Last week the This Week in Food news feature was on hiatus because, well, there was very little food-related news to report on. That, and I was feeling a bit lazy. Back in full force this week, though.

The culinary story that received the bulk of attention this week was McDonald’s admission that their french fries contain trace amounts of dairy and wheat (even though neither was listed as ingredients in the fries’ nutritional info). Ooops!

McDonald’s: Fries Have Potential Allergens [The Associated Press, 2/13/06]

McDonald’s had said until recently that its fries were free of gluten and milk or wheat allergens and safe to eat for those with dietary issues related to the consumption of dairy items. But the fast-food company quietly added “Contains wheat and milk ingredients” this month to the french fries listing on its Web site.

The company said the move came in response to new rules by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the packaged foods industry, including one requiring that the presence of common allergens such as milk, eggs, wheat, fish or peanuts be reported. As a restaurant operator, Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s does not have to comply but is doing so voluntarily.

McDonald’s director of global nutrition, Cathy Kapica, said its potato suppliers remove all wheat and dairy proteins, such as gluten, which can cause allergic reactions. But the flavoring agent in the cooking oil is a derivative of wheat and dairy ingredients, and the company decided to note their presence because of the FDA’s stipulation that potential allergens be disclosed.

“We knew there were always wheat and dairy derivatives in there, but they were not the protein component,” she said. “Technically there are no allergens in there. What this is an example of is science evolving” and McDonald’s responding as more is learned, she said.

Naturally, the first of the inevitable lawsuits has already been filed (and this time, they’ve got it comin’ - and I, for one, am totally lovin’ it!).

Vegan Sues McDonald’s Over French Fries [The Associated Press, 2/17/06]

A professed vegan has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit claiming McDonald’s Corp. misled consumers into thinking its french fries are free of dairy and wheat products.

Nadia Sugich of Los Angeles said in the Wednesday filing that she “would have never purchased or consumed the french fries if she had known they contain dairy and were not vegan.” […]

Sugich sued on behalf of California consumers who avoid dairy or wheat products because of moral, philosophical or health concerns, and have bought McDonald’s fries within the past four years. She is asking for the customers to be reimbursed for their french fry purchases in the filing, among other requests.

In other food news:

Confessions of a sleep eater: My name is Gary, and I eat White Castle cheeseburgers while snoring. [Salon.com, 2/15/06]

Sometimes it is water chestnuts. Sometimes frozen waffles. Chicken nuggets. Pistachios. The list goes on and on. Pimentos. Anchovies. And once I ate a dozen White Castle double cheeseburgers. The empty cartons were under my pillow in the morning, the car keys lay on the floor with the sales slip from the drive-through, and the car was in the driveway with the door wide open. A binge eater turned sleep driver.

Thank goodness for Google. You do a search on “sleep eating” and “therapy” and among the 23,457,863 sites it finds in 0.85 of a second is a Nocturnal Excess Eating Disorder group where you are not made to feel like a monster just because you have consumed a large quantity of Girl Scout cookies during deep slumber.

Study Finds Calcium Supplements Don’t Prevent Broken Bones [The New York Times, 2/15/06]

Calcium and vitamin D supplements increased the risk of kidney stones but did not prevent broken bones or colorectal cancer in middle-aged and elderly women, according to an extensive study whose results are to be published Thursday.

The supplements’ only positive effect in the study population — 36,282 normal, healthy women aged 50 to 79 — was a one percent increase in bone density at the hip.

The $18 million study was part of the Women’s Health Initiative, a large federal project that last week reported findings that low fat diets do not protect against breast or colorectal cancer or heart disease.

Board: Teflon Chemical a Likely Carcinogen [The Associated Press, 2/15/06]

A group of scientific advisers to the Environmental Protection Agency voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a recommendation that a chemical used in the manufacture of Teflon and other non-stick and stain-resistant products should be considered a likely carcinogen. […]

PFOA is a processing aid used in the manufacturing of fluoropolymers, which have a wide variety of product applications, including non-stick cookware.

