994. According to Marion Nestle in Food Politics:

[At the FDA] he was part of the team that issued the agency's decidedly industry-friendly policy on food biotechnology and that approved the use of Monsanto's genetically engineered growth hormone in dairy cows. His questionable role in these decisions led to an investigation by the federal General Accounting Office, which eventually exonerated him of all conflict-of-interest charges.

In 1994, he moved over to the USDA's Food Safety & Inspection Service to serve as Administrator until 1996. Then it was back to King & Spaulding for a little bit, and - in 1998 - over to Monsanto, where he was a senior lobbyist (Vice President for Public Policy).

Most recently, beginning in 2000, he was a fellow for Resources for The Future, serving as Research Professor Of Health Policy at George Washington University. Until this week, that is. Resources for Our Future is quite corporate funded with members of its Board of Directors from BP, Chevron, and DuPont.

And now he's back at the FDA. Great. Thanks Obama. Really.

Nestle E. Coli Recall: Inspection Report & Other News

by: JayinPortland

Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 16:00:00 PM PDT

In a September 2006 visit, for example, managers at the Danville, Va., plant refused to allow a Food and Drug Administration inspector to review consumer complaints or inspect its program designed to prevent food contamination. The inspector found dirty equipment and "three live ant-like insects" on a ledge but nothing severe enough to give the plant a failing grade. [...]

The FDA can [currently] inspect the records if it invokes a bioterrorism law and shows that the agency has "a reasonable belief" that the foods pose serious health threats -- a high bar to cross.

While it may not be perfect, and while we definitely have to continue to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't unfairly harm small, responsible producers when it's clearly these major food companies who are the problem when it comes to food safety in our current system; the food safety legislation currently in Congress will require food companies to provide FDA access to these records, and that's a very good and necessary thing.  "Company policy" should never be able to override our regulatory agencies' efforts to ensure that we aren't taking our lives into our hands every time we shop at the supermarket.

Details from the inspection reports, and a bit more, below the fold...

This Week In BPA: Heart Disease In Women, Fertility Defects

by: JayinPortland

Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 14:19:55 PM PDT

• A new study finds BPA may contribute to heart disease in women.  FDA agreed earlier this month to review their decision on BPA, and hopefully they'll use real science this time.

  Women are more likely to die from heart attacks than men mostly because of problems caused by arrhythmias, Belcher said.

  "It looks like BPA will be very harmful to the female heart," he said.

  [...]

  Low doses of BPA "markedly increased" arrhythmias, [Scott] Belcher [leader of the University of Cincinnati research team] said, and the effect was amplified when the heart cells were exposed to both BPA and estrogen.

Two more items below the fold...

Congress Waking Up On BPA?

by: JayinPortland

Thu Jun 04, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM PDT

Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg relating to the possible dangers of Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in consumer products and food product containers, particularly in infant formula containers and other items used by infants and children.  Chairmen Waxman and Stupak asked Commissioner Hamburg to reconsider the FDA's conclusion under the Bush Administration that BPA is safe at current estimated exposure levels.

"It is critical that we know for certain whether BPA is safe to use in consumer products and food product containers," said Chairman Waxman.  "We need to make sure that FDA thoroughly and fairly reviews the best science on BPA so that the public - and especially infants and children - are protected."

Much new information has come out about BPA since FDA's decision last year, and none of it has been kind to the chemical and plastics industry.  Nor, for that matter, has it been kind to FDA.  Let's hope the new administration straightens things out on this.

Rep. Stupak also expressed concern about the Bush Administration FDA's interactions with industry during the approval process and beyond, while both Reps. Waxman and Stupak sent a document request to the North American Metal Packaging Alliance regarding the fear and smear tactics they are reported to be planning to use in their upcoming PR counterattack.

Here are the letters [pdf] sent to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, and to the world's leading BPA cheerleader, NAMPA Chairman Dr. John Rost.

Sampler Platter 05.13.09

by: JayinPortland

Wed May 13, 2009 at 15:15:00 PM PDT

• The FDA has sent a warning letter to General Mills, telling the company to stop promoting Cheerios as a health food.  (For a funny take on the Right Wing blogosphere's outrage (grrrr!) at FDA's "attack" on America cereal, see here.)  Meanwhile, Health Canada unfortunately seems to want to make it easier for food manufacturers to be able to market junk as "health food" in their country...

• Elementary school students are snacking on (and learning about) healthy local produce in Madison, Wisconsin.

• Can't say this is really a surprise - from Grist, Monsanto is now firing off their propaganda on National Petrol, errrrr, National Public Radio.  Great article debunking Monsanto's claims, but it's not like the oil companies, ADM and other corporate interests haven't already been scrubbing themselves "clean" in their own greenshowers over the airwaves of NPR for years and years and years...

• Fantastic article from Ken Olsen at High Country News on the intersection of agriculture, business, politics, power and salmon - and what government ultimately needs to do to help restore wild salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest.

More below the fold...