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August 2, 2007
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International food supply a soft target for
terrorists
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Feds table plans to close food-safety labs
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California growers lobby for massive water deal
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Broccoli consumption reduces prostrate cancer risk
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Eating is believing this is one hot chili
International food supply a soft target for terrorists
Newswise — When contaminated spinach was
pulled from store shelves in 2006, the effects were felt across the table and
around the world. Three people died and over 200 others fell sick across 26
states.
Across borders and oceans, the Japanese yen
and
“The global food supply is interconnected,”
said Marc Ostfield, senior advisor for bioterrorism, biodefense and health
security at the U.S. Department of State. Ostfield addressed the
Ostfield noted challenges of an
international, safe food supply, which he called a “soft target for
terrorists.” In recent meetings with worldwide governments “We’ve been using
food defense as a way to open the door to talk about bioterrorism,” he said.
Improving food-supply protection gives all
governments “a mandate to move forward,” he added.
Ostfeld noted progress in 2004 to mandate
food-supply protection among the wealthy G8 nations. In 2005, G8 countries were
introduced to the latest
Building international dialogue accounts for
one goal in counter-bioterrorism efforts, as does involving industry in
decisions. “(Industry’s) buy-in, leadership and partnership are crucial to
hardening the soft targets.”
A bigger challenge is balancing trade with
food safety concerns. “How does enhanced food defense not interfere with
growing economies? How can we make them complementary and not contradictory?”
he asked.
Sharing information across borders is high on
his list to improve food defense, as is strengthening communication between
government, private industry and all sectors of
International food-defense cooperation
efforts are bearing fruit, he said.
“We are starting to see the private sector—at
least the very largest multi-national firms—begin to incorporate food defense
practices around the globe.”
The IFT Global Food Safety & Quality
conference, and the concurrent IFT Food Nanoscience conference concluded today.
Founded in 1939, and with world headquarters
in
Feds table plans to close food-safety labs
(KansasCity.com)—WASHINGTON | The Food and
Drug Administration’s commissioner has suspended plans to close more than half
the agency’s field laboratories, including one in the
Andrew von Eschenbach is awaiting
recommendations from a presidential panel, formed after a spate of recalls
involving imported food and consumer products, on how to better guarantee the safety
of such imports.
President Bush established the panel July 18
and asked for recommendations in 60 days.
Von Eschenbach said Wednesday that he wanted
to make sure the FDA was “doing the right thing and doing it in the right way”
before proceeding.
For months, the FDA has said it wants to
consolidate its lab network — closing seven of 13 labs across the country — in
an effort to modernize the agency’s food safety efforts. But lawmakers, some
lab employees and the union that represents most FDA workers think the idea
would make matters worse.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, who represents the
“I am relieved Commissioner Eschenbach
decided to suspend this unwise plan,”
“The American people continue to be concerned
about the safety of the food they eat. With recent headlines on contamination
in spinach, peanut butter and pet food, now is the time to be increasing and
improving the capabilities of our FDA labs, not closing labs down.”
Last March,
At the time,
He was joined on a tour of the lab by
lawmakers from both of sides of the state line, including U.S. Reps. Nancy
Boyda and Emanuel Cleaver and representatives of Rep. Sam Graves and
Roberts, too, weighed in Wednesday.
“It does not seem like a wise use of taxpayer
dollars to consolidate a facility that we just built in 1992, especially given
the significant investments made in equipment for the facility since 2001,”
Roberts said in a statement.
The other labs slated for closing were in
Denver; Detroit; Philadelphia; Alameda, Calif.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and
Winchester, Mass.
In a letter sent to von Eschenbach on Tuesday,
Democratic Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak of
Von Eschenbach denied that the closures were
part of an outsourcing plan.
Later, however, he said the agency would
consider certifying or credentialing private labs to do some testing work. He
further suggested the FDA could collaborate more with Customs and Border
Protection and the states in policing imports.
