FDA Opposing California Warnings On Canned Tuna Top official sides with firms in mercury suit

[Guest guest]

FDA Opposing California Warnings On Canned Tuna Top official sides with firms in mercury suit By Bob Egelko for the San Francisco Chronicle. http://tinyurl.com/b5ruy The Bush administration is siding with tuna companies in opposing alawsuit by the state that would require signs on store shelves or labels ontuna cans in California warning of the dangers of mercury, state AttorneyGeneral Bill Lockyer reported Friday. Lockyer, whose office filed the suit in June 2004 under a Californiaanti- toxics law, said he had received a letter this week from the head ofthe U.S. Food and Drug Administration declaring that enforcement of thestate law would conflict with federal law and would mislead consumers. "California should not interfere with FDA's carefully consideredapproach of advising consumers of both the benefits and possible risks ofeating seafood," FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford said in the letter. Underfederal law, he said, the FDA "has been given broad authority to regulatethe labels of food products," and a state has no authority to take astricter approach. The FDA has issued public advisories about mercury in fish andrecommended limits on consumption by children and women of child-bearingage. But many health and environmental groups consider the FDA standards toolax, and Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar said the federal advisories were farless effective at reaching the public than the retail-store warnings soughtby the state. Dresslar said the major tuna companies targeted by the suit -- makersof Chicken of the Sea, StarKist and Bumble Bee brands -- had given noticethat they planned to seek dismissal of the suit on the same grounds cited byCrawford. It's another example of the administration's joining withbusinesses to thwart states' ability to protect their residents by enforcingtheir own consumer and environmental laws, Dresslar said. A similar argument by makers of nicotine patches succeeded in April2004 when the California Supreme Court ruled that FDA-approved warninglabels for the products precluded the state from requiring additionalwarnings. The suit over canned tuna, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, isone of several by Lockyer that invoked Proposition 65, a 1986 state ballotmeasure, against mercury in seafood. Prop. 65 requires public warnings aboutexposure to substances at levels that may cause cancer or birth defects. Mercury can damage the nervous system, affecting intelligence, memoryand behavior. Pregnant women, nursing mothers and children are particularlyvulnerable. The mineral enters water or air as waste from mines, powerplants and solid-waste incinerators and works its way up the food chain,with the largest concentrations found in large predatory ocean fish,including tuna. Major restaurants and supermarkets settled two 2003 suits by the statewith agreements to post warnings about mercury in fish, notices that referto the nutritional value of fish and types of fish especially high inmercury. The cases marked the first time that Prop. 65 had been applied tofood products. Makers of canned tuna have fought Lockyer's suit, however, insistingthat their products are safe. Canned tuna has a lower mercury content thanother fish on the state's list. But Lockyer contends even chunk light tuna,which has about one-third the mercury level of canned albacore, may exceedsafe levels for fetuses and growing children. E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko. Thanks to SteveKoyasako.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Kat & All,

About 2 years ago, my brother told me about a

documentary he saw (sorry I don't know the name of it)

but he said TUNA is loaded with MAGGOTS and therefore

I have NOT touched tuna since then and won't ever

again. He was a sailor for many years and I believe

he was factual.

lynn

 

--- Kat <vanokat wrote:

 

> FDA Opposing California Warnings On Canned Tuna

> Top official sides with firms in mercury suit

>

> By Bob Egelko for the San Francisco Chronicle.

>

>

 

Lynn

[Guest guest]

found this interesting bit on the web about tuna

canneries

 

" Every Sunday there is basically no work at RD Tuna

cannery. It is on this day that the machines are

serviced by the various engineers. A few such

engineers expressed how " terrible " that task of

cleaning up is: it really stinks, you have to remove

the worms (simple science teaches that those worms are

in fact eggs/larvae of blue flies) which infest those

machines, whether you like it or not. "

 

http://www.rd.green.net.au/docs/quality.htm

 

 

--- lynn sheer <bigotterwv wrote:

 

> Kat & All,

> About 2 years ago, my brother told me about a

> documentary he saw (sorry I don't know the name of

> it)

> but he said TUNA is loaded with MAGGOTS and

> therefore

> I have NOT touched tuna since then and won't ever

> again. He was a sailor for many years and I believe

> he was factual.

> lynn

>

> --- Kat <vanokat wrote:

>

> > FDA Opposing California Warnings On Canned Tuna

> > Top official sides with firms in mercury suit

> >

> > By Bob Egelko for the San Francisco

> Chronicle.

> >

> >

>

> Lynn

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thank you for backing up my 'story'. I usually won't

send info without sources but was hoping that since my

brother saw this on tv, someone here might have also

seen it.

lynn

 

--- mike man <mgsboediitodpc wrote:

 

> found this interesting bit on the web about tuna

> canneries

>

> " Every Sunday there is basically no work at RD Tuna

> cannery. It is on this day that the machines are

> serviced by the various engineers. A few such

> engineers expressed how " terrible " that task of

> cleaning up is: it really stinks, you have to remove

> the worms (simple science teaches that those worms

> are

> in fact eggs/larvae of blue flies) which infest

> those

> machines, whether you like it or not. "

>

> http://www.rd.green.net.au/docs/quality.htm

>

>

> --- lynn sheer <bigotterwv wrote:

>

> > Kat & All,

> > About 2 years ago, my brother told me about a

> > documentary he saw (sorry I don't know the name of

> > it)

> > but he said TUNA is loaded with MAGGOTS and

> > therefore

> > I have NOT touched tuna since then and won't ever

> > again. He was a sailor for many years and I

> believe

> > he was factual.

> > lynn

> >

> > --- Kat <vanokat wrote:

> >

> > > FDA Opposing California Warnings On Canned Tuna

>

> > > Top official sides with firms in mercury suit

> > >

> > > By Bob Egelko for the San Francisco

> > Chronicle.

> > >

> > >

> >

> > Lynn

> >

>

>

>

>

> Tired of spam? Mail has the best spam

> protection around

>

>

 

 

Lynn