Project would accelerate development of bird flu vaccine for humans
Drugmaker Sinergium Biotech, based in Argentina, will lead a project to accelerate the development of a human vaccine against the H5N1 avian flu virus, said the World Health Organization and the Medicines Patent Pool on Monday. The project is aimed at pharmaceutical companies in low- and middle-income nations and intended to bolster pandemic preparedness worldwide.
In contentious hearing, House panel revisits glyphosate safety
At a high-tension House hearing, members of Congress and expert witnesses yet again debated the safety of the pesticide glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup, the most popular herbicide in the world. The hearing, convened by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, brought a diverse panel to weigh the Environmental Protection Agency’s assessment of the chemical’s safety against the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s assessment.
Glyphosate not likely to cause cancer in people, says EPA
A draft human health risk assessment of the most widely used weedkiller in the world concludes that glyphosate is not likely to be a human cancer agent, says the Environmental Protection Agency.
USDA chief scientist slams WHO antibiotic recommendations
The USDA’s acting chief scientist, Chavonda Jacobs-Young, has publicly criticized the World Health Organization’s updated recommendations for curbing antibiotic use on farms, citing poor science.
WHO urges drastic cuts in use of antibiotics in agriculture and aquaculture
In a major new statement about the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture, the World Health Organization is urging livestock agriculture and fish farming worldwide to sharply cut antibiotic use, reserving the precious drugs for animals that are sick and then choosing only antibiotics that are not important to human medicine. (No paywall)
Monsanto no longer allowed at European parliament
Monsanto has been banned from attending European parliament proceedings after the corporation refused to appear for a parliamentary hearing, slated for October 11, to investigate regulatory interference. Monsanto is accused of influencing studies on the safety of the glyphosate, the primary ingredient in the company’s weedkiller Roundup.
U.S. Right to Know files lawsuit for EPA documents on glyphosate
After waiting for nearly 10 months for EPA to reply to its public-records request, the consumer group U.S. Right to Know filed suit in federal court for access to agency documents involved in deciding the cancer risk of glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world. The WHO cancer agency determined the herbicide is "probably carcinogenic to humans" in 2015 but an EPA review committee in 2016 decided glyphosate is "not likely to be carcinogenic to humans" at doses relevant to human health risk assessment.
EPA relationship with Monsanto under scrutiny in Roundup trial
In new court filings, plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit that claims Roundup causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other cancers are alleging that there has been collusion between the EPA and Monsanto, the maker of the weedkiller. The plaintiffs have petitioned to depose Jess Rowland, the EPA’s recently retired deputy division director.
Judge says California can put a cancer warning on Roundup
The world's largest seed company, Monsanto, says it will challenge a ruling by a federal judge that allows California officials to require a cancer warning on its weedkiller Roundup, said The Associated Press. If carried out, it would be the first such state-level warning on the herbicide, made with glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world.
Mars steps away from study questioning limits on sugar consumption
One of the world’s largest candy companies, Mars Inc., “is breaking ranks with other food companies and denouncing an industry-funded paper that says global recommendations on limiting sugar are based on weak science,” says Associated Press. A company spokesman told the AP the paper makes …
EPA panel split on whether glyphosate is a carcinogen
After a four-day meeting, members of a Scientific Advisory Panel were divided over the EPA's conclusion, issued in a September 2016 white paper, that glyphosate, the world's most widely used herbicide, is "not likely to be carcinogenic to humans," Agri-Pulse reported.
Put cancer warning on processed meat, consumer group asks USDA
Pointing to a WHO agency finding that processed meat is "carcinogenic to humans," the Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned USDA to require a cancer warning label on packages of bacon, ham, hot dogs and other processed red meat and poultry. Michael Jacobson, leader of the consumer group, said chances are slim the incoming Trump administration will agree with the petition, "but at CSPI we're used to taking the long view."
WHO report backs soda taxes, subsidies for healthy foods
Taxes on sugary beverages are a tool for reducing obesity and chronic disease such as diabetes, says a WHO report that also advocates subsidies to encourage people to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Prevalence of obesity worldwide has doubled since 1980 and now includes more than half a billion adults, while 39 percent of adults are overweight.
Canada will continue funding for WHO cancer agency
Five weeks after the Canadian meat industry suggested the government should withdraw support from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the Health Ministry has its answer: No, thank you. As iPolitics reports: "No adjustments to their support would be necessary at this time," said a spokesman for Minister Jean Philpott.
Critics in Canada and U.S. lambast WHO cancer agency
Meatpackers in Canada are raising the same question as some U.S. House Republicans: Why does our government fund the International Agency for Research on Cancer? The IARC, based in France, has riled the pesticide and meat industries with recent rulings about the cancer risk of some of their …
WHO cancer agency says it owns documents on glyphosate
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, which ignited a global debate by rating glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans, has advised experts not to release documents requested under U.S. public records laws, said Reuters. In a letter and an email, IARC says it is "the sole owner of such materials" and "IARC requests you and your institute not to release any (such) documents," reports the news agency.
House panel questions U.S. support of WHO cancer agency
The National Institutes of Health has given the International Agency for Research on Cancer more than $1.2 million so far this year, says Chairman Jason Chaffetz of the House Oversight Committee. In a letter to the NIH director, Chaffetz blasts the IARC, part of the World Health Organization, for "controversy, retractions and inconsistencies," using its rulings on glyphosate and red meat as examples.
Glyphosate ‘not likely to be carcinogenic to humans,’ says EPA paper
In a 227-page "issue paper" compiled for a panel of experts, the EPA says its latest analysis indicates glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, does not cause cancer. "The strongest support is for 'not likely to be carcinogenic to humans' at doses relevant to human health risk assessment," says the paper in a discussion of the results of dozens of studies that it reviewed.