The chemical also can be a byproduct in the manufacturing of fluorotelomers used in surface protection products for applications such as stain-resistant textiles and grease-resistant food wrapping.

Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont Co., owner of the Teflon brand, is the sole producer of PFOA in North America.

Finger-Lickin’ Bad: How poultry producers are ravaging the rural South [Grist Magazine, 2/21/06]

A person driving through the South might notice the chicken houses dotting the hills and flatlands. He might marvel at the larger ones, as long as a football field. He might react to their gagging stench for a moment, and then forget as he travels on. But those who live near the structures — stuffed with as many as 25,000 chickens each — combat the odor and health hazards daily. […]

More frightening than the economic balancing act may be the health and environmental hazards posed by chicken farms, from the arsenic, ammonia, and other chemicals found in feed and manure to threats from diseased animals. While traditional farming can carry similar risks, CAFOs are especially hazardous because of the tight confinement that defines them.

I’m Hatin’ It: How the feds make bad-for-you food cheaper than healthful fare [Grist Magazine, 2/22/06]

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the amount Americans spend on food as a percentage of disposable income has fallen from 15.4 percent in 1980 to 10.8 percent in 2004. But while we’ve spent less money on food, our waistlines have expanded. The obesity rate, after hovering around 15 percent from 1960 to 1980, surged to 31 percent in the last 25 years, USDA figures show. The percentage of overweight children tripled in the same time period. Meanwhile, incidence of type II diabetes, a diet-related condition with a host of health-related complications, leapt 41 percent from 1997 to 2004. […]

Under the Farm Bill, the great bulk of USDA largesse flows to five crops: corn, soy, cotton, wheat, and rice. Of the $113.6 billion in commodity subsidy payments doled out by the USDA between 1995 and 2004, corn drew $41.8 billion — more than cotton, soy, and rice combined. By contrast, apples and sugar beets, the only other fruit or vegetable crops that draw federal subsidies, received $611 million over the same period. (The latter are generally processed into sweeteners.) […]

Cheap corn, underwritten by the subsidy program, has changed the diet of every American. It has allowed a few corporations — including Archer Daniels Midland, the world’s largest grain processor — to create a booming market for high-fructose corn syrup. HFCS now accounts for nearly half of the caloric sweeteners added to processed food, and is the sole caloric sweetener for mass-market soft drinks. Between 1975 and 1997, per-capita consumption jumped from virtually nothing to 60.4 pounds per year — equal to about 200 calories per person, per day. Consumption has generally hovered around that level since.

Carbon monoxide keeps meat looking red longer [CNN.com 2/22/06]

The meat industry defends the use of carbon monoxide to help meat retain its pink hue, saying large sums of money are wasted when sellers throw away meat that is still safe to eat but is not as attractive because it is slightly brown.

“Color is the number one indicator that’s used” in selecting meat, said Don Berdahl, vice president of Kalsec Inc., a maker of natural food extracts in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In November, Kalsec filed a petition with the Food and Drug Administration seeking a ban on the use of carbon monoxide in meat packaging.

Berdahl said Tuesday that carbon monoxide-treated meat could be left on the kitchen counter for five days and would still look bright red and fresh. Carbon monoxide “also suppresses bad odors and the presence of slime, other telltale signs that meat is spoiled,” Kalsec’s petition said.

How can this possibly be healthy?

Shoppers who judge the freshness of meat by its color may be deceived by a relatively new industry practice of treating meat with carbon monoxide, critics say.

Found this on John Dvorak’s blog.

I’m in the midst of switching over to a new ergonomic keyboard - which is nearly impossible to type on, at least for now - so commentary will be nonexistent today, folks. Trust me, this hurts me more than it hurts you!

not milk?: If you can’t imagine life without a daily dose of dairy, consider new research that questions the value—-if not the safety—-of this dietary staple [Chicago Tribune, 2/5/06]

Last March, the journal Pediatrics published a review article concluding that there is “scant evidence” that consuming more milk and dairy products will promote child and adolescent bone health. Some leading practitioners of integrative medicine, including best-selling author Dr. Andrew Weil, suggest eliminating dairy products from the diet to help treat irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, eczema and ear infections. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock reversed his support of cow’s milk for children in 1998 in his last edition of his world-famous book “Baby and Child Care.”

