Document 1QqR9bOON967ODVJon8243apK

FOOD CHEMICAL NEWS ..._*said th e re .'w e re many sim ila ritie s b etw een the OTA report and F D A 's 1981 study on em erging technologies (S ee FOOD CHEMICAL NEWS, July 6, Page 48), adding th a t over 30 new technologies identified fall into the following four major groups: "The new nutrient sources included genetically engineered plants and anim als through recombinant DNA, the growth of aquaculture and the utilization of microbial biomass production and animal w aste as untapped sources of protein. New processing and preservation methods. . . (included) the use of chem icals to sterilize containers, food irradiation and solar dehydration. . . . The new technologies. . . included development of new methods for detecting contam inants and other hazardous substances in the food supply. . . . New ways of food packaging. . . (included) retortable pouches and other nonrigid containers. . "I believe th a t th e research investigations th a t the FDA is carrying out will enable us to be ready, for the im pact of these technology developments," Schaffner said, adding, "FDA will continue to m onitor these new products to make sure that they are safe." TC D F's CONSIDERED 30-33 TIMES LESS TOXIC THAN TCDD's, FDA NOTES TC D F's (tetrachlorodibenzofurans) are 30-33 tim es less toxic than TCDD's (te tra c h lo ro dioxins), according to work done a t the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Food ana Drug A dm inistration noted recently. In a le tte r to D r. N orm an E . D yer, of th e Environm ental P ro tec tio n -A g e n c y 's P e stic id es and Toxic S ubstances B ranch in D allas, T ex., F D A 's John M. T aylor, D irecto r of th e Division of R egulatory G uidance in FD A 's Bureau of Foods, noted th a t FDA "has previously advised the health officers of the G reat Lakes States that they should con sider lim iting the taking of fish from areas where the TCDD residues exceeded 50 p.p.t." (S ee FOOD CHEMICAL NEWS, Sept. 28, Page 15). "If one a c c e p ts th e to x icity d a ta from NIEHS com paring the T C D F's with the TC D D 's then the level of concern for TCDF residues would range at levels of 1500-1650 p .p .t. when consistently found in sam ples of th e edible portion of fish consumed by people on a frequent basis," Taylor pointed out, noting " th a t the advice given to the health o ffic e rs in th e G re a t L a k e s .S ta te s is only a public health advisory and the 50 p .p .t. does not c o n stitu te an action level or any level in a regulatory sense." The F D -e r said th a t s c ie n tis ts in the a g e n c y 's B ureau of Foods would need considerably m ore info rm atio n concerning TCDF residues in m ultiple sam ples of the edible p o rtio n of fish, the kinds of fish from which the residues were measured, and inform ation related to human consum ption of the species of fish of concern before making any kind of d eterm in atio n as to w hether any h ealth hazards exist based on TCDF levels in fish. Overall Adverse F indings in 1979 Fish Survey W ere 4.656 j C0372S The overall adverse findings ra te for both dom estic and im ported sam ples of fish in F D A 's fiscal y e a r 1979 p e sticid e s and m etals in fish program , released re c en tly , was 4.656, c o n tra stin g w ith 6% in fiscal y ear 1978. The o c cu rren c e ra te for PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) residues in dom estic sam ples i fiscal y e a r 1979 was 43%, while the o ccu rren ce ra te in im port sam ples was 8%. Of th e dom estic sam p les, 5.5% w ere in the range of 2-5 p.p .m ., while ten (i.0% ) exceeded the 5 p.p.m . tem porary to leran ce for PCBs. No im ported sam ples were above the to leran ce for PCBs. July 5, 1982 Page 21 FOOD CHEMICAL NEWS The most frequently found residues (excluding the selected elem ents) d e te c te d in dom estic sam ples w ere. DDE (52.6%), PCBs (42.0%), d ieldrin (29.6%), BBC (28.4%), TDE (27.2%), cis-chlordane (17.6%), trans-chlordane (16.4%), and DDT (14.5%). For im ported sam ples the residues found most frequently w ere DDE (26.7%), BHC (17.0%), DDT (14.6%), TDE (8.4%), PCBs (8.0%), HCB (6.2%), and dieldrin (5.9%). T otal chlordane showed a 24.2% o c cu rren c e ra te o f th e dom estic sam ples, and 3% of th e sam ples exceeded the 0.3 p.p.m . action level, with catfish , carp and suckers (buffalo) the major species involved. Seven dom estic sam ples (0.7%) exceeded the 0.3 p.p.m . actio n level for dieldrin, and the overall incidence of residues in dom estic sam ples was 30.9%. F or th e DDT group, th e adverse findings ra te in d o m estic sam ples was 1.1%, w ith sable fish, eels, cod, m ackerel, and ocean perch having the highest average levels of DDE. The 5 p.p.m . actio n level for the DDT group applies to the compounds individually or in , com bination. Isopropyl diphenyl phosphate, an industrial chem ical, was found in four dom estic sam ples a t levels of 1.71-16.84 p.p.m . No action level or to lerance has been established for this residue. Nine dom estic sam ples (0.9%) exceeded the 1 p.p.m . actio n