Tag Archives: US

Let the science speak for itself

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As epidemiologists go, Dr Dominik Alexander, is a surprise. He’s young, 39, doesn’t wear glasses or a white coat and is a previous professional kickboxer. However, the leading US epidemiologist also knows his stuff about cancer and nutrition research and he’s been over here in New Zealand sharing his expertise.

With extensive experience in health research methodology and interpretation of epidemiological studies, particularly nutritional epidemiology, Alexander is based in Boulder, Colorado, where he works for engineering and science consultancy firm Exponent Inc in its Health Sciences Centre for epidemiology, biostatistics and computational biology.

He delivers the sobering estimation that one in three people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. The strongest risk factor for cancer, generally, is age.

“With increasing numbers of older people, we are seeing higher rates of cancer and also diabetes and heart disease. This is also the case in developing countries, where the elimination of certain infectious diseases – which would have killed off more of the population early on – and lower infant mortality rates, means a higher rate of cancer and other age-related diseases in the population.”

Relating to nutrition, the types of cancer of concern are those associated with digestion, absorption and elimination such as the most common type, colorectal, through stomach/gastric to the less common oesophageal, pancreatic, liver and other cancers.

As an epidemiologist studying the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease in defined populations, he’s involved in examining exposure and outcome.

“Food is a necessary exposure. All people have to eat,” he says, adding that the result of over-exposure leads to higher Body Mass Index (BMI) rates – overweight to obese – where there is an established increased risk for cancers such as colorectal, the most common cancer affecting the alimentary tract.

In his view, cancer prevention is all about control. The key is a health lifestyle. “It all starts with physical exercise and maintaining a healthy body weight.  In addition you need a well-balanced diet,” he says.

Opinions + assumptions + perception = confusion

Trouble is, as everyone eats, every single person has an opinion on it and the perceptions of the general public, the medical fraternity and the media vary. That’s why the ‘study of the moment’ is leapt on, over-hyped, over-analysed and consequently gets a lot of airtime leading to consumer confusion.

But, you can’t view a single study in isolation, he notes. “Every study needs to be viewed in the context of the available body of scientific views, otherwise it can be misinterpreted.”

Good science is at the heart of good communication, he believes. Dr Alexander’s advice for those communicating with the public is: “Don’t say anything that can’t be backed up by science. Let the science speak for itself and don’t make an interpretation outside the bounds of the scientific results. Given the complexity with this type of product, there needs to be a cautious approach.”

What media get hung up on sometimes is the people funding the research and conflicts of interest. That can negate the worth of the science itself, he believes. “It’s very important to get to the heart of the issue with science and then focus on the science and the scientific basis for comments.”

In his opinion, what makes good evidence is transparency, objectivity, justification for doing the research, rationale and a clear and open basis for research.

“A lot of problems come in when the research is not open and transparent. Say what you’re going to do, do it and show what you learned,” he advocates.

Looking to the future

Looking to the future, we have a long way to go on the preventative side, he says, and continuous updates of cohort studies, don’t always shed light.

“We also lack long-term evidence of differences between organic versus conventional products, for example.

“This all takes us back to the holistic approach and concentrating on the healthy body weights and lifestyle elements.”

Dr Alexander’s articulate delivery comes with a sense of humour and the surprising revelation that he was once a professional kickboxer in the 1990s, before he moved straight to science at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB).

“You could call me the toughest epidemiologist in the world,” he laughs.

At UAB, he was awarded a National Cancer Institute Fellowship for Cancer Prevention and Control and worked closely with the Department of Pathology where he designed and implemented epidemiological studies pertaining to colorectal survival. He is also the 2010 recipient of the UAB School of Public Health Alumnus for scientific excellence.

Dr Dominik Alexander PhD MSHP was invited to Australia and New Zealand in September in a visit jointly organised by Meat & Livestock Australia and Beef + Lamb NZ Inc.

This article appeared in Pen & Palate (October 2012), the NZ Guild of Food Writers’ ezine.

LFTB: lawsuit filed

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US lawyers have filed a US$1 billion + (NZ$1.2 billion+) defamation lawsuit, on behalf of South Dakota based Beef Products Inc, against the ABC News team for a series of comments made on the channel earlier this year about lean finely textured beef (LFTB) – sometimes pejoratively described as ‘pink slime’.