One fact is indisputable: Our bodies need the mineral calcium to build and maintain bones and teeth. Calcium also helps with blood clotting, muscle function and regulation of the heart’s rhythm. The debate centers on whether milk is really the best–or even a necessary–source. Ten thousand or so years ago, cow’s milk was not part of the human diet.

Whom do you believe?

Broccoli chemical’s cancer check [BBC News, 2/7/06]

A chemical in vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage can boost DNA repair in cells and may stop them becoming cancerous, a study says.

Another chemical in soy also performs the same role, the Georgetown University team said.

Although a link has already been found between eating these foods and a reduced cancer risk, this research shows how that might happen.

Study Finds Low-Fat Diet Won’t Stop Cancer or Heart Disease [The New York Times, 2/7/06]

The $415 million federal study involved nearly 49,000 women ages 50 to 79 who were followed for eight years. In the end, those assigned to a low-fat diet had the same rates of breast cancer, colon cancer, heart attacks and strokes as those who ate whatever they pleased, researchers are reporting today. […]

Not everyone was convinced. Some, like Dr. Dean Ornish, a longtime promoter of low-fat diets and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, Calif., said that the women did not reduce their fat to low enough levels or eat enough fruits and vegetables, and that the study, even at eight years, did not give the diets enough time.

Others said that diet could still make a difference, at least with heart disease, if people were to eat the so-called Mediterranean diet, low in saturated fats like butter and high in oils like olive oil. The women in the study reduced all kinds of fat.

The diets studied “had an antique patina,” said Dr. Peter Libby, a cardiologist and professor at Harvard Medical School. These days, Dr. Libby said, most people have moved on from the idea of controlling total fat to the idea that people should eat different kinds of fat.

Also see Study: Less Fat May Not Lower Cancer Risk [The Associated Press, 2/7/06]

Foot-and-mouth cases in Argentina [BBC News, 2/8/06]

Authorities in Argentina have reported an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease near the border with Paraguay.

The National Service for Food Safety and Quality said it had found some 70 cattle showing signs of the infection in the province of Corrientes. […]

The head of the National Service for Food Safety and Quality, Jorge Amaya, warned that some 3,000 cattle in the area may have been infected.

Herb Not Effective for Enlarged Prostate [The Associated Press, 2/8/06]

A popular herbal pill used by millions of men doesn’t reduce the frequent urge to go to the bathroom or other annoying symptoms of an enlarged prostate, a rigorous new study concludes.

The yearlong research found the plant extract, saw palmetto, was no more effective than dummy capsules in easing symptoms for the 225 men in the study. The results contrast with previous research that showed it helped.

McDonald’s Says Fries Have More Trans Fats [The Associated Press, 2/8/06]

McDonald’s french fries just got fatter – by nutritional measurement.

The world’s largest restaurant chain said Wednesday its fries contain a third more trans fats than it previously knew, citing results of a new testing method it began using in December.

That means the level of potentially artery-clogging trans fat in a portion of large fries is eight grams, up from six, with total fat increasing to 30 grams from 25.

Often used by restaurants and in packaged foods, trans fats are thought to cause cholesterol problems and increase the risk of heart disease. The dietary guidelines for Americans that were issued by a government panel last year said people should consume as little trans fat as possible.

Cancer Deaths Fall, Ending 70-Year Trend [The Associated Press, 2/9/06]

The war on cancer may have reached a dramatic turning point: For the first time in more than 70 years, annual cancer deaths in the United States have fallen.

The number of cancer deaths dropped to 556,902 in 2003, down from 557,271 the year before, according to a recently completed review of U.S. death certificates by the National Center for Health Statistics. […]

“Finally, the declining rates have surpassed the increasing size of the population,” said Rebecca Siegel, a Cancer Society epidemiologist.

