A new federal rule will give preference in contract bidding for school meals to local farm products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced this week.
The final rule, published in the Federal Register, is intended to break down barriers that have so far prevented or discouraged schools from using locally grown or raised agricultural products, and also give an economic boost to local farmers and ranchers, USDA said in a news release.
USDA is sending teams to select districts to work on farm-to-school issues, not only to look at locally sourced products but also nutrition-based studies and food literacy opportunities such as farm visits, gardening, cooking and composting instruction.
The new “buy local” rule is part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 President Obama signed into law in December. Along with new nutrition standards, one of its key provisions is to bolster farm-to-school programs nationwide in purchasing food for the government-subsidized National School Lunch, School Breakfast, Special Milk, Child and Adult Care, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable, and Summer Food Service programs.
The effort builds on the 2008 Farm Bill, which provides for increases and flexibility for USDA programs to revitalize rural economies by supporting local food systems. The ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ program is supposed to create economic opportunities for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities, and at the same time expand children’s access to healthy food.
USDA says it expects consumer demand for locally grown food in the U.S. to rise from an estimated $4 billion in 2002 to as much as $7 billion by 2012.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that it is investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium infections. A preliminary analysis indicates the outbreak may be the result of exposure in clinical and teaching microbiology laboratories.
As of April 20, the CDC said 73 individuals infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 35 states. There has been one death and at least 10 people have been hospitalized. Several of those sickened are children who live with someone who works or studies in a microbiology lab.
The CDC said that during an epidemiologic study in February and March, 32 people were quizzed about possible exposures in the week before they became ill. Investigators compared their answers to a control group of 64 individuals of similar age previously reported to state health departments with other illnesses.
The investigators found that the ill persons (60%) were significantly more likely than the control persons (2%) to report a connection to a microbiology laboratory.
Many of those infected were either students in microbiology teaching laboratories or employees in clinical microbiology laboratories. Several said they worked specifically with Salmonella bacteria in microbiology laboratories.
The New Mexico Department of Health found that the outbreak strain was indistinguishable from a commercially available Salmonella Typhimurium strain used in several of the laboratories, according to the CDC.
“These data suggest this strain is the source of some of these illnesses,” the CDC said, adding that “several children who live in households with a person who works or studies in a microbiology laboratory have become ill with the outbreak strain.”
Illness onset dates have generally ranged form Aug. 20, 2010 to March 8, 2011. The number of new cases has declined substantially during the past several weeks, the agency said.
The CDC advised people who work with Salmonella bacteria in microbiology laboratories to watch for symptoms of Salmonella infection, such as diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. They should contact a health care provider if they or family members have any of these symptoms.
The agency also recommended that non-pathogenic (attenuated) bacteria strains should be used when possible, especially in teaching laboratories, to help reduce the risk of students or their family members becoming ill.
All students and employees using laboratories should be trained in biosafety practices, the agency emphasized, such as proper handwashing, not allowing lab coats to leave the lab, and not allow food, drinks or personal items like car keys or cell phones to be used while working in the laboratory or placed on laboratory work surfaces.
Attorneys general from more than a dozen states are calling on Pabst, maker of the new highly alcoholic flavored drink “Blast,” to take the dangerous punch out of its product.
In a letter to Pabst CEO Charles Metropoulos, the attorneys general of 17 states, plus the city of San Francisco, demanded that the company reduce the alcoholic content of the drink and alter its marketing campaign, which they say currently targets underage drinkers.
“We believe the manufacture and marketing of this flavored ‘binge in a can’ poses a grave public safety threat and is irresponsible,” says the letter, written by the Attorney General of Maryland, Douglas Gansler.
The document criticizes Blast for its alcoholic content of 12% alcohol by volume (ABV), which in its 23.5-ounce can comes out to almost 5 servings per drink.
“Consuming a single can of Blast on one occasion constitutes ‘binge drinking’,” say the authors. “Binge drinking” is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as drinking 4 or more alcoholic beverages for women, and 5 or more for men, over a 2-hour period. At 4.7 servings of alcohol per can, Blast surpasses that limit for women, and comes within hurling distance for men.
Letter signatories also raise concerns that the product’s marketing campaign, which features videos of rapper Snoop Dogg endorsing the drink on Youtube, is geared toward young people. These videos, combined with its teen-targeted flavors, including raspberry, watermelon and strawberry lemonade, make the beverage appealing to underage drinkers, they say.
According to CDC, 90% of these illegal drinkers already participate in binge drinking.
The authors intend for their memo to reach beyond Pabst to all companies marketing products that promote unsafe drinking habits to youth.
“I hope our letter asking Pabst to take swift and responsible action will also be heeded by other companies who produce these unsafe ‘supersized’ alcopops,” said Gansler in a statement.
The Marin Institute of California, an alcohol watchdog, lauded the letter’s signatories.