LFTB is lean beef that is separated in a manufacturing process from fatty beef trimmings, to reduce wastage. The process involves treating the LFTB with small amounts of ammonium hydroxide gas or citric acid to eliminate any harmful bacteria present. The process has been approved as safe by the US Department of Agriculture and it has been reported that over 70 percent of ground beef used in the US is believed to have incorporated LFTB as an ingredient.

However, a range of media commentators including ABC News and British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, criticised the practice and the campaign spread through social media platforms. Despite statements by the USDA and meat industry bodies asserting that LFTB is safe for consumption, a number of major retailers and restaurant chains decided not to use LFTB as a result of considerable negative publicity against the product.

As a result of the campaign, sales dropped off dramatically for the company, which led to it closing three of its four plants in May. The American Meat Institute estimated that without LFTB, the industry would need 1.5 million additional head of cattle to make up the difference in beef supply.

The BPI lawsuit alleges the network’s coverage misled consumers to believe the company’s product was unhealthy and unsafe. News reports note that Walt Disney-owned ABC News has denied the claims and say it will contest them vigorously.

LFTB is not used in New Zealand, as the leaner, pasture-raised New Zealand beef does not produce the high fat trimmings that provide the raw ingredient for LFTB, the Meat Industry Association confirmed earlier this year.

Lessons learned from the LFTB saga were aired at last week’s Australian Meat Industry Council business conference. News reports suggest that various speakers warned that social media could pose a threat and the meat industry needs to be on the front foot when it comes to tackling misinformation.

More information about the BPI lawsuit …

Frozen beef leads rise in export value for meat

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Frozen New Zealand beef led an increase in export value for meat and edible offal in July 2012, compared with July 2011, according to Statistics New Zealand (SNZ).

The latest figures show export value for meat and edible offal grew by $25 million (6.9 percent) during the period led by frozen beef, which increased by $22 million. Exports of beef to the US increased by $19 million, leading a $35 million (11 percent) growth in overall exports to that market. This corresponded to a $19 million fall in the value of beef exports to Indonesia.

Meat and edible offal is still trending upwards in value since its recent low point of February 2012, but is still 11 percent lower than its record high point in July 2011, according to SNZ.

Overall, the value of exported goods rose $296 million (eight percent) in July 2012 to $4 billion, compared with July 2011. This was led by a rise in the value of milk powder exports, says SNZ.

Imports rose $383 Million (11 percent) to $4 billion, with all three broad economic categories – capital, intermediate and consumption goods – rising in value.

The trade balance for July 2012 was a small surplus of $15 million (0.4 percent of exports). This compares with a surplus of $103 million (2.8 percent) of exports in July 2011.

Seasonally adjusted exports fell 0.4 percent and imports fell 1.5 percent compared with June 2012. Most major export commodities fell, offset by milk powder, butter and cheese, which rose 20 percent, reports SNZ.

Try lamb, says joint promotional group

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A joint promotional push is getting United States consumers to try lamb.

Project partners involved with the Tri-Lamb Group, which has a goal to get more Americans eating lamb, are meeting with two Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ Ltd) farmer directors.

Central South Island director, Anne Munro and Southern South Island director, Leon Black are in Idaho, representing New Zealand sheep farmers alongside their fellow Tri- Lamb Group representatives from Australia and the United States.

B+LNZ Ltd chief executive Dr Scott Champion says the collaborative promotion by the three sheep producing nations is built around the understanding that the profitability and sustainability of the lamb market in the US is important for farmers in all three countries.

“If more Americans are eating lamb, then each country stands to gain from the opportunities that increased consumption will provide.

“The programme includes online food and nutrition blogs that share lamb recipes and podcasts showing how to build simple and healthy lamb meals for the family. They’re tracking a lot of interest.

“This week the Group reviewed last year’s programme and considered continuing support for the initiative, called ‘Making Lamb Famous in the United States’.”

For the year ended 30 June, the United States was New Zealand’s third largest sheepmeat market by value (NZ$256 million), behind the United Kingdom (NZ$534 million) and Germany ($NZ275 million) and ahead of China (NZ$247 million).