Deal lets big farms skirt pollution fines [The Associated Press, 1/30/06]

The Bush administration will let thousands of factory-style farms escape severe penalties for fouling the air and water with animal excrement in exchange for data to help curb future pollution.

The Environmental Protection Agency has signed agreements with 2,681 animal feeding operations in the egg, chicken, turkey, dairy and hog industries. They would be exempt from having to pay potential fines of up to $27,500 a day for violations either in the past or over the next four years. […]

Jon Scholl, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson’s agriculture adviser, said the agreements are the most efficient way of obtaining the data needed to determine whether the animal feeding operations are complying with federal air emission laws.

Yes, let potential offenders of the hook…to determine whether they’re offending or not. Makes perfect sense (in Bush World, at least).

See also A Big To-Doo-Doo / EPA offers air-pollution immunity to factory farms [Grist Magazine, 1/24/05]

Red meat cancer risk clue found [BBC News, 1/31/06]

Scientists at the MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit and the Open University compared red meat and vegetarian diets.

Their study, published in Cancer Research, found the red meat diet was associated with a higher level of DNA damage.

Previous work suggests regular meat eaters are significantly more likely to develop bowel cancer.

Dads-to-be pile on the pounds too [New Scientist, 2/1/06]

Pregnancy is something that not all expectant fathers miss out on – male “sympathetic pregnancies” have been reported in humans but never systematically studied. They are often regarded as psychosomatic events.

Now a US team has studied the parental weight patterns of common marmosets and cotton top tamarins – two squirrel-sized, monogamous primate species – from conception to birth. Each month the 25 prospective dads and 33 pregnant mums were weighed. The creatures’ food supply was maintained but not increased during the gestation periods for the marmosets (five months) and tamarins (six months).

“We found that the males gained on average an extra 10% of their body weight during the pregnancy,” says Toni Zeigler who led the research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison National Primate Research Center. The weight gain was not as pronounced as for the females, but was acquired earlier in the pregnancy – about midway.

In New York Schools, Whole Milk Is Cast From the Menu [The New York Times, 2/2/06]

Children today are fat, or at least too many of them are, and to cut the risks of obesity, diabetes and other health problems, New York City — the nation’s largest school district — has decided to cut whole milk from the menu.

That feat, no small one in a system that serves a half-million half pints of milk a day, is already under way, with whole milk banished from cafeterias in the Bronx and in Manhattan. To the ire of the dairy industry, which has lobbied fiercely against the change, the other boroughs are following suit and, by the end of this month, officials say, whole milk will be gone for good.

Kudos to the NYC school district (and shame on the diary industry for putting their profits above health!). Could Pepsi be next?

Agency Fought Retesting of Infected Cow [The Washington Post, 2/3/06]

The report details why scientists at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories concluded that a sample from a Texas animal should be tested with other techniques following initial inconclusive findings. It adds that top officials at the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) told them not to do the additional tests.

When officials from the inspector general’s office met with the head of APHIS, they were told that the protocol followed by the agency was the international “gold standard” and nothing more was needed, the report adds. Nonetheless, the sample was later sent to England for a different set of tests and was found to have the mad cow infection.

The report also found that although there was no evidence that infected meat had made it into the human food chain, the USDA surveillance system did not collect the information needed to say whether slaughterhouses were following all mad cow-related regulations. In nine of 12 facilities visited, the report said, inadequate recordkeeping made it impossible to know whether proper procedures were being followed.

I’ll stick with Boca Burgers, thanks.

‘Lost cells’ offer obesity clue [BBC News, 2/4/06]

By looking at a mouse model of BBS [Bardet-Biedl syndrome], they found there were problems with tiny hair-like projections on cells, known as cilia.

These hairs are important for telling the cell where in the body it is positioned in relation to other cells. Without this function the cell can get lost.

They believe such malfunction could play a role in the symptoms of BBS and its related obesity.