Food Bites Back: Issues of 1990

The past 12 months demonstrated the predominance of several major issues--food safety problems, nutrition controversies and technological advances--in the contemporary food world.

It also demonstrated the difficulty of resolving them. Most of these issues continue to smolder.

Uncertainties still surround the prospects for an improved seafood inspection program, the debate over pesticide residues, the reasons for the rise in contamination rates of raw poultry and eggs, efforts to make food packaging materials more environmentally sound and whether new nutrition labeling regulations are sufficiently informative.

Agribusiness, with sizable financial resources, also became more aggressive last year in articulating its views in a number of disputes. As a result, several major publicity campaigns were launched in 1990 designed to reassure consumers about the safety of the food supply and to counter criticism from advocacy groups. Despite this public relations effort, opinion polls tell us that consumer confidence in the safety of the nation’s food supply remains below previous levels.

What follows is a review of 1990’s significant food news events. Combined, they offer a perspective on the 1991 agenda.

Poultry--One of the top food safety stories of 1990 was the continuing problem with salmonella in raw chicken. Federal researchers found that contamination rates were much higher than anticipated after 57.5% of the birds tested from five Georgia processing plants harbored the harmful bacteria. Independent laboratory tests, conducted for The Times, also found that 52% of the chickens purchased in Los Angeles and Orange counties grocery stores contained salmonella.

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials said that the salmonella being discovered in raw chicken is not a health threat, if the meat is properly stored, handled, cooked and served. Further, USDA officials maintain that the levels discovered in recent lab tests are minute while as many as 500,000 organisms are required to cause the illness.

Salmonellosis, however, remains the nation’s leading food-borne illness and strikes two to four million Americans annually, causing 2,000 deaths. Critics say Salmonella bacteria can multiply under the right conditions, allowing just a few cells to reproduce rapidly and pose a severe threat to high risk groups: the elderly, infants, pregnant women and immuno-compromised individuals such as cancer and AIDS patients.

In response to the growing salmonella contamination problems, the federal government in May approved irradiation as a sterilization method for chicken processors to use to destroy the bacteria. However, because of its controversial history as well as consumer doubts about the safety of the process, no firms are expected to employ irradiation.

Other solutions to the increasing salmonella contamination problems are also elusive. Federal researchers found that a common processing technique--the pooling of all chicken carcasses in a chiller tank at the end of the plants’ production line--doubles the number of birds carrying the bacteria.

Turkey producers also received troubling news in April when UC Davis researchers reported that 32.2% of the uncooked turkey parts randomly selected from California supermarket shelves tested positive for the deadly Listeria bacteria. Researchers identified poor plant handling practices as one cause of the contamination. Industry officials said the findings were inflated or inaccurate. However, a top USDA official called the results “troubling.” In 1985, Listeria monocytogenes was identified as the pathogen present in a Mexican-style soft cheese that caused more than 142 illnesses in Los Angeles County. The outbreak also resulted in 42 deaths, mostly stillborn infants.

Seafood--The government’s method of regulating the seafood industry is beleaguered. Critics of the system have charged that a lax federal effort resulted in increased contamination of fish from industrial pollutants, harmful bacteria and farm chemicals. The degradation of quality has led to increased consumer illnesses, some of which are severe.

The potential health hazard posed by contaminated seafood was outlined in a Centers for Disease Control report in June. The CDC found, for instance, that between the years 1983 and 1987 there were 179 contamination outbreaks where the vehicle of infection was either fish or shellfish. (An outbreak is defined by CDC as a case in which two or more persons experience a similar illness after ingestion of a common food.)

The illnesses discussed in the CDC report were caused by bacterial agents or naturally occurring chemicals present in the fish and shellfish. The 179 seafood outbreaks represent 7.4% of the total number of food-borne illnesses reported to CDC during the five year period. However, the figure is proportionately higher than the percentage of seafood present in the American diet.

Statistics such as these, among other things, led industry trade groups to endorse a plan to increase U.S. oversight of domestic and international seafood operations. The issue also reached Congress in 1990. Both the House and Senate passed separate bills that would greatly expand federal inspection efforts. Even so, neither chamber was able to reconcile their differences before an October recess. The procedure will begin again when the 102nd Congress reconvenes later this month. But prospects for passage are uncertain, according to Congressional staffers.