View Lean on Lamb online food blog.

 

I’ll just print me a steak …

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Traditional meat exporters will need to consider future protein competition coming from outside the box in the future, as new technology is attracting innovation funding around the world.

One such piece of research, by a US company called Modern Meadow, has this week gained between US$250,000-300,000 for a tissue engineering project. Modern Meadow is said to be developing a fundamentally new approach to meat and leather production, “which is based on the latest advances in tissue engineering and causes no harm to animals.”

The news was announced by the US-based Thiel Foundation, set up by one of the founders of PayPal Peter Thiel. It was one of three new grants, awarded through its Breakout Labs programme. This is a revolutionary revolving fund to promote innovation in science and technology. The two other grants went to medical and therapeutic innovations.

According to Breakout, Modern Meadow co-founders Gabor and Andras Forgas respectively invented and helped to commercialise bio-printing, a technology that builds tissues and organ structures based on the computer-controlled delivery of cells in three dimensions. The two previously co-founded Oganovo,a a San Diego-based regenerative medicine company which applies bio-printing to a range of medical applications including drug discovery, drug testing and ultimately transplant tissues. They plan to use the Breakout Labs funding to apply the latest advances in tissue engineering beyond medicine to produce novel consumer biomaterials, including an edible cultured meat prototype that can provide a humane and sustainable source of animal protein to consumers around the world.

“Breakout Labs is a much-needed source of funding and support for emerging technologies like ours,” says Andras Forgacs. “Investors across the board have become more risk-averse and yet early funding is critical to enable truly innovative ideas.”

Modern Meadow, based in Missouri, is combining regenerative medicine with 3D printing to imagine an economic and compassionate solution to a global problem, says Lindy Fisbhurne, Breakout Labs’ executive director. “We hope our support will help propel them through the early stage of their development so they can turn their inspired vision to reality.”

Launched in November 2011, Breakout Labs provides teams of researchers in early-stage companies with the means to pursue their most radical goals in science and technology. To date, the fund has awarded a total of nine grants, of up to $350,000 each. Breakout Labs accepts and funds proposals on a rolling basis.

Although very early days as yet, the concept supported by the fund could bring printing your own steak for the barbie nearer to reality, but just don’t expect it in the near future.

The Modern Meadow innovation is not alone in attempting to solve the world’s future protein needs. New Zealand’s Riddet Institute is also working on the joint PROTEOS project with its counterpart Wageningen University in The Netherlands, “formulating novel solutions that involve extending and using more effectively future animal-based protein sources, transforming the protein supply chain” – essentially growing meat in the laboratory. Project plans involving staff from both organisations will be finalised this year.

 

 

 

Building Export Markets, government releases progress report

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The Government has today unveiled its first Business Growth Agenda Progress report on actions to boost New Zealand exports. It is a timely appearance as the Primary Sector Boot Camp reaches its halfway point in the US.

Launched by Finance Minister Bill English and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, the Building Export Markets report from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) confirms the Government’s target to increase the contribution of exports to the economy from 30 percent to 40 percent of GDP by 2025.

English says this a challenging target and achieving it will require a concerted effort by New Zealand over many years. It will also require the continued development of new and expanding export markets.

“It is only through exporting that New Zealand, with a small domestic market, can deliver the growth and productivity required to enhance the wealth of our country and create more and higher paying jobs,” he says.

“Committing to this ambitious goal means the Government will stay focused on supporting firms to grow their exports.”

Steven Joyce says the report highlights the significant shift in economic power from the West to the East that is expected to happen over the next 20 years.

Building Export Markets is the first of six progress reports on the government’s Business Growth Agenda. Others will address innovation,skills, capital markets, infrastructure and resources. The reports lay out the work programme government agencies are implementing. Each has an informal portfolio group of ministers specifically grouped around the work streams, to drive the Business Growth Agenda forward and focus on what matters to business and companies.

Government intends to see three additional cross-cutting themes to be reflected across the Business Growth Agenda workstreams. These are: Maori Economic Development, Greening Growth; and Regulation. Better telling the ‘New Zealand Story’ is another Government priority and work is already underway with key stakeholders on “developing a compelling and consistent narrative about our country’s special qualities that work for a range of exporters and sectors,” according to the Ministers.

