A new study has found that "survivors of severe cases of food-borne illnesses can suffer lifelong health problems." Tanya Roberts, a board chairwoman of the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention tracked five major pathogens which "can cause paralysis, kidney failure, heart infections, neurological problems, and, in children, mental retardation, according to a white paper co-authored by Roberts that the center released Thursday." The group "is a member of the Make Our Food Safe coalition, which is pressing Congress to pass legislation by the end of this year that would strengthen the Food and Drug Administration's power to police domestic and imported food."
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In an op-ed in The Hill (10/8), former FDA commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, now a senior adviser at the Center for Health Transformation, and Wayne W. Oliver, a CHT vice president, write that despite A plan to spend $5 billion of stimulus funds on government grants to increase medical research, "not one dollar of stimulus money will be used to enhance the capacity and capability of the FDA." Despite "decades of neglect" the agency continues to have “a diminished capacity to embrace new scientific technologies and meet the demands needed to protect the public health." Von Eschenbach and Oliver call for new resources and "the design and implementation of a 21st century regulatory framework" that will help the FDA "drive innovation, dramatically shorten the time between discovery and delivery, and allow Americans everywhere to have access to safe, effective and miraculous discoveries" Comment: In previous Blogs I have said the FDA was severely restricted by funds yet Congress keeps adding duties, including the most recent tobacco responsibilities.
The September 2009 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports the results of 3 human studies designed to better delineate the relation between animal foods and breast cancer risk. "These studies highlight two very important points," said American Society for Nutrition Spokesperson Shelley McGuire, PhD. "First we all need to remember that there are really no such things as 'bad' foods. Second, observational studies that show associations between diet and health need to be considered with a proverbial grain of salt. These studies clearly provide additional and strong evidence that consumption of meat and dairy products by women does not, by itself, increase breast cancer risk. Further, moderate and mindful consumption of these foods can be very important in attaining optimal nutrition for most women who often do not consume sufficient iron and calcium."
An editorial in this week’s Lancet lets the air out of the organic food movement. There is little evidence that the nutritional value of ‘organic’ products is better than food raised by other means, but If one wants to buy organic food, do so because it might be fresher and taste better, contain less chemical residues, and is kinder to farmed animals. You have to decide if the price is worth the meal.
Just to confuse us once more about nutrition, "drinking milk can lessen the chances of dying from illnesses such as heart disease and stroke by as much as 20 percent." While "cow's milk provides calcium, potassium, protein, and vitamin D," it also contains "sugars and saturated fat," so it "is often portrayed as an unhealthy choice." For their paper, researchers at the UK's Cardiff University and University of Reading conducted an analysis of "324 studies of milk consumption as predictors of coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes." They found that the "health benefits associated with the drink outweigh dangers."
University of Louisville neurologist Robert P. Friedland, M.D., questions the safety of eating farmed fish in today's Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, adding a new worry to concerns about the nation's food supply. Friedland and his co-authors suggest farmed fish could transmit Creutzfeldt Jakob disease--commonly known as mad cow disease--if they are fed byproducts rendered from cows. The scientists urge government regulators to ban feeding cow meat or bone meal to fish until the safety of this common practice can be confirmed. Comment: This position is unsupported by any studies and seems to be published only to gain notoriety
The new report, Stronger Partnerships for Safer Food: An Agenda for Strengthening State and Local Roles in the Nation's Food Safety System, was produced by the Department of Health Policy at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in partnership with the organizations that represent food safety officials and practitioners at the state and local levels: the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). For the first time, this diverse group of officials has come together to recommend a series of improvements in the roles of state and local agencies as partners in a national food safety system working to prevent foodborne illness. The report was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
As reported in the media today CDC has released data showing that reports of food borne Illness are level. This is an under reported phenomenon, just as are reports of STDs. The reported data shows that millions of people are affected annually, thousands hospitalized and several thousand die. Yet, despite these numbers there is little likelihood any improvement will occur. Food poisoning is common. Politicians get more credit for fighting the very rare such as 'mad cow' diseases which have affected a few hundred people worldwide, and only one or two in the USA. Just as Congress is considering loading tobacco control onto the FDA, the FDA and department of agriculture, as well as state public health and agriculture agencies lack staff for effective control of current programs such as food poisoning prevention. Congress will lambast beleaguered federal agencies which can only provide data (or spin if you prefer) but not criticize Congress or the Executive branch while they endure criticism. You have to have a very thick skin to be a federal agency manager.
Speaking of politics and science now we have another story about the dangers of red meat [Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(6] There is little evidence that a vegetarian diet is more suitable for omnivores (humans) than a mixed diet, but we can expect the vegan activists will use the data from the latest study out of context.
FDA alerts consumers to the finding of new undeclared drug ingredients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expanding, for the second time, its nationwide alert to consumers about tainted weight loss products containing undeclared, active pharmaceutical ingredients. The products listed in this announcement, some of which are marketed as dietary supplements, are promoted and sold on various Web sites and in some retail stores and beauty salons. Some of the products claim to be "natural" or to contain only "herbal" ingredients, but actually contain potentially harmful ingredients not listed on the products' labels or in promotional advertisements. These products have not been approved by the FDA, are illegal, and include the following undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients. Comment - The Weight Loss Hucksters are probably taking as much out of the economy as Bernie Madoff or AIG.
