The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Consumer Reports replies to Impossible Foods’ criticism of its article on the company’s beef substitute burger

Photo: Sarah Stierch

On Monday, I went with a group of colleagues to a local restaurant for a meeting. The menu said you could get an Impossible Burger for $2 more in any of its burger options. Knowing I was going to post the Consumer Reports reply to Impossible Foods’s article about them, I wanted to try one. However, I was told the Impossible burger wasn’t available. The company hasn’t been able to keep up with production to meet all the new demand. Disappointing.

Here’s the Consumer Reports statement on Impossible Foods’ beef with its critique:

In response to Consumer Reports’ recent article “Meat Gets A Makeover” focusing on plant-based alternatives to traditional beef burgers, Rachel Konrad – Impossible Foods’ PR chief – published an inflammatory and misleading attack on the motivations and methods behind our coverage of the safety of a key ingredient in the Impossible Burger. Oddly enough, she seems out for blood about an article that very fairly compares several plant-based alternatives based on taste, safety, and environmental impact.

Don’t eat undercooked beef or soft cheeses made from raw milk, consumer group advises, because inspection laws allow meat and poultry contaminated with salmonella to be sold to the public

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report Thursday describing an ongoing investigation into an outbreak of illnesses caused by a multi-drug resistant strain of Salmonella Newport. Between June 2018 and March 2019, the CDC identified 255 cases in 32 U.S. states, which resulted in at least 60 hospitalizations and two deaths. The investigation is continuing, and agencies are recommending that consumers avoid undercooked beef and soft cheeses made with raw milk.

Consumer advocates are concerned that the outbreak may spread, because food safety regulators continue to allow companies to sell beef contaminated with the strain of Salmonella Newport in the outbreak, said Thomas Gremillion, director of food policy at the Consumer Federation of America.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service has detected the outbreak strain, or “closely related” strains, in three samples at one or more Texas slaughter and processing facilities. However, under current regulations, the agency doesn’t consider beef containing these pathogens to be adulterated, or prohibit it from being sold to consumers.

Algae contaminating the nations lakes, rivers, but little is being done to protect the public, environmental group says

Federal and state tests have found dangerous toxins, common in outbreaks of blue-green algae, in hundreds of lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water nationwide. However, little is being done to notify and protect Americans, according to an analysis from the Environmental Working Group.

Algae blooms often are triggered by agricultural chemicals that run off fields into bodies of water. The “algae,” photosynthetic microorganisms, are not all toxic. However, some of these bacteria produce poisonous chemicals called cyanotoxins, including those known as microcystins. 

“The bottom line is, if you test for microcystins, you’ll probably find them,” said Soren Rundquist, EWG’s director of spatial analysis. “Hundreds of lakes and other resources Americans rely on for tap water and recreation are contaminated – sometimes even when there is no visible toxic algae bloom.”

States sue EPA over pesticide that harms children

Six state attorneys general filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court against the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency for continuing to allow chlorpyrifos, a pesticide that harms children’s neurological development, to be used on food. The states are challenging the EPA’s decision, because it hasn’t made a determination, as is required by law, that the pesticide is safe.

“Chlorpyrifos is extremely dangerous, especially to the health of our children,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “Yet, the Trump Administration continues to ignore both the science and law, by allowing this toxic pesticide to contaminate food at unsafe levels. If the Trump EPA won’t do its job and protect the health and safety of New Yorkers, my office will take them to court and force them to fulfill their responsibilities.”

Scientific evidence shows that even small doses of chlorpyrifos can damage parts of the brain that control language, memory, behavior, and emotion. Studies have found that exposure to chlorpyrifos impairs children’s IQs.

How government regulations help consumers

Conservatives rail against government regulations, and the Trump administration is doing its best every day to cut government regulations that corporations hate.

However, government regulations help consumers. A report by the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards lists 10 worker, health, safety, and transportation standards that could help consumers this summer.