Actions contained in the Building Exports report include improving access to international markets, making it easier to trade from new Zealand, helping businesses internationalise, increasing value from tourism and high-tech manufacturing, growing international education and strengthening high-value manufacturing (including food and beverage manufacturing) and services exports.

“This first report is important, as it lays out the challenge for achieving growth – which is about being much more closely linked into the rest of the world and taking advantage of our opportunities,” says Joyce.

“While the world is going through tough times, the growth in Asian incomes will occur over the next 20 year. So there will be job growth, New Zealand’s challenge is to ensure it occurs in New Zealand, not in Australia, or somewhere else.”

The report shows that beef, lamb and wool accounted for 13 percent of New Zealand’s total $47.7 billion goods exports in 2011.

The Building Export Markets report is available here.

Carter in US for boot camp

Because of its size and importance, New Zealand’s primary sector, which currently accounts for 55 percent of exports is “critical” to achieving the government’s desired growth, the report says, so the outcome of this week’s Primary Sector Boot Camp at Stanford University will also be critical.

Minister of Primary Industries, David Carter, is part of the nine-strong Export Markets ministerial group, which also includes Prime Minister John Key, Steven Joyce, Murray McCully and Tim Groser.  Carter is travelling in the United States this week to attend the Boot Camp and also to talk with US agriculture sector political leaders and officials.

“This is an excellent opportunity for the leaders of some of our most forward-thinking primary sector companies to collaborate on formulating a plan to leverage New Zealand’s competitive advantage globally,” Carter said before he left.

“It’s not often that we can get a powerful group like this representing over 80 percent of New Zealand primary sector exports around the table, and I am confident of a positive outcome.”

About 20 leaders from New Zealand’s dairy, meat, seafood, wine and horticulture industries are among those attending the week-long camp alongside top government representatives from MPI and NZ Trade and Enterprise. The group will be hearing from first class speakers to inspire and motivate their thinking. The event has been supported with a $100,000 grant from AGMARDT.

Among the range of agricultural organisations the Minister is meeting with separately to discuss common New Zealand–US primary industry interests are the Tri-Lamb Group and US Cattlemen’s Association.

“These meetings further strengthen the New Zealand-US bilateral relationship and give our two countries the opportunity to canvass a range of issues in the primary industries policy area.  It is an opportunity to highlight the excellent collaborative work we already have with the US though the Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases,” says the Minister.

“I particularly look forward to discussions on the mutual benefits that will be realised through the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement currently under negotiation.

“The TPP is important to New Zealand’s trade future and this visit will provide the opportunity to take political level readings on its progress.”

In the news this week (3)

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People are key to the success of Riddet Institute’s Agri-Food Strategy wrote Jon Morgan in a Dominion Post opinion piece early on last week. “The prize is too great to abandon,” he said.

So, focus is now shifting to the week-long chief executives’ Primary Sector Boot Camp at Stanford University in California later this month, which will be attended by over 20 chief executives including meat industry leaders Keith Cooper of Silver Fern Farms and Mark Clarkson of ANZCO Foods, alongside Minister of Primary Industries David Carter. On the table for discussion will be the Agri-Food Strategy.

Agmardt is principal sponsor of the private sector-led chief executive forum designed to unlock the global potential of New Zealand’s primary sector. At the time of the sponsorship announcement at the end of April, Jeff Grant chairman of the Agmardt board of trustees said he regarded the boot camp as an ideal fit under the grant body’s new strategic priorities.

“A key outcome of the boot camp is to explore and drive in-market collaboration within New Zealand’s primary sector, which is strongly aligned with Agmardt’s new strategy to fund activities that enable New Zealand agribusiness to identify and explore potential opportunities within the global marketplace.”

Grant said the willingness by senior industry leaders to be involved in the camp to discuss and explore strategies for greater collaboration and alignment across a wide range of primary industries, “is extremely encouraging.”

Other supporters of the Primary Sector Boot Camp, which will comprise leaders from the dairy, beef, sheep, seafood, viticulture and horticulture sectors, include the Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Ministry for Primary Industries and NZ Trade and Enterprise.

