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Study links screen time to obesity.......2 Testimony: Beef inspection spotty.......3 Americans fall short of guidelines........4 Senators: FDA is underfunded............7 Vol. XXXVIII No. 9 April 28, 2008 Food safety news Congress drafts FDA overhaul legislation On April 17, several U.S. representatives who have been involved in probes into the federal government’s efforts to ensure food safety unveiled draft legislation that would overhaul the FDA. Representatives John D. Dingell (D-MI), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), and Bart Stupak (D-MI) submitted a discussion draft of the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2008. “This discussion draft is meant to stimulate discussion about how to provide adequate fund-ing and authority for FDA to ensure the safety of the nation’s food, drug, medical device, and cosmetic supply in an increasingly globalized marketplace,” the congressmen wrote in a letter to fellow members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. “This discussion draft raises challenging policy questions, and we anticipate a vigorous debate on the issues.” The draft legislation was prompted by investigations and hearings conducted by the committee, as well as by 2007’s report from the FDA Science Board’s Subcommittee on Science and Technology regarding the administration’s Food Protection Plan, Import Safety Plan, and input from stakeholders. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce will hold hearings on the draft legislation during the next few weeks and will amend the legislation following the hearings, the congressmen wrote. The draft legislation would, among other actions: • Create an up-to-date registry of all food facilities serving American consumers and require all facilities operating within or exporting to the United States to register with the FDA annually • Make generally-accepted-as-safe determinations public • Generate resources through a fee of $2,000 per food facility, raising about $600 million for food safety (and thereby doubling the food safety budget) • Prevent food safety problems by requiring foreign and domestic food producers to implement safety plans, which the FDA would review during mandatory inspections every four years • Expand lab testing capacity • Require country-of-origin labeling and disclosure for imported foods • Provide the FDA with new authority to issue mandatory recalls of tainted foods • Clarify consumer labeling for foods treated with carbon monoxide Earl Brackett, senior vice president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said in an April 16 release that the draft legislation “creates unnecessary regulatory burdens, over-broad enforcement power, and would likely result in a further increase in food prices.” Visit the following links for more information: • http://energycommerce.house.gov/FDAGlobalAct-08/ Dingel_60AXML.pdf to read the draft discussion • http://tinyurl.com/4vvuam to read Brackett’s statement Uruguay boasts king-sized BBQ Where’s the beef? Uruguay, apparently. According to an April 13 Reuters story, more than 1,000 barbecue fans in that country recently grilled 12 metric tons of beef, setting a new Guinness world record while promoting the country’s top export. The Uruguayan army set up a grill almost one mile long, and firefighters lit six tons of charcoal to kick off the cookout. Some 1,250 people grilled the beef on April 13, in front of approximately 20,000 spectators. The South American country topped a Mexican grilling record from 2006 by 4 tons. Page Food assistance news Benefits-related fraud leads to convictions, fines The USDA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released an update of developments in its various investigations on April 7, detailing five criminal convictions for food stamp and WIC violations across the country. In the first case, a joint investigation by the OIG and the FBI revealed that more than $2.5 million in fraudulent activity had been conducted at a New York delicatessen. The delicatessen owner pled guilty to conspiracy, food stamp trafficking, and wire fraud. In February, a New York federal court sentenced the owner to 30 months of imprisonment and 36 months of supervised release. The owner also had to forfeit $865,000 and pay the same amount in restitution, the OIG said. The second case involved a grocery store without authorization to accept food stamps that was engaged in large-scale food stamp trafficking with several electronic benefits transaction (EBT) pointof-sale devices, the OIG said. The storeowner was sentenced in March to 41 months in prison and 24 months of supervised release and was ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution. After serving his sentence, the storeowner will face deportation, the OIG said. A joint investigation by agents from the OIG, the Social Security Administration’s OIG, and the IRS landed a Antiobesity news Study: Kids’ screen time can lead to obesity Although recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advise that preschoolers aged 2 years and older should spend no more than two hours per day watching television and using the computer, new research at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) in Houston shows that many kids exceed that time limit. The extra time spent in sedentary activity may be detrimental to their health, according to an April 21 release from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). The ARS operates the CNRC jointly with Baylor College of Medicine, in cooperation with Texas Children’s Hospital. April 28, 2008 Pennsylvania storeowner