“State law-enforcers heard the national outcry,” said Bruce Lee Livingston, executive director of the Institute, in a statement. “Supersized alcopop Blast is too big, too potent and marketed to youth,” he said.
Marin Institute launched a campaign in early April to bring the dangers of the malt liquor to the public’s attention.
Pabst holds that Blast is not intended for consumption by anyone under the age of 21, and that it may be consumed responsibly.
“As with all Pabst products, our marketing efforts for Blast are focused on conveying the message of drinking responsibly. To that end, the alcohol content of Blast is clearly marked on its packaging, we are encouraging consumers to consider mixing Blast with other beverages or enjoy it over ice, and we are offering a special 7-ounce bottle for those who prefer a smaller quantity, among other important initiatives,” the company said, according to AOL.
However, the AGs write that Pabst has not made a sufficient effort to ensure that Blast is consumed responsibly. They point out that, while Pabst’s website offers a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) calculator for some of its products, Blast is not among those drinks with a tool for determining how it will affect the drinker.
According to the state attorneys, significant change is needed in order to dilute the risks of the flavored drink.
“At a time when we’re fighting to prevent underage drinking and binge drinking, we call upon Pabst to rethink the dangers posed by Blast,” says Gansler.
Four government agencies, led by the Federal Trade Commission, have announced long-awaited guidelines for food and beverage advertising targeted at children.
Under the proposals released Thursday, the food industry would have five years to phase in the rules if it chooses to abide by them — the FTC says it wants food and advertising companies to voluntarily accept the standards.
If they do, by 2016 breakfast cereals, sodas, juices, snack foods, candy and other foods marketed to children under 17 would have to meet two basic principles:
1) The products should “make a meaningful contribution” to a healthful diet, and contain at least one of these food groups: fruit, vegetable, whole grain, fat-free or low-fat milk products, fish, extra lean meat or poultry, eggs, nuts and seeds, beans.
2) The products should minimize contents that negatively impact health or weight. The key standards are:
• Saturated fat: 1 g or less per serving and 15 percent or less of calories• Trans fat: 0 g per serving• Added sugars: No more than 13 g of added sugars per serving• Sodium: No more than 210 mg per serving (with additional reductions by 2021)
The government regulators acknowledge “the goals for the industry are ambitious” but said the proposed marketing standards are intended to “encourage stronger and more meaningful self-regulation.” Self-regulation by the food industry could help teach self control at home, supporting “parents’ efforts to get their kids to eat healthier foods.”
Although the FTC stressed that “the proposed principles are voluntary and do not call for government regulation of food marketing,” at least one ad industry group objected.
“Despite calling these proposals ‘voluntary,’ the government clearly is trying to place major pressure on the food, beverage and restaurant industries on what can and cannot be advertised,” the Association of National Advertisers said in a statement.
What could not be advertised to kids, if the standards were followed, might be products like white bread, Lunchables pr Pop-Tarts, some reports suggest. According to the New York Times, the sugar requirement could restrict the marketing of Froot Loops and Cap’n Crunch cereals, while the sodium restriction might affect products like Chef Boyardee beef ravioli.
But food companies could rise to the challenge, the FTC suggested. ”The industry has the resources and creative know-how to encourage children to make better choices: 17 major companies are already reformulating foods to make them healthier and cutting back on their marketing of less healthy options to children,” it stated in its news release.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Association of National Advertisers used the timing of the FTC announcement to demonstrate that the food industry is already cutting back food ads targeted to children.
The two groups released results of a study that showed the average number of food and beverage commercials viewed by kids 2 to 11 on children’s TV programming fell by 50 percent between 2004 and 2010. They also said that in recent years food and beverage manufacturers have reformulated more than 20,000 products to reduce calories, sodium, sugar and fat.
But the Center for Science in the Public Interest said the industry efforts have fallen short.
“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 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.”
According to CSPI research, from 2005 to 2009, ads on Nickelodeon for foods of poor nutritional quality decreased only slightly — from 88 percent to 79 percent of food ads.
“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.”
The proposed standards were mandated by Congress, which in 2009 directed the FTC, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create an Interagency Working Group of nutrition, health and marketing experts to come up with the principles.
The guidelines were expected to be issued by July 15 last year, and the long delay prompted speculation that the food industry was unhappy with the proposals.
The marketing standards are now open to comment for 45 days, including a May 24 forum in Washington, D.C. where people can comment in person. The feedback will be considered by the the Interagency Working Group and the agencies before a final recommendation is submitted to Congress.
Copies of the document are available from the FTC’s website at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.
Milk fermented with Lactobacillus casei may help to alleviate fever caused by norovirus gastroenteritis by correcting imbalances of intestinal microflora, according to a new study.
Supplements of omega-3 fatty acids are associated with lower levels of an amino acid called homocysteine, an amino acid linked to increased risks of heart disease and dementia, says a new meta-analysis of the scientific evidence.