Von Eschenbach said Congress’ failure to
agree on FDA legislation before the summer recess would not lead to layoffs at
the agency as long as the measure made it to Bush before late September.
California
(SFGate.com) – A complex arrangement in which
a group of
The proposed deal, which is still subject to
extensive environmental review and congressional approval, would ensure water
rights for landowners in the Westlands Water District for 60 years, more than
double the length of a normal water contract.
In return, the sprawling water district would
assume responsibility for cleaning up a polluted mess created 20 years ago when
naturally occurring salt and selenium drained off irrigated farmland, killing
or deforming wildlife.
The
However, the water agency and its farmers owe
the federal government nearly $500 million - debt that has lingered since the
1930s, when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation fronted the money to build the massive
Central Valley Project, which reallocates a significant chunk of
Water issues are becoming increasingly
important after a dry winter that has prompted several communities, including
Experts are predicting more frequent droughts
as a result of global warming. As a result, jurisdictional battles over water
rights could become more contentious, a possible factor in the water district's
renewed efforts to reach an agreement.
Feinstein said the proposed deal would
relieve the government of an "enormous financial burden," but she
added: "The devil is in the details.
"The proposal was encouraging and
reflects a major shift from earlier proposals," Feinstein said in a
statement Wednesday.
She emphasized that earlier proposals to
grant huge amounts of water to the farmers, potentially threatening water
supplies in the Bay Area during dry years, are off the table.
"Let me be clear," Feinstein said.
"There is no discussion of granting any water district guaranteed water
rights, regardless of drought, at the expense of cities or other water
users."
The high-stakes negotiations pit politically
connected farmers with vast tracts of cropland against conservationists who are
opposed to giving away precious drinking water.
Many environmentalists are skeptical that
Westlands can be trusted to adequately clean up the toxic drainage, but they
were reluctant to criticize Wednesday's proposal, which is still subject to
revision and negotiation during a meeting tentatively scheduled for September.
"These are delicate negotiations, and
the NRDC is withholding judgment until we have something more substantive to
comment on," said Craig Noble, spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense
Council. The group criticized earlier proposals as water diversions for farmers
at the expense of taxpayers, fish and wildlife.
"The details of the proposal discussed
today have yet to be finalized," Noble said. "We look forward to
working with the parties when it comes time to review the actual language of a
draft contract and draft legislation."
The Westlands Water District is a coalition
of agribusinesses in the
A decade ago, the district sued the
government after a botched federal project left some 200,000 acres of cropland
tainted by salty, selenium-rich runoff, leaving dead and deformed birds in its
wake.
The proposed deal would settle that lawsuit.
Westlands officials could not be reached for comment, but the deal would
reportedly be worthwhile to them because it would relieve them of $490 million
owed the federal government for construction of the Central Valley Project. The
plan, as it stands, is for the water district to use the money that would
otherwise be spent on the debt toward implementing a drainage solution and
cleanup operations.
Under the proposal, Westlands would also save
a few million dollars a year on operations and maintenance of the water system.
The exact number has not been finalized. The district's 25-year water contract
would be increased to 60, ensuring irrigation water to farms even during
drought.
The proposal would also rescind rules that
required farms over 960 acres to pay more for their water. Those rules were an
attempt to keep small, family-owned farms in business.
Broccoli consumption reduces prostrate cancer risk
(BBC) – Eating broccoli and cauliflower regularly reduces the risk of
deadly prostate cancer, say US researchers.
A study of 1,300 men found they were better
than any other vegetable at protecting against aggressive tumours.
Writing in the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute, the researchers said broccoli and cauliflower were known to contain
anti-cancer compounds.
Experts advised the best way to reduce cancer
risk was to eat a balanced diet, including lots of fruit and vegetables.
Several studies have shown a link between
eating vegetables and a reduced risk of prostate cancer, but results have not
been consistent and many have not specifically looked at deadly forms of the
disease.
A team from the US National Cancer Institute
and Cancer Care
Overall, they found that eating fruits and
vegetables was not associated with decreased prostate cancer risk.
