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The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) 1992 policy statement granted genetically engineered foods presumptive GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status. Since then, divergent views have been expressed concerning the scientific support for this policy. This paper examines four sources to better understand the basis for these claims: 1) internal FDA correspondence; 2) reports from the National Academy of Sciences; 3) research funded by US Department of Agriculture from 1981 to 2002; and 4) FDA's proposed rules issued in 2001. These sources reveal that little research has been conducted on unintended compositional changes from genetic engineering. Profiling techniques now make this feasible, but the new debate centers on the functional meaning of compositional changes. Key words: unintended effects, scientific evidence, substantial equivalence

The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) 1992 policy statement was developed in the context of critical gaps in scientific knowledge concerning the compositional effects of genetic transformation and severe limitations in methods for safety testing. FDA acknowledged that pleiotropy and insertional mutagenesis may cause unintended changes, but it was unknown whether this happens to a greater extent in genetic engineering compared with traditional breeding. Moreover, the agency was not able to identify methods by which producers could screen for unintended allergens and toxicants. Despite these uncertainties, FDA granted genetically engineered foods the presumption of GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) and recommended that producers use voluntary consultations before marketing them. Key words: unintended effects, food safety, scientific uncertainty

Targeting has been defined as a method by which goods, services, or other programmatic actions are delivered to groups or individuals who have specific characteristics. Similarly, politics refers to the social processes that determine who gets what, when, and how. This similarity suggests there may be utility in undertaking an explicit analysis of how the science and the politics of targeting relate to one another. Accordingly, this article outlines a technical/scientific framework regarding targeting and, using one element of this framework [sensitivity and specificity analysis], demonstrates that recent shifts in politics and policy in the United States can be more clearly understood when viewed from this angle. Then, the article outlines a basic framework on politics and uses it to demonstrate that one of the most fundamental features of our training, practices, and outlook (specialization) holds obvious benefits for advancing research but has three undesirable effects in the realm of policy: 1) it directly or indirectly encourages narrow, partial solutions to complex problems, some of which may have unintended effects on health or well-being for the very people we seek to help; 2) it creates a cumulative demand for research dollars, specialized interventions, and policy attention that far exceeds available resources and capabilities; and 3) it often prevents us from developing and advancing the common agendas and mutual support required to be effective in political and policy realms. The article concludes that more explicit analysis along these lines could strengthen our effectiveness in the policy realm. KEY WORDS: * targeting * food * nutrition * policy * trade-offs * values * rhetoric * liberals * conservatives

This study characterized the nutrient intakes of participants in the Food Stamp Program (FSP) who used nutrient supplements, compared with those who did not, and examined the variation in these relationships across different sociodemographic subgroups. Dietary intakes from food sources for eight key nutrients were examined from the 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals. Two measures of overall diet quality were also included in the analysis. Findings revealed that supplement use in FSP participants was positively associated with nutrient densities for iron, calcium, fiber, folate, vitamin A, and vitamin C and with overall diet quality. However, the direction and magnitude of this association varied across age, gender, and ethnic groups for iron, saturated fat, fiber, vitamin A, and one measure of overall diet quality (Z-score). Thus, results show that supplement use is not uniformly associated with more healthful diets among FSP participants., The U.S. marketplace for dietary supplements is large and changing rapidly. National surveys indicate that dietary supplements are used by roughly 50 percent of the U.S. population (Balluz, Kieszak, Philen, [...]

Considerable evidence suggests that malnutrition affects human performance, health and survival, including physical growth, morbidity, mortality, cognitive development, reproduction, physical work capacity and risks for several adult-onset chronic diseases. In recent decades, development agencies and governments have emphasized selective interventions to improve health and nutritional status, such as immunizations, oral rehydration, antibiotics and micronutrients, with child survival as a major motivation and justification. Although the efficacy of these approaches for improving child survival has been amenable to study, providing some of the rationale for using these approaches, it has not been possible to test directly the effects of improvements in general malnutrition. The present study quantified the effects of changes in general malnutrition, as measured by child weight-for-age (WA), on changes in child survival in 59 developing countries, using aggregate, longitudinal data at national and subnational levels from 1966 to 1996. Mixed model analysis (in SAS) was used, to take advantage of the multilevel and longitudinal nature of these data sets. Changes in WA have a statistically significant effect on changes in child mortality, independent of socioeconomic and policy changes represented by the secular trend. The secular trend in mortality began earlier and leveled off at higher mortality rates in populations with a higher prevalence of malnutrition. Gaps in coverage of selective interventions are more likely and more serious in the more malnourished populations. Continued reduction in mortality will require improved targeting of selective interventions and general nutritional improvement to the most marginal populations. KEY WORDS: * children * malnutrition * mortality * policy

Several U.S. professional organizations that develop research-based dietary recommendations for the public support the position that most nutrients can and should be obtained by consuming a balanced diet. This position differs from the widespread and growing use of supplements by the public and changes in public policy currently under consideration, such as the proposal to allow nutrient supplements to be purchased with food stamps. This study investigated the attitudes and beliefs of a diverse sample of food stamp-eligible women concerning the relationship among food, health, nutrient supplementation, and associated lifestyle factors; these findings were then related to ongoing policy dialogue. The findings suggest the need to clarify the policy goals, conduct a more systematic examination of potential strategies for achieving those goals, and broaden the set of explicit criteria used when considering supplement-related policies in this population., Many U.S. organizations that develop research-based national dietary recommendations support the position that nutrients required by healthy people can be obtained by consuming a balanced diet (Pelletier & Kendall, 1997). [...]