with 48 months in prison, 72 months of probation, and $115,000 in restitution to the USDA. The OIG said that during 1992–2006, the storeowner made false statements to several government agencies in order to receive more than $125,000 in food stamp and medical benefits—all while the storeowner was on probation for a 1997 federal arson conviction. The fourth case involved an investigation conducted by the OIG, the IRS, the FBI, and the St. Paul, MN, police department. It revealed that a Minnesota convenience store had engaged in trafficking about $100,000 of food stamps. The storeowner was sentenced in January to 36 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release and was ordered to pay $757,000 in restitution. In 2007, the OIG said, four other defendants in the case pled guilty to conspiring to traffic EBT benefits. They are awaiting sentencing and will also be responsible for the restitution. In the last case, an OIG investigation uncovered a scheme in which the owner and employees of a Texas retail grocery store engaged in trafficking WIC vouchers and food stamp benefits for cash through the EBT system. From January 1999 to May 2003, the store redeemed about $458,000 in benefits that were not supported by legitimate sales. In January, a federal court in the Western District of Texas sentenced the storeowner to 36 months of probation and ordered him to pay $459,000 in restitution. Visit www.usda.gov/oig/new.htm to read the bulletin. A new CNRC study analyzed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which surveyed a diverse group of more than 1,800 preschoolers, aged 2–5 years, concerning their media consumption or “screen time,” measured as TV/video viewing or computer use. Researchers compared children watching more than two hours of TV/videos daily to those watching two hours or less, and computer users to nonusers, relative to various selected health outcomes related to obesity. Results showed that 30.8% of the preschoolers studied exceeded the AAP screen time guidelines simply through watching TV/videos, without taking into account computer time, the release said. Most of the preschoolers in this group watched one to three hours of TV/videos on the assessment day. Those children who surpassed the AAP recommendations for screen time were more likely to be overweight or at risk for being overweight. Visit http://tinyurl.com/5g4r3p to read the report. © 2008 HCPro, Inc. Page Food safety news Testimony details past slaughterhouse problems Enforcement of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) had been spotty for years before the alleged wrongdoing at the Westland/Hallmark meatpacking plant in Chino, CA, led to the largest beef recall in history, according to recent Congressional testimony by a Government Accountability Office (GAO) official. “The recently documented inhumane treatment of disabled cows slaughtered at the Westland/Hallmark plant in California and the entry of their meat into the market calls into question FSIS’ enforcement of the act,” said Lisa Shames, director of natural resources and environment at the GAO, according to an April 17 transcript of her remarks. Shames spoke before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and the Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Domestic Policy. “In 2004, we reported that FSIS was not adequately recording instances of noncompliance with HMSA and thus could not assure the Congress that it was fully enforcing the act at federally inspected slaughter facilities.” Specifically, Shames said, the GAO found that: • Incomplete and inconsistent inspection records made it difficult to determine the frequency and scope of humane handling and slaughter violations. Those inspection records showed that inspectors did not always document HMSA violations and that, when they did, the inspectors did not consistently document the scope and severity of each incident. Enforcement actions to address noncompliance with the act and other regulations were also inconsistent. • FSIS officials were not using consistent criteria to suspend plant operations. As a result, plants in different FSIS districts were not subject to comparable enforcement actions. • FSIS lacked detailed information about how much time its inspectors spent on humane handling and slaughter activities, making it difficult to determine whether the number of inspectors was adequate. The 2004 GAO report did not specifically assess FSIS’ effectiveness in enforcing the humane handling and slaughtering provisions of HMSA, which may have been violated in the Westland/Hallmark incident, Shames said. © 2008 HCPro, Inc. FSIS has addressed the recommendations in the 2004 GAO report to improve its reporting of humane handling and slaughter methods at federally inspected facilities, principally in regard to weaknesses in the agency’s internal reporting of the frequency and scope of HMSA violations, Shames said. “However, without further evaluation and public reporting to enhance transparency and accountability, we do not know the effectiveness of these actions,” she added. Shames noted that although the FSIS budget has increased since 1988, staffing levels have declined since 1995, “and some districts have experienced high vacancy rates among inspectors, possibly impairing enforcement of HMSA and food safety regulations generally.” FSIS’ budget authority increased from $392 million in fiscal year (FY) 1988 to $930 million in FY 2008—a 137% increase, Shames said. The administration’s proposed FY 2009 budget calls for an increase in FSIS funding to $952 million. From FY 1995 to FY 2007, the number of fulltime employees at FSIS fell from