But greater consumption of dark green and
cruciferous vegetables, especially broccoli and cauliflower, was associated
with a decreased risk of aggressive prostate cancer.
A weekly serving of cauliflower was
associated with 52% decreased risk of aggressive disease and similar amounts of
broccoli cut the risk by 45%.
Healthy diet
Spinach consumption also seemed to be
associated with a reduced risk but the findings were not significant when the
researchers looked at cancer which had spread beyond the prostate.
Study leader Dr Victoria Kirsch, Cancer Care
"If the association that we observed is
ultimately found to be causal, a possible means to reduce the burden of this
disease may be primary prevention through increased consumption of broccoli,
cauliflower, and possibly spinach."
However, she pointed out that men eating a
lot of broccoli and cauliflower may be more healthy in general.
Prostate cancer kills one man an hour in the
Dr Kat Arney, Cancer Research
"Experts have proven that the best way
to reduce your risk of many cancers is to eat a healthy balanced diet.
"This should include at least five
portions a day of a variety of fruit and vegetables including broccoli and
cauliflower."
Chris Hiley, head of policy and research at
The Prostate Cancer Charity said: "Broccoli and cauliflower have appeared
in other studies as being potentially important in defences against prostate
cancer.
"Whilst waiting for definitive evidence
it's clear that men should be eating at least five portions of fruit and
vegetables a day."
Eating is believing this is one hot chili
(AP) By Tim Sulivan
Appearances are deceiving.
I ate an entire bhut jolokia the other night,
sitting at my dining room table with an open beer and -- on the advice of the
experienced -- a bowl of yogurt and a few slices of bread at the ready.
I had the strange
fear that nothing would happen, that I had traveled halfway across
What followed was a gastronomic mugging.
I know, I know. You probably think I'm
exaggerating, or maybe just inexperienced in the ways of chilis.
"I like hot peppers," you're saying
to yourself, thinking of those times -- you were probably in college, maybe
your early 20s -- when you'd had too much to drink and challenged a friend to a
chili-pepper-eating contest. You slopped down one jalapeno after another,
enjoying the way it battered your system.
I used to think like that too. But that was
before my encounter the other night, when I took the first nibble from the end
of a red vegetable barely two inches long and weighing little more than a sheet
of paper.
"Not too bad," I said aloud to the
empty room. My ignorance lasted about three seconds.
It was hot. Hotter than anything I'd ever
eaten. My tongue burned, I began to cough.
I knew I'd have to eat quickly, or I wouldn't
be able to finish it. So I took another bite, and chewed. Then another. I ate
down to the stem. I swallowed.
It's not how bhut jolokias are normally eaten
-- most locals use them in sauces, or chew off tiny pieces between bites of
their main course -- but I figured I should get the full experience. (Plus, let
me add, one of my editors suggested this exercise in masochism: Thanks.)
The full experience?
It was awful. My eyes watered uncontrollably
and my nose ran. I felt like I was gargling with acid. My hands quivered. As
the minutes passed, the pain grew worse.
I shoveled in yogurt: No relief. I chewed
bread: Nothing. My head felt like it was expanding. My ears felt as if hot
liquid was draining from them. Picture one of those old Tom and Jerry cartoons,
with steam blasting from Tom's ears as a train whistle blows. That was me.
The experts say beer and water do no good at
such times. Maybe that's true, but gulps of very cold beer were the only things
that helped me -- washing away the pain for a few blessed seconds.
Twenty minutes later, I had recovered enough
to speak clearly. So I called my wife in
A day later, my tongue felt as if it had been
scrubbed with a wire brush.
And a day after that, a friend made me a
lunch flavored with bhut jolokias.
It was a traditional meal from Nagaland, the
northeastern state along the
The food was simple, delicious. It was mild
by the standards of Nagaland, just one bhut jolokia or so for each dish. I
loved it.
I just hope she couldn't see my eyes
watering.
End Transmission