“Summer is supposed to be when we take time off from work to spend with family and friends, enjoy picnics, barbeques and cookouts, lay out by the pool, head to the beach, take road trips across the country or fly to far-flung places,” the report says. “But what happens if you’ve been deprived of the wages needed to take time off or travel, if road trips, flights and tour boats are potentially dangerous, if it’s way too hot to work or play outside, and there’s a good chance the food and water may be hazardous to your health? Suddenly, summertime looks less like a dreamy vacation and more like a scorching hot nightmare.”

The regulations discussed in the report are:

Plan to relocate USDA research agencies opposed by food safety groups

Members of the Safe Food Coalition are asking Congress to stop the efforts to diminish the impact of key research agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including moving two of them out of Washington, D.C.

The USDA has announcement of a list of finalists for the proposed relocation of the Economic Research Service or ERS and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture or NIFA.

The Trump Administration has repeatedly proposed dramatic budget cuts to research budgets for the two USDA research agencies. The president’s 2020 budget eliminates the entire ERS budget for food safety research, which was $2.1 million. Congress, however, has maintained its funding for ERS’ agricultural and food safety research, and it continues to support NIFA’s research agenda.

Jury awards couple $2 billion in lawsuit against Roundup

For the third time in less than a year, a California jury issued a verdict against Bayer-Monsanto, finding that the company’s Roundup weedkiller caused cancer in a California couple and awarding them $2.055 billion in damages.

The jury in Alameda County Superior Court found on Monday that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, was the cause of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in both Alva and Alberta Pilliod of Livermore, who have used the herbicide since the 1970s.

It’s the third trial since August 2018 in which a jury found that glyphosate caused cancer. More than 13,000 similar lawsuits have been filed against the company.

Consumer group asks federal agencies to stop the sale of contaminated poppy seeds

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration need to crack down on the sale of contaminated poppy seeds and seed pods following the death of 12 Americans, the Center for Science in the Public Interest said.

The center asked officials at the agencies to clarify that it’s illegal to import and distribute contaminated poppy seeds and that those who do will be prosecuted. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arizona, has introduced legislation, the Stephen Hacala Poppy Seed Safety Act, to amend the law to ensure that contaminated poppy seeds can’t be sold to consumers.

Opiates such as morphine and codeine occur naturally in the opium poppy, which is why it can’t be grown in the United States. The DEA classifies “poppy straw” — all parts of the poppy plant other than the seeds — as a Schedule II controlled substance. While selling and importing poppy seeds is legal, seeds can become contaminated by poppy straw and sap in the fields and during processing. Importing contaminated poppy seeds is illegal.

Opiate contamination can be reduced to safe levels by washing and drying the seeds. However, potentially contaminated poppy seeds are available at several online retailers, including Amazon.com and Ebay. Recipes for poppy seed “teas” can be found on web sites such as Mercola.com and Chewworld.com.

Consumer groups sue over USDA’s roll back of school nutrition standards

The Trump administration violated the law when it rolled back nutrition standards for school meals, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court.

The violations occurred when the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a final rule that weakens nutrition standards on the amount of whole grains and sodium served in school meals, the lawsuit contends. The weakened standards put about 30 million children, including about 22 million low-income children, at greater risk of health issues associated with diets high in sodium and low in whole grains.

The plaintiffs, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and Healthy School Food Maryland, represented by Democracy Forward, are asking the court to set aside the rule lowering the nutrition standards and require the agency to follow Congress’s requirement to set school nutrition standards based on nutrition science as reflected in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Lists of fruits and vegetables with the most and least pesticides for 2019

Kale has higher pesticide residues than nearly all other produce found on supermarket shelves, according to the Environmental Working Group’s 2019 Dirty Dozen.

The EWG releases the Dirty Dozen as part of its annual Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. It analyzes U.S. Department of Agriculture test data to identify which fruits and vegetables are most and least contaminated with pesticide residues. The Shopper’s Guide also includes the Clean Fifteen, a list of the fruits and vegetables with the lowest amount of residues.

On this year’s Dirty Dozen list, kale ranks third, after strawberries and spinach.