level for m ercury in fish w hile 19 im ported sam ples (3.7%), most of which w ere sw ordfish, exceeded th e 1 p .p .m . action level for m ercury. Of the 84 sam ples of canned dom estic tuna sam pled for arsen ic, 20 had levels in excess of 1.20 p.p.m ., with 3 of the sam ples exceeding 2.40 p.p.m . E ighteen of th e 88 sam ples o canned dom estic tuna analyzed had lead levels in excess of 0.50 p.p.m ., w ith 8 of the sam ples containing more than 0.90 p.p.m . The maximum level of cadm ium d e te c te d in 84 sam ples of canned dom estic tuna was 0.24 p.p.m . Of th e 87 sam ples of canned dom estic tuna analyzed for selenium , 58 had levels in excess of 0.60 p.p.m ., of which 7 exceeded 1.00 p.p.m . T h ere is no regulatory lim it set for any of these elem en ts in fish. "In general," FDA said, "the levels of pesticides, industrial chem icals, and selected elem en ts found in this survey w ere lower than levels determ ined to be h ealth hazards to the consumer." Lead, Cadmium, M ercury Within A cceptable Lim its in Infant, Toddler D iets According to the findings ot FD A 's fiscal year 1978 to tal diet studies for infants and toddlers, lead, cadmium and mercury "w ere well within any current or suggested acceptable levels" for these elem ents. Lead was p re sen t a t 25 m icrogram s in infant d ie ts and a t -35 meg in to d d ler diets; cadm ium a t 6 meg in infant and 11 in toddler d iets; and m ercury a t 0.2 meg in infant d ie ts and 0.7 meg in toddler d iets. A rsenic was p resen t in infant d ie ts a t 2 meg and in to d d ler d iets a t 18 meg and selenium was p resen t a t 18 meg in infant d ie ts and 52 rneg in toddler d iets. In som e c a s e s, FDA noted, zinc "exceeded the R ecom m ended D ietary A llow ance, but not to the extent of posing any hazard." July, 1982 * V `% ft FOOD CHEMICAL NEWS It was p resen t a t 5 meg in in fa n t d ie ts and a t 18 meg in to d d ler d iets. The RDA range for infants and toddlers is 3-10 meg per day. FDA noted that zinc is naturally p re se n t in foods a t higher levels than th e o th e r m etals included in th e survey. O CHOLESTEROL QUESTION DELAYING FDA FOOD LABELING PACKAGE Unresolved questions w ithin the Food and Drug A dm inistration about cholesterol labeling of foods are delaying the issuance of a package of food labeling regulations (See FOOD CHEMICAL NEWS, June 28, Page 30). The agency is considering doing away with the current restrictive approach to cholesterol labeling, which m andates th at a statem en t on physician's advice be used whenever cholesterol or fa tty acid labeling appears. It would propose a regulation which would define the term s "low cholesterol," "reduced cholesterol," and "cholesterol free," and would require labeling of both fatty acids and cholesterol when either is declared. Included in the labeling package is an announcem ent th a t the agency will retain the current "and/or" labeling approach for fats and oils, rather than adopt the more re stric tiv e approach proposed as p a rt o f th e 1979 labeling initiative (See FOOD CHEMICAL NEWS, D ec. 24, 1979, Pages 3, 7, 18, and 19). Three docum ents to perm it g re a ter flexibility in ingredient declarations are also included in the package -- for firm ing agents, enrichm ent ingredients and em ulsifiers and stabilizers. The docum ents on firm ing agents and on enrichm ent ingredients will issue as final , orders, following th e lines of FDA proposals published in 1978 (See FOOD CHEMICAL NEWS. A pril 10, 1978, Page 31; and April 24, 1978, Page 43). In response to an industry p e titio n , FDA will propose to p erm it th e d e claratio n of stab ilizers and em ulsifiers on th e ingredient label by the specific nam e of each stabilizer and em ulsifier in p aren th eses following the collective nam e "stabilizers" or "em ulsifiers," as appropriate. The proposal would p erm it individual stabilizers and em ulsifiers to be listed in the paren th eses in o th er than descending order of predom inance, and.w ould provide for label declaration of stabilizing and emulsifying agents used interm ittently in the m anufacture of a food even though they may not always be present in the food (See FOOD CHEMICAL NEWS, Jan. 8, 1979, Page 43). The rem aining labeling docum ent to be included in the package is th a t p a rt of the original labeling initiative in which th e agency said it would expedite revision of standards of identity to require declaration of all optional ingredients, including the form of m andatory in g red ien ts w here m ore th an one form is available for use. D efinitely not a p art of the package is any proposal dealing with labeling the sugar content of foods. Hayes Expects Resolution of Sodium Labeling Compliance Problems Through Cooperation ^ - "I expect that any com pliance problem s that are likely to be encountered by industry , (in sodium labeling) can be resolved by those a ffe c te d industries working in cooperation with FD A ," Food and Drugs C om m issioner Dr. A rthur Hull Hayes w rote May 25 to John F. S peer, J r., P resident of the Milk Industry Foundation.