Faced with health concerns, the seafood industry launched a $1 million educational program in February to address the question of fish and shellfish wholesomeness. And then in November, the National Fisheries Institute announced another plan to increase seafood consumption to 20 pounds per person by the year 2000 from its current level of 15.9 pounds.

As if dealing with safety questions were not enough for the seafood industry, several processors were also under fire by environmental groups for netting dolphins along with tuna during fishing operations. The controversy was stilled when major tuna canners in this country pledged that they would no longer purchase or process tuna that had been caught at the expense of dolphin lives. Thus, in 1990 consumers got their first glimpse of the “Dolphin Safe” label on tuna cans.

Pesticides--The use of agricultural chemicals on crops has been an emotional issue for years. Yet, 1990 added some interesting shades to the controversy.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration put forth a theory in June, borrowed from some chemical trade groups, that naturally occurring compounds in food pose a far greater cancer threat to humans than do substances such as pesticides and additives. One leading proponent of the natural carcinogen theory is Prof. Bruce Ames of UC Berkeley.

Federal health officials now argue that most carcinogens present in the diet are the work of nature, not science or industry. The effort is designed to counter environmentalists’ charges that the government’s oversight of pesticide usage is inadequate. Central to the campaign are statements minimizing the overall threat posed by farm chemicals.

In September, the FDA released the results from its 1989 chemical residue testing program. No residues were found in 65% of the 7,394 domestic commodities analyzed, according to the agency. Another 34% of the samples contained legal residues. Only 1% of those foods tested were found to be in violation of allowable chemical levels.

The results, FDA stated, show that the “American food supply is the safest in the world.”

However, government officials do not always speak with one voice. At a chemical industry gathering in February, USDA Assistant Secretary Charles Hess said, “There is a public perception that our food supply may not be safe . . . People question the use of chemicals in the farm system and the resulting residues in food. I can’t say truthfully that these fears are groundless.”

One of the most interesting developments in the ongoing pesticide debate occurred in November when Washington state apple growers filed suit against CBS-TV’s “60 Minutes” and the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, for damages caused by the 1989 Alar scare. The television program broadcast a segment on the NRDC’s highly controversial report claiming an Alar byproduct, used on red apples, posed a serious cancer risk to children. The growers are seeking $500 million for losses that resulted from decreased apples sales in the report’s aftermath. The episode is emblematic of the farm community’s new aggressiveness toward environmentalists in 1990.

Organics--Organic produce rode a wave of popularity in 1990, according to a Lou Harris Poll released in March. The survey, conducted for Organic Gardening magazine, found that 57.6% of those queried had eaten organic produce, or those fruit and vegetables “grown without pesticides or synthetic chemical fertilizers.” The poll also found that 84.1% of those questioned would purchase organically grown food if it were priced comparably to conventional commodities. Despite the encouraging public image, organic produce still accounts for a meager 0.5% and 2% of all fruit and vegetables sold in this country. Those familiar with the industry, however, believe the percentages will grow.

“By 1993, I’m forecasting that what is now called alternative (organic-style) agriculture will actually be conventional farming. By that time, what is now conventional farming will be considered alternative and they will be the fringe element,” said Robert Rodale, president of Rodale Press to an organic farmers gathering in January. (Rodale died later in the year.)

Despite the increased popularity, the organic industry is not without its own internal turmoil. At the same January convention, Kate Burroughs of Harmony Farm Supply in Sebastopol said, “There is not enough research on organic (farm) compounds and what they might do to the environment. People in conventional agriculture say to me, ‘You use toxic materials too; you’re not perfect.’ ”

Food Technology--The nutritional profile of several foods changed in 1990 as the industry responded to consumers’ health concerns.

In October researchers reported “significant reductions” in the fat, calorie and cholesterol content of fresh pork due to improved animal breeding and processing practices. The study, funded by the Pork Producers Council and the USDA, found an average 31% reduction in fat content on cooked, trimmed, lean pork from 1980 levels. The results were a major boost for the pork industry’s promotional campaign, “The Other White Meat,” which presents the meat as being on similar nutritional footing to chicken.

