Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Food-Industry War Escalates Over Bioengineered Foods, Drawing In Academics On Both Sides
The New York Times: Food Industry Enlisted Academics In G.M.O. Lobbying War, Emails Show
Corporations have poured money into universities to fund research for decades, but now, the debate over bioengineered foods has escalated into a billion-dollar food industry war. Companies like Monsanto are squaring off against major organic firms like Stonyfield Farm, the yogurt company, and both sides have aggressively recruited academic researchers, emails obtained through open records laws show. (Lipton, 9/5)
The New York Times: New Type Of Drug-Free Labels For Meat Has U.S.D.A. Blessing
As meat companies scramble to eliminate antibiotics from their products to address consumer and regulatory concerns, the federal Agriculture Department has quietly opened a new front in the debate over the use of drugs in the livestock and poultry industries. In the next few months, consumers will start seeing the phrase “produced without ractopamine” on packages of Organic Buttercroft Bacon from Tendergrass Farms, a company that markets “natural” and organic meats. Ractopamine hydrochloride is among a class of drugs called beta-agonists, which are used to add muscle weight to animals in the weeks before slaughter. (Strom, 9/4)