approximately 9,600 to about 9,200. Meanwhile, Shames said, the volume of meat and poultry inspected and passed by FSIS has grown, along with the number of pounds of recalled meat and poultry. Shames said more than 150 million cattle, sheep, hogs, and other animals were slaughtered in FY 2007 at some 700 federally inspected slaughter facilities throughout the United States. Shames also pointed to an issue that the GAO has reported on several times—the fragmentation of the nation’s food inspection/regulation system. “FSIS is only one of 15 agencies that collectively administer at least 30 laws related to food safety. This fragmentation is the key reason GAO added the federal oversight of food safety to its High-Risk Series in 2007 and called for a governmentwide reexamination of the food safety system,” said Shames. “The fragmentation results in federal resources for food safety being directed to multiple agencies.” Shames said the GAO has recommended that Congress enact comprehensive, uniform, and risk-based food safety legislation and commission the National Academy of Sciences or a blue-ribbon panel to conduct a detailed analysis of alternative organizational food safety structures. “We have also recommended that the executive branch reconvene the President’s Council on Food Safety to facilitate interagency coordination on food safety regulation and programs,” said Shames. “According to documents on the council’s Web site, the current administration has not reconvened the council.” Visit http://tinyurl.com/3shkq2 to read Shames’ testimony. April 28, 2008 Page Report: Americans aren’t meeting dietary guidelines Editor’s note: This brief was excerpted from the March USDA report, Dietary Assessment of Major Trends in U.S. Food Consumption, 1970–2005. Visit www.ers. usda.gov/Publications/EIB33 to read the report. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, about two-thirds of U.S. adults in 2003–2004 were either overweight or obese, compared with 47% in 1976–1980. The U.S. obesity rate among adults has more than doubled, from 15% in 1976–1980 to 32% in 2003–2004. The extent of obesity has focused attention on what Americans have been eating. The main reason for this weight gain is the estimated increase in caloric intake without a corresponding increase in physical activity. More than 50% of U.S. adults are not physically active. Poor diets and sedentary lifestyles have been associated with diet-related chronic diseases in adults that include hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain kinds of cancer (HHS, 2005). In an effort to promote a healthy, balanced diet with adequate physical activity and to reduce the incidence of diet-related health conditions, the USDA and HHS jointly publish the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Since its inception in 1980, the Guidelines have been published every five years to provide targeted dietary recommendations for Americans older than 2 years. Although the core dietary messages have remained constant over time (e.g., eat more vegetables), each edition differs slightly to reflect the latest scientific and medical information on nutrition and health. For example, the January 2005 Guidelines and a supporting guidance document, the MyPyramid Food Guidance System, introduced specific recommendations for wholegrain consumption. The 2005 edition also breaks down the new daily recommendations into 12 calorie levels ranging from 1,000 to 3,200 calories per day, depending on age, gender, and level of physical activity. The MyPyramid Food Guidance System replaced the 1992 Food Guide Pyramid and is designed to help Americans consume the recommended amounts of the different food groups. Among the major recommendations in 2005: • Grains—emphasize that at least half of total grains consumed should be whole grains • Vegetables—emphasize dark green vegetables, orange vegetables, and legumes (i.e., dry beans, peas, or lentils) April 28, 2008 • Fruits—emphasize variety and “go easy” on fruit juices • Milk—emphasize fat-free and low-fat milk and milk products • Meat and beans—emphasize low-fat and lean meats, nuts, seeds, and legumes • Oils—use mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, such as those found in fish, nuts, and vegetable oils and de-emphasize solid fats, such as butter, margarine, shortening, and lard In this report, we used the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans to estimate the dietary status of Americans. The main goals of this study were to: (1) analyze the amount of food available for consumption since 1970 for each food group, and (2) estimate whether Americans are meeting the Guidelines’ recommendations for each food group. Nutrition Week Subscriber Services Coupon q Start my subscription to Nutrition Week immediately. Please include a $24.00 shipping and handling charge* (option 2 only). Delivery options (please select one only): q Option 1: Electronic subscription (just $199 for 24 PDFs of print newsletter and Nutrition Week Update, an electronic newsletter) NWE q Option 2: Electronic and print subscription (just $199 for 24 full issues, access to online archives, and 24 issues of Nutrition Week Update, an electronic newsletter) NWPE q Payment enclosed. q Please bill me. q Please bill my organization using PO # ________________________ Charge q AmEx q MasterCard q VISA q Discover Signature ____________________________________________________ (Required for authorization) Card # _____________________________________ Expires _________ Your credit card bill will reflect a charge to HCPro, Inc., the publisher of Nutrition Week. Name and title _______________________________________________ Organization _________________________________________________ Address _____________________________________________________ City ________________________________ State ____ ZIP ___________ Phone ( ) ___________________ Fax ( ) ___________________ E-mail (Required for electronic subscriptions) ________________________________ Mail to: HCPro, Inc. P.O. Box 1168, Marblehead, MA 01945 Call: 800/639-6787 Fax: 800/639-8511 Source code: E-mail: [email protected] N0001 *Tax Information Please include applicable sales tax. Electronic subscriptions are exempt. States that tax products and shipping and handling: CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, NC, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV. State that taxes products only: AZ. Please include $27.00 for shipping to AK, HI, or PR. © 2008 HCPro, Inc. Page Food consumption patterns change in response to changes in relative food prices, increases in real (adjusted for inflation) disposable income, and food assistance for the poor. Moreover, time series data on actual consumption by Americans are lacking. intake in MyPyramid equivalents or daily allowance (as identified in USDA’s MyPyramid Food Guidance System, www.Mypyramid.gov). The estimated MyPyramid equivalents for individual commodities or foods are then aggregated to determine total daily amounts for each food group. We then compared these estimates with federal dietary recommendations to provide an estimate of whether Americans are meeting the dietary recommendations for the different food groups. Most consumer surveys of dietary intake cover one or a few years of consumption, and most are not nationally representative of the U.S. population. We tracked the amount of food available for consumption over time and the dietary status of Americans using the Economic Research Service Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System, a unique, popular, and often-cited data system In particular, we compared the amount of food conthat provides proxies for actual consumption. The data sumed by the average American with the amount recsystem contains three separate but related data series— ommended in USDA’s Food Guide in Appendix A-2 the Food Availability data, the of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Loss-Adjusted Food Availability Americans. These recommendations data, and the Nutrient Availability are broken into 12 calorie levels Food consumption patterns data—that each look at food conranging from 1,000 to 3,200 calories sumption differently. change in response to changes per day. Our data are unavailable on the distribution of Americans in relative food prices, The first series, the core food among each of the 12 calorie levels increases in real (adjusted availability data, is the only time in the Dietary Guidelines, so instead, series data on the amount of food we used the 2,000-calorie-per-day for inflation) disposable available for consumption in the reference level in our analysis to income, and food assistance United States and is a continube consistent with the level used for the poor. ous series extending back to 1909 throughout the examples in the for many commodities. The data Dietary Guidelines and on the nuare calculated for each food or trition facts labels found on most commodity (e.g., beef, low-fat packaged foods. Like the food milk, and fresh broccoli) as the sum of annual producavailability data series, the loss-adjusted data do not tion, beginning stocks, and imports minus exports, enddirectly measure actual consumption. The data are useing stocks, and nonfood uses. Per capita estimates are ful in approximating the amount of food Americans, on calculated by dividing the total annual food supply of a average, consume on a daily basis. commodity by the U.S. population that year. Food availThe third series, the nutrient availability data, calculated ability data do not directly measure actual consumption by USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion but rather serve as useful indicators of food consumption (www.cnpp.usda.gov), uses the food availability data to trends over time. Used in this manner, the data provide calculate the amounts per capita per day of food energy an upper boundary on the amount of food available for (calories) and 27 nutrients and dietary components (i.e., consumption. protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals) in the nation’s food supply. As with the food availability The second series, the loss-adjusted food availability data, data, the resulting nutrient and calorie estimates do not adjusts the food availability data for spoilage and other account for losses due to the household and marketing losses and converts the per capita data to MyPyramid system. In our analysis, we used the nutrient availability equivalents or daily allowance for comparison with feddata to estimate the percentage of calories contributed eral dietary recommendations. The percentage of food by fat and saturated fat in the average American’s diet. lost due to spoilage and other losses at several different stages along the food production, marketing, and conThe analyses had several key findings. We found that sumption chain is identified for each commodity or food. many Americans do not meet the federal daily dietary In addition, the estimates incorporate loss assumptions recommendations. They consume foods and beverages for nonedible food parts, such as rinds, seeds, cores, and high in fats and carbohydrates at greater-than-recomstems, as estimated in USDA’s Nutrient Database for mended rates and nutrient-dense foods and beverages, Standard Reference (www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/ such as lower-fat milk and milk products, fruits, and search). Next, we converted the loss-adjusted data from vegetables, at levels below recommended rates. pounds per capita per year into daily per capita food © 2008 HCPro, Inc. April 28, 2008 Page Briefly noted The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said in an April 16 release that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld a ruling requiring marketers of Seasilver, FTC: $120 million an allegedly phony cure-all dietary judgment upheld supplement, to pay almost $120 million for failing to comply with an earlier order requiring them to pay $3 million in consumer redress. The decision, issued April 10, affirmed an earlier district court order requiring Jason and Bela Berkes, Seasilver USA, Inc., and Americaloe, Inc., to pay almost $120 million under an agreement with the FTC. The March 2004 order barred them from making false or misleading claims and included a $120 million judgment that would be suspended if they paid $3 million within a specified time. The defendants did not meet the required payment terms, and, in June 2006, a district court granted the FTC’s request to enforce the stipulated judgment. assistance, according to a release from Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA). The framework maintains the investment of the Senatepassed bill in farm income protection, as well as adding investments in nutrition, conservation, and renewable energy, and a program to provide disaster assistance to farmers, said Harkin, who is chair of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. “The clock is ticking to complete a new farm bill and, with just one week to go before the extension expires, we must reach agreement,” said Harkin. “The Senate has now presented two good offers to the House that strengthen farm income and disaster protection and fill in gaps in nutrition assistance, invest in farm-based renewable energy, help farmers and ranchers conserve our natural resources, and devote substantial new funding to initiatives for growers of fruits, vegetables, and horticultural crops. We are getting closer, but we still do not have agreement.” Visit http://tinyurl.com/6o5ghc to read the release. According to the FTC, the defendants claimed that the dietary supplement Seasilver was clinically proven to treat or cure 650 diseases, including cancer and AIDS, and cause rapid, substantial, and permanent weight loss without dieting. The FTC alleged that the claims were false and unsubstantiated. Visit http://tinyurl.com/63ydoy to read the release. On April 18, Senate farm bill conferees presented to House conferees a proposal for $10 billion in additional spending for the farm bill, including funds for disaster Harkin touts farm bill proposal Editorial Advisory Board Robert Earl, MPH, RD Senior Director, Nutrition Policy Food Products Association, Washington, DC Rodney Leonard Founder, Community Nutrition Institute, Wahkon, MN Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health New York University, New York, NY Cecilia Richardson, MS, RD, LD Staff Director/Nutrition Programs Director National WIC Association, Washington, DC Nancy Stiles, SFNS School Nutrition Director Hampton School District, Hampton, NH April 28, 2008 South Korea has reopened its borders to U.S. beef products, according to an April 18 statement by USDA Secretary Ed Schafer. South Korea opens borders to U.S. beef “By allowing complete market access for U.S. beef and beef products from cattle of all ages, South Korea has made a decision that is based on science and in line with international guidelines,” said Schafer. “As a result of a constructive and steady dialogue, Korean consumers will again have access to safe, affordable, high-quality beef at a time when global commodity prices are tightening.” Nutrition Week Nutrition Week (ISSN: 0736-0096 [print] 1937-7657 [online]) is published biweekly, except for July 4, the first week in September, and the first and last weeks in December (24 times per year), by HCPro, Inc. Address: 200 Hoods Lane, Marblehead, MA 01945. Tel: 800/650-6787. Fax: 800/639-8511. E-mail: [email protected]. Copyright © 2008. For editorial questions, contact Jay Kumar at 781/639-1872, Ext. 3144; fax: 781/639-2982; e-mail: [email protected]. Rodney E. Leonard………………Contributing Editor John Novack………………..........Group Publisher Matt Wickenheiser......................Editor Jay Kumar....................................Senior Managing Editor Annual subscription rates: one-year, $199; two-year, $358; nonprofit one-year, $139; two-year nonprofit, $250; one-year student rate, $45. For first class mailing add $24 per year. Back issue: $5. Periodicals postage paid at Marblehead, MA, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to NUTRITION WEEK, 200 Hoods Lane, Marblehead, MA 01945. Tel: 800/650-6787. Fax: 800/639-8511. E-mail: [email protected]. Printed on 100% recycled paper, 20% postconsumer waste. © 2008 HCPro, Inc. Page Schafer said that in May 2007, the World Organization for Animal Health formally classified the United States as a controlled-risk country for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. Controlled-risk status confirms that U.S. BSE regulatory controls are effective and that U.S. beef and beef products of all ages can be safely traded. Before the Korean market was closed to U.S. beef and beef products in December 2003, following the detection of a case of BSE in the state of Washington, Korea was the third-largest export market for U.S. beef and beef products, with annual sales of more than $815 million. Visit http://tinyurl.com/6lt93c to read the