Meanwhile a segment of the beef industry was also successfully reducing fat content. Much of the activity was centered on ground beef, as in McDonald’s November announcement that it was test marketing a hamburger patty that contained only 9% fat. McDonald’s uses a formula devised by Auburn University researchers that calls for the addition of carageenan, a seaweed-based additive, that maintains the meat’s moisture. Others, such as Dakota Meats, have reduced the fat content in ground beef to a mere 3% through costly animal breeding programs.

Advanced breeding programs involving plants rather than animals were also responsible for a breakthrough in the tomato industry. Sun World International, of Indio, re-introduced the DiVine Ripe tomato in August. The fruit combines good tomato taste with the proper firmness needed to withstand commercial harvesting and shipping.

Packaging--In the past 12 months, consumers were intrigued when manufacturers introduced plastic packaging, diapers and grocery bags that were “biodegradable” as a means of addressing the nation’s solid waste problem. Soon thereafter, environmental groups were stating that the biodegradability claims were misleading or false.

The compounds may degrade in laboratory conditions, but no such chemical reaction occurs in landfills, according to environmentalists.

Attorney generals from eight states, including California, began investigating the so-called biodegradable plastic in 1990. Their work, in part, led Mobil to drop the “degradable” claim on its grocery bags in June. Then in October, American Enviro Products dropped the “biodegradable” claim on its Bunnies Diapers product.

A more straightforward way of dealing with the plastic problem was introduced by Lucky Stores in 1990. The chain set up containers in all their supermarkets where shoppers could return their excess plastic grocery bags for recycling at the company’s expense.

Innovative microwave packaging also caused concerns at the FDA. In June the agency announced that some of these containers may disintegrate when exposed to high cooking temperatures, causing harmful chemicals to enter food. Fire was also a possibility.

Those items most likely to pose problems are known as heat susceptors designed to elevate temperatures--some to 500 degrees--during microwaving. The packaging is used on such traditional microwave products as popcorn, pizza, French fries, fish sticks and Belgian waffles. Typically, the susceptors are marketed as “browning” or “crisping” devices. The FDA stated that such high temperature use of these materials may cause packaging components such as adhesive, polymers, paper and paperboard to migrate into food at excessive levels. The agency is continuing to review these products, but FDA admits that it is “working to keep up” with examining the safety of these new packaging technologies.

Nutrition--No area is more bewildering to the public than nutrition, with seemingly contradictory research studies appearing every other week.

Probably the most interesting such study was published, also by the New England Journal of Medicine, in August. The report indicated that margarine--heavily promoted as a no-cholesterol food--may actually contain compounds that increase potentially harmful cholesterol levels.

The discovery ran counter to popularly held beliefs that margarine is a more healthful alternative to butter because of its lower cholesterol profile. The report stated that trans mono unsaturated fatty acids, primarily found in margarines and shortening, increased low-density lipoproteins, or LDLs, by 6% in a three-week dietary study of 59 adults. Elevated LDL levels in blood have been linked to heart disease.

Upon learning of the margarine study, one consumer advocate remarked, “The credibility of the nutrition community has really been shaken.”

Labeling--Congress passed legislation in October that would dramatically revise nutrition labeling on food. The new package panels, expected by 1993, will emphasize components such as fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, sugar, dietary fiber and total protein. The current emphasis on vitamins and minerals will be minimized under the new regulations. Serving sizes will also be standardized for processed food. The labeling revisions apply only to foods regulated by FDA. Omitted are all meat and poultry products, which are under the jurisdiction of the USDA. Sometime in 1991, the USDA is expected to propose its own version of revised food labels.

In a related matter, the FDA is also clamping down on health claims made by food manufacturers on product labels. The decision is a reverse of the agency’s 1987 proposal to allow food companies greater freedom in stating that certain high fiber foods, for instance, may lower the risk of cancer.

Under the new regulations, only a limited range of messages on relationship between diet and health will be allowed.

Odds and Ends--Not everything in the food world, however, was steeped in controversy in 1990. In January a Chicago-based firm announced the development of hot dog casings capable of carrying messages. Thanks to the Viskase Corp., link lovers can now enjoy the fun of advertising, along with the mustard, on their frankfurters. The length of the message is limited only by the length of the hot dog.

And after years of trying, in February a Los Angeles firm finally began marketing an electric oyster shucker that takes the risk out of prying the stubborn bivalves open. Blue Point Oyster Co. is selling its Proshucker to restaurants and hotels. The price? In the $300 range.