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Other news appearing over the week included:

Protein sources of the future –A new New Zealand/Dutch study has outlined the coming challenges to meeting future demand for protein. In a review published this week in the journal Trends in Food Science and Technology, Dr Mike Boland from the Riddet Institute and his colleagues at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands have drawn on a range of research sources to peer into the future of the world’s food supply. They say, as demand is outstripping supply of meat, mankind will “need to get creative” with its protein sources, considering competition between humans and pet food industries, noting that rabbits and other novel animal species, “should not be discounted as having an important part to play in future animal protein production systems,” and speculate that there may be ways to derive dietary protein from food waste from biofuel crop leftovers. Whatever happens, consumer acceptance will be key, say the authors.

New NZTE chairman – Interesting to note that former Fonterra chief executive, Andrew Ferrier, has been named as the new chairman of the New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) board. Replacing Jon Mayson, he will commence his three year term on 1 November. Announcing the appointment, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says that Ferrier will bring “strong governance and strategic capability to the NZTE board”. Ferrier is a director of Orion Health Ltd and CANZ Capital Ltd. He was appointed to the University of Auckland Council in March 2012. Prior to his work with Fonterra, he was involved with the global sugar industry. Born in Canada, he has been a New Zealand citizen since 2008.

A new Code of Welfare for Meat Chickens came into effect on 26 July, setting out the minimum standards and best practice guidelines for the poultry industry. The new Code replaces the Code of Welfare for Broiler Chickens that was released in 2003. The new Code has a broader scope and includes chickens that have access to the outdoors, says the National Animal Welfare Advisory Council (NAWAC). “Another key change is that farmers will have to take the environment of the chicken into account when deciding how many chickens to keep in a designated area,” NAWAC chair John Hellström says. “Farmers will also be required to stay within the minimum standards for stocking density, but they will now have to also consider things like litter quality, lighting, air quality and temperature when deciding how to house their chickens.” Find out more here.

NZUS Council sponsors MPs visit to Washington – Two MPs Peseta Sam Lotu-Liga and Hon Shane Jones, co-chairs of the New Zealand US Parliamentary Friendship Group, recently returned from a successful NZUS Council sponsored visit to Washington DC. The visit – particularly timely given the stage of the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations – raised NZ’s profile and also gave the MPS the chance to gain valuable insights about US negotiating interests. In a full programme over a four-day visit, the MPs met with members of the Friends of NZ Congressional Caucus and a range of Congressional representatives and had meetings with senior officials in the State Department, Treasury and US Trade Representative’s office. They were also guests of honour at a well-attended lunch hosted by the US NZ Council. Other guests included Congressional staff, senior US company executives and Council members and supporters. The NZ US Council met the costs of the MPs domestic travel in the US and related on-the-ground costs. Arrangements in Washington were made by the New Zealand Embassy.

World price slump put lamb back on Kiwi menus – the NZ Herald reported over the weekend on the news that prices for Kiwi consumers are down too and they are responding enthusiastically. Read more… 

Finally, with the London Olympics in full swing this week, it seems only right to congratulate all of the Kiwi athletes, but particularly B+LNZ Inc’s bronze medal award-winning Iron Maidens Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh for their  success in the women’s pairs (rowing) and Alison Shanks (cyclist) for her tremendous efforts in the team event. All the best now to Sarah Walker (BMX) for her event yet to come on the world sports stage. Go Team NZ!!


 

 

 

 

 

New meat inspection programme gets thumbs up

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Successful trials of a new meat inspection programme have resulted in the thumbs up from major overseas regulators, reducing costs for meat exporters, but not at the expense of food safety.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has received advice from regulatory authorities in Europe and the United States, two of the industry’s major export destinations, that the proposed new meat inspection programme meets their requirements and can be used for products exported to these markets.

The proposed programme is based on successful trial work (profiled in Food NZ, Dec 2010/Jan 2011) and would allow for fully trained meat company staff to carry out some non-food safety aspects of meat inspections, known in the industry as ‘suitability’ or quality aspects.

Official government inspectors will continue to carry out food safety-related functions.

MPI, the Meat Industry Association (MIA) and AsureQuality have formed a team to develop a plan to implement the new inspection programme. This will require some changes to MPI standards, on which MPI will be consulting.

This article appeared in Food NZ magazine (August/September 2012).