Malnutrition and infection cause a synergistic effect on children all over the world, irrespective of anthropometric data, as revealed by an investigation of 28 epidemiologic studies concerning malnutrition and its relation with mortality. Potentiation of diseases due to malnutrition increases child death estimates by about 8 to 10 times. Good health care facilities reduce the risk of mortality due to malnutrition.

According to conventional methods of classifying cause of death, approximately 70% of child deaths (0-4 y) worldwide are due to a small number of priority infectious diseases which, in turn, receive the vast majority of donor and national resources in the health sector. Despite the long-recognized synergism between malnutrition and infection in the causation of child mortality, malnutrition does not appear as a major cause of death in health statistics from developing countries. Part of the reason for this has been the difficulty of estimating the percent of deaths due to malnutrition, because the conventional methods of classifying cause of death do not recognize the potentiating effect of malnutrition on the disease. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a simple methodology to estimate the percent of child deaths in a given country or community that is due to malnutrition's potentiating effects on prevailing infectious diseases. The cornerstone of the methodology is knowledge of the strength of the association between malnutrition and mortality in developing countries, as measured in eight prospective studies. These studies reveal remarkable consistency in relative risk across different grades of malnutrition. The mean and SE of relative risk for severe malnutrition is 8.4 [+ or -] 2.1, for moderate malnutrition it is 4.6 [+ or -] 0.9, and for mild malnutrition it is 2.5 [+ or -] 0.3. When applied to survey data from Ethiopia, Malawi, Guatemala and India for illustrative purposes, this methodology indicates that 42-57% of all child deaths in these samples (6-59 mo) are due to malnutrition's potentiating effects on infectious disease, of which 76-89% is attributable to mild-to-moderate malnutrition. This methodology is recommended for use in a variety of policy and planning applications. INDEXING KEY WORDS: child mortality; malnutrition; disease; synergism; policy

There are five broad categories of food-related public health problems in the U.S. for which survey data on food consumption are needed. These relate to reproduction, growth and development, chronic disease, food safety, food insecurity and problems specific to the elderly. The collection and analysis of food consumption data has become increasingly difficult for three major reasons. First, broad societal trends (e.g., ethnicity and use of food away from home) and changes in the food production, processing and marketing sectors have complicated the task. Second, the traditional concerns of monitoring (tracking population means and prevalences) are no longer the only objectives; there is a growing demand for data on habitual intake of individuals and variability in habitual intakes (e.g., to estimate the frequency of acute exposures). Third, data are required at several levels of aggregation (e.g., nutrients, food categories, commodities and name-brand foods) and a high frequency of non-consumption at lower levels of aggregation places high demands on sample size. It is suggested that the current large national surveys be supplemented with special purpose surveys that meet individual agency needs, and that principles and methods of state and local monitoring be further developed and implemented. J. Nutr. 124: 1846S-1852S, 1994. INDEXING KEY WORDS: * nutrition monitoring food consumption surveys * NFCS

Most school-based nutrition programs focus on classroom curriculums, but efforts to change the food environment at school have been promising (1-5). Because environmental interventions remain understudied, the Middle School Physical [...]

ABSTRACT Objective Children consume about one third of their daily energy at school, mostly from cafeteria food and bag lunches. Students also shop at student-run stores that generate revenue for [...]

The dairy industry spends about $225 million each year promoting its products, but historically, it has resisted explicit promotion of lowfat milk. This study examines the potential nutritional and industry benefits associated with greater use of lowfat milk by the U.S. population. The 1989 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII) was used to examine the association between types of milk, intake of lipids and calcium, and quantity of milk consumed. Results show that compared with whole milk drinkers, lowfat milk drinkers obtain less fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol from milk. However, lowfat milk drinkers are more likely than their counterparts to exceed the recommended levels of fat and saturated fat from all food sources. Lowfat milk drinkers consumed one-third to one-half more milk on the recalled day than whole-milk drinkers consumed. These results are consistent with other evidence that the dairy industry may derive economic benefits from promoting lowfat milk; the nutritional benefits are less clear. Additional study is warranted in this area: the effects of milk type on milk intake and dietary substitutions. Nutrition education should continue to promote specific dietary changes within the context of the total diet., For the past few decades, public-private partnerships have emerged as an important element of nutrition and public health strategies (14,17). Similarly, the Institute of Medicine has recommended the negotiation of [...]

The advertising industry aggressively seeks to understand, anticipate, and influence the perceived needs and desires of young consumers. Because marketers have taken an increasingly disciplined approach to market research, they have gained a wealth of information about children and teenagers. This paper reviews the research methods marketers use to gain information about young consumers to design targeted marketing campaigns. The paper provides an overview of the advertising techniques, styles, and channels marketers use to reach children and teenage youth. It discusses how current market research can be used in a social marketing framework to design more effective nutrition education and health promotion campaigns for young consumers., Commercialism permeates the lives of children and teenage youth. It is generally defined as the means of communication that creates consumer awareness and induces the desire for products, thus increasing [...]

The nutritional well-being of children is a high priority, given our knowledge relating nutrition to health risks in this group and the importance of early childhood experiences in forming lifetime behavioral patterns. Children are becoming consumers at younger ages, and a variety of influences and experiences shapes their consumer habits. This paper reviews the marketing literature to gain insight into the purchasing power, habits, and purchase influence of children and teenage youth and also to examine the influence of commercialism on their food purchasing behavior. The findings are discussed within the context of building young consumers' information-processing skills in order to help them make informed dietary choices in the marketplace., Division of Nutritional Sciences Cornell University Striving to achieve optimal nutritional well-being among children is a high priority, given our knowledge relating nutrition to disease risks and the importance of [...]

This study tests the generalization from earlier studies that food intake of supplement users is more healthful than that of nonusers and finds that the association varies across major population [...]