Local
Lab-grown food labeling fight heats up in Midwest and Southern states
Since the Missouri legislature banned lab-grown products from using “meat” in their labels, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Wyoming have all followed suit. Montana will likely join if the governor signs the “Real Meat Act.”
The United States Cattleman’s Association petitioned the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in early 2018 to only allow meat that comes from an animal carcass to be labeled as such, arguing that consumers will be misled by cultured and plant-based products. Supporters of the new technologies argue that consumers need to know which products are from animal cells for allergy purposes. In addition, they contend that consumers will want to buy these products on purpose, and it wouldn’t make sense to mislead them into thinking it was produced directly from an animal.
The USDA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agreed to jointly regulate the technologies, with the FDA overseeing the part of the process that includes cell culturing and the USDA handling collection of cell samples, production and labeling. The agencies have not released a national labeling policy yet.
Food Safety News
The Regulatory Review
National
Ongoing multistate E. coli outbreak
An outbreak strain of E. coli O103 sickened 72 people in five states last month, with eight people hospitalized. The cases occurred from March 2 to March 29.
Through whole genome sequencing sharing in PulseNet, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined the E. coli in sampled cases was very similar genetically, indicating a common source.
Investigators from the CDC have yet to narrow down the source of the bacteria to a specific food item, restaurant, or grocery store but are actively working with U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and several states to identify it. According to CDC, “This is a rapidly evolving investigation.” In the meantime, consumers are urged to take standard precautions against bacterial contamination on their food including cooking meat to proper temperatures and washing fruits and vegetables.
Food Safety News
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
International
Misinformation hurting Ebola response
The ongoing epidemic of Ebola in the Congo has challenged responders attempting to control the disease amidst resource poor and sometimes violence plagued regions. Survey work led by researchers Patrick Vinck and Phuong Pham of Harvard published last month quantified another challenge in combatting the outbreak: public trust.
Among the 961 respondents to their survey from the Congo, only a little over a third trusted that local officials represented their interests. A quarter didn’t even believe that the Ebola outbreak was real. There was an association between this low institutional trust and belief in misinformation and a decreased likelihood of accepting vaccines or seeking medical care.
Pham and Vinck emphasize that educating the public and gaining their trust is even more critical in this outbreak than others. “When the outbreak started, [responders] were approaching Ebola the same way they approached previous outbreaks,” said Pham. “What complicates this response, compared with other outbreaks, is that there is an ongoing [violent] conflict.” They recommend outreach be performed cooperatively with trusted local leaders and be a two way exchange, both providing information and responding to residents’ questions.
James Kincheloe
James received his DVM from the University of California, Davis. He has worked as a herd veterinarian for dairy cows and a small animal veterinarian in California. Jim is interested in agricultural and infectious disease policy, and has collaborated on domestic and international projects across the public health spectrum.