release. USDA donations will exceed $100 million in a swap of government surplus raw commodity stocks for domestic and international food through the agency’s “Stocks-for-Food” initiative, according to an April 16 USDA release. Barter program to exceed $100 million in donations Internationally, the barter initiative will help more than 700,000 children through the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. The agency announced in 2007 that it would begin an exchange of uncommitted raw commodity inventories for food products to supplement USDA domestic and Food safety news FDA funds debated, detailed at Senate panel hearing Democratic and Republican senators say the FDA needs more money than the White House has budgeted for next year, according to an April 16 New York Times story. “To us, it’s clear that they’re seriously underfunded,” Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) told the Times after an April 15 hearing of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee. The Times said Senator Robert F. Bennett (R-UT) agreed with Kohl and questioned FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, MD, about how much money the agency could use effectively. Bennett is the ranking minority member on the subcommittee. According to a transcript of von Eschenbach’s testimony, President Bush’s fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget request for the FDA builds © 2008 HCPro, Inc. international food assistance. To date, the USDA has bartered 1 million bushels of corn, 1 million bushels of soybeans, 7.3 million bushels of wheat, 456 tons of peanuts, 1,987 hundredweight of rice, and 79,329 bales of cotton. Total processed foods acquired from the bartering include 18.4 million pounds of canned vegetables, 7.6 million pounds of peanut butter, 15.7 million pounds of canned meats, 6,060 metric tons of vegetable oil, and 7,053 metric tons of corn-soy blend. U.S. food and drug regulators will begin work in China in June, once Beijing gives its final approval, the Associated Press (AP) reported April 15. U.S. regulators may report to China in June HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said the FDA is planning to open an office in China as part of a new import safety plan prompted, in part, by issues involving Chinese products that led to several health scares and were linked to several deaths. “In the past, the United States and many other countries have employed a strategy of standing at the border trying to catch things that aren’t safe,” Leavitt told the AP during a visit to Singapore. “We’re changing our strategy from one of trying to catch unsafe products to building safety into the products. Our purpose is not just inspection, it’s building capacity and maintaining relationships between regulators.” on the FY 2008 appropriation with a proposed 5.7% increase. This increase will give the FDA a budget of $2.4 billion, consisting of $1.8 billion in discretionary budget authority and $0.7 billion in user fees. According to the Times story, the Senate passed a budget resolution in March that would make the FDA’s allocated budget $375 million greater in FY 2009 than in FY 2008, a 20% increase. Von Eschenbach said he did not believe that the agency could absorb so large a budget addition in one year, the Times reported. In his testimony, the commissioner detailed some of the costs associated with the FDA’s Import Safety Action Plan and its Food Protection Plan (FPP). The FDA is requesting an additional $42 million in FY 2009 to protect the food supply and to continue to implement the FPP plan. Visit http://tinyurl.com/65bj8f to read the transcript of von Eschenbach’s testimony. April 28, 2008 PERIODICALS 200 Hoods Lane Marblehead, MA 01945 Newspaper Foodborne illness data released Preliminary data released by the CDC April 11 charts the incidence of foodborne pathogen outbreaks and suggests that the government may need a new approach to cut down on sickness due to salmonella poisoning. the targets were reached in 2007. Salmonella incidence was the furthest from its national health target, the CDC said, “suggesting that reaching this target will require new approaches.” The CDC said that in 2007, the estimated incidence of infections caused by Campylobacter, Listeria, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157, salmonella, shigella, vibrio, and Yersinia did not change significantly from 2004– 2006, whereas cryptosporidium infections increased. “Enhanced measures are needed to understand the complex ecologies that link pathogens to animals and plants; to control or eliminate pathogens in food sources; to reduce or prevent contamination during food growing, harvesting, and processing; and to educate restaurant workers and consumers about infection risks and prevention measures,” the CDC said. Progress toward the Healthy People 2010 national health objective targets and goals regarding the incidence of foodborne infections occurred before 2004, but none of Visit http://tinyurl.com/4owjls to see the data. Percentage change in foodborne bacteria infections, 2007 vs. 2004–2006 80 Increase 95% confidence interval 40 20 No change 0 -20 Decrease % change* % change estimate 60 -40 -60 -80 Campylobacter Listeria Salmonella Shigella STEC† O157 Vibrio Yersinia Pathogen * No significant change = 95% confidence interval is both above and below the no change line; significant increase = estimate and entire 95% confidence interval are above the no change line; significant decrease = estimate and entire 95% confidence interval are below the no change line. † Shigna toxin-producing Escherichia coli. Source: CDC April 28, 2008 © 2008 HCPro, Inc.