Tobacco Documents Online

a st Washington, llu i -- Dairies, Drugs and Accusations L A'I'1' [.AST Y1:11It the Iruoci and Urug Achnin- tstrntinn approved the sale of recombinnnt hovine snmltr>trc)piu (bS'1'), a genetically engi- nt c1rd anitual drug thnt inc•reases milk production in ctnvs. Small Larnter5 in the industry understandabiy fear that incrensing the efficicucy of milk production will put tlteut out of business. 1'hry rind the ittenibers cif Congress who represent them have fought Food and i)rug Administratind aiiltrctval of the drug. "w hnve yome scienre lobbyists such is Jeremy Itiflcin, who are generally leery of hiotechnology and have found Att especially iilliH;Aling tat'£;et in a substance 111,11 they say will affect the natian's primary consum- VIs Of ntilk, children. c tptxments failed, after a scven-yc•ar effort, to stop i,'l)r1 approval of the clrug. tiut now they have taken a different tack. Reps. Ilernerd Sanders (1-Vt.), 1)wicf Ohey (I)-Wis.) anil George Brown (U•Calif.) have written to lhe Ueneral Accounting Office, the invrstigltive arnt of Congress, asking for a report nn tlurv 1~UA officials who, at mn earlier tinte in their c•rtrvers, had same tie to Mcros<nnto, the developer of tltr drug. Mr. IZifkin alleges tltat there is a"signifi- c:nnt scnndai" here aurl demancls the resignation of F()l1(:rnttntissioner 1),wid Kessler.'1'Ite GAU has:3U ifay5 to c•amplete a review. '1'ltis is a tattgh and very prtscmnl ttttack on the intel;rity of the individuals named. One is a political ,tptinintee, hlichael '['nylor, who is the deputy cont- ntissirntor for policy. Mr• '1'nylor li<ul hcen a p<trtner i__ -- i Wai3 St. Jnl Washington, DC M1,7. I rf1 q FDA to Launch Campaign On New Labels for Food By a Wnr.c. Srn€rr JovanaL Staff Reporter WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration will launch a public rela• tions campaign aimed at focusing con- sumer attention on new food labels that will be required on most processed foods beginning next Monday. As part of the effort, baseball players Kirby Puckett of the Minnesota Twins and Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox will be featured playing ball in a television spot with Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. The slogan of the campaign Is "the new food label-check it out." w in a Washington law firm that represented Monsan- to, a fact that has been known to all the players since lie took office. Dr. Kessler says Mr. Taylor has gone beyond obeying the law by recusing hiniself front any nt,itters iuvolving Monsanto for a year and "not participating in the bS'1' approval process etren after that time. In response to 1 request from W:'Rifltin, his role was examined by Jack f{ress, the::ilepart- nieutal ethics officer assigned to the FDA, who found Mr. Taylor's conduct to be above reproacli Two cnreer employees have also been named: Margaret Miller, deputy director of the agency's new animal drugs office, who once worked for MonsatttQ, was accused of conflicts of interest itt a particularly distasteful anonyuious letter. Susan Sechen, a data reviewer at the f' 1)f1, once worked for a Conteit professor who had a research grant from Moitsanto; she was mentioned in the congressional letter to the GAU. Both tcre strongly supported by FDA officials. , It is unfortunate ihat what is essentially a scientific dispute his taken this ttasty personal turn, where there is no evidence of corruption but plenty of itmueudn. '1'his is a particular probletn for the FDA,i which traditioually employs higitly trained specialists who move between public- and private-sector em- ployment. For the sake of the three individuals whasee reputations Nave been called into question, the GA() should hmntile this matter promptly. If a different ethicil stlndnrd is needed for the FDA, Congress sltoukl tale on llu: lnslc. In addition, the children's character Curious George the monkey will be fea- tured in other ads, and the Goodyear Blimp is already flashing the slogan. Grocery stores also may print it on their bags or distribute information to their customers. The campaign will be announced at a news conference today by FDA Commis- sioner David Kessler. The new labels require food makers to give standard serving sizes and to list the amount of fat, sodium and carbohydrates in each serving, as well as what percentage of a person's daily allotment for these items is present in a serving, t j Wa11 St. Jni Washington, DC ~ ~..* / The FDA will launch a public relation campaign today aimed at focusing cor sumer attention on new labels that will b required on most processed foods startin next Monday. The labels will give standar serving sizes and list fat, sodium an carbohyd'rates as a percentage of a person daily allotment for these items. ~ ~