Document Z47gmb7YrK1x9Jxga4Mn7x8NY

February S, 19^0 Dr, Tom D, Spies H illman H ospital Birmingham Alabama Dear Toms- We sh al l be sorry not to have you at the Research Club m eetings, but i t w i l l not be necessary fo r you t o l e t us know as to the date of your return sin ce I sh al l probably know i t more or l ees au t om at ically. On the subject o f the lead content of foods, 1 b el i eve there i s nothing of si g n i fi can ce to be sai d at t h i s tim e. There are no new developments, so f a r as I know, which w i l l involve any l i k el i h ood of in creasin g tie contamination of food m at erials with lead in the near fu t u r e. I ndeed I am quite confident t h at the at ten tion which has been d ir ect ed to t h i s subject has been such as to insi>ire gr eat er caution on the p ar t of the manufacturers and processors of food m at er i al s, I f e e l cer t ain that we can expect some improvement in the si t u at i on r at h er than any in creasin g d i f f i cu l t i e s. ' We have never found any evidence t h at food m at erials as gen er ally avai l ab l e are dangerous from the point of view of t h e i r lead content. Obviously the spray residues on f r u i t , and more p ar t i cu l ar l y on l e a f y veget abl es, con st it u t e a problem which w i l l have t o be kept under f a i r l y close sur vei l l an ce. The ch i e f d i f f i cu l t y here l i e s in the fact t h at Federal regulat ion s apply only to commodities in I n t er st at e commerce, whereas these same m at erials handled coarseroially wi t h i n any one of the st at es i s en t i r el y exempt from Federal supervision except as the st at e i t se l f set s up r egu lat or y mechanisms comparable t o those of the Federal government. D espite t h i s d i f f i cu l t y, however, there has been ver y l i t t l e act u al evidence o f i n ju r y to the public h ealt h , and although I f e e l t h at the problem i s im portant. I t i s cer t ai n l y not a si t u at i on which, r equ ir es r ad i cal or emergency act ion at t h i s tim e. You may be I n t erest ed in knowing that we are making a r at h er comprehensive I n vest i gat ion of the lead content o f gen eral food m aterials. Through l o cal 0v/ui 3 -' . . .. * - r :` ` ^ / V K ', avenues which run to d i st an t poin t s in t h i s country, we have been able to obtain samples o f a more or l e ss cr o ss-sect i o n al character# I t would take ue year s to complete t h i s work but we sh al l even t ually know a great deal about the common sources o f contamint ion* As an example o f our procedure, we have col l ect ed a l ar ge number o f the m aterials whloh enter into bread st u f f s and p a st r i e s, beginning with the grain I t se l f in various st ages, then with cer t ai n gen er al cer eal products of an interm ediate type* and f i n a l l y with the commodities o f t h i s so r t which are gen er all y avai l ab l e* such as bread st u ffs* cak es, p ast r i es etc# We eaqpect t o use the general category of food m at erials in t h i s fash ion , determining not only the l ead content of these m aterials# but the t i n , aluminum, copper, manganese and si l v e r content as w el l . Obviously we are not spending a l l of our time at t h i s, but are simply working i t in as opportunity o ffe r s i t se l f , Even t u all y, however, as you oan see, we sh a l l have a very si gn i fi can t b i t of inform ation. . .. . `. I have gone into some d et ai l above sin ce I f e l t you would l i k e to know fo r the i n fer - mation of the Council on Poods t h at such work was in pro gr ess and that-SLnformatlon was telng made avai l ab l e. I should l i k e nothing b et t er than another chance to v i si t your cl i n i c, and I f the opportunity should affor d I t se l f oh one o f my Jaunts ei t h er to Baton Rouge or Iiew O rleans, I sh al l drop in on you i f I may do so without being a nuisance to you. Sin cer ely yours, RAKils Robert A. k e h o e 'ii.b."