GOVERNMENT
N e w Look at Food Additives
Hnnetont Voltage
Bills now in Congress a g r e e on pretesting f o o d ad ditives, disagree on w h o has last w o r d on safety
tO.01%-
NYLIN'S
T H E CHEMICALS I N FOODS QUESTION is
n e VQLTA61 CTABIUIEH
Eliminates all storage batteries and storage battery accessories for SPECTROPHOTOMETERS (especially the Beckman M o d e l DU) and GENERAL LABORATORY APPLICATIONS
* 5 volts t o 10 volts d c up to 6 amperes Lower Voltages from a divider
'Patent Pending
YOURQ FORTH h ASKING! W r i t e /or NHAP b o o k l e t " U . S V«>H of Measure and Con version Factors" - · · Available to interested technical personnel writing o n company /efterheacf.
KEY TO ALL LABORATORY SUPPLIES
HEPjYORJt 76
V a r i c k Street, N e w York V 3 , Ν . Υ r
-
Telephone:
36
C&EN
~·
CAnal
FEB.
18,
6-6504
1957
\
before Congress again. T w o bills, H.R. 366, by Rep. Joseph P. O'Hara (R. Minn.), and H.R. 4 0 1 4 , b y Rep. James J. Delaney (D.-N.Y.), have just been introduced, both dealing with food ad ditives. Both require additives in foods to be pretested and proved safe before they are used commercially. Congress has not set hearings on these bills yet, however. Growing public concern about the safety of foods points u p the need for sound legislation on food additives, says John L. Harvey, Deputy Commis sioner of the Food and Drug Adminis tration, speaking to the N e w York State Bar Association. Hearings on food additives during the past session of Congress revealed many differences between industry and Government views (C&EN, Feb. 13, 1956, page 6 9 6 ) . T h e three major fields of disagreement, says Harvey, are: • H o w should disputes between in dustry and Government b e settled? • W h a t should b e done about chemi cals already being used as additives? • Must a chemical b e useful before it can be used in food? • The N e w Bills. Rep. Delaney's bill provides that the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare pass on the safety of an additive. A committee of experts may be called to advise H E W at the option of either party. If an additive is rejected, the manufacturer can ask H E W for a public hearing. The Secretary of H E W then issues an order based on the results of the hear ing. If the manufacturer is still dis satisfied, he may appeal to a U. S. Dis trict Court. N o grandfather clause exempting ad ditives now in use from further testing appears in the Delaney bill. This biD also requires proof of an additive's use fulness before it can b e used in food. Under the O'Hara bill, H.R. 366, the Secretary of H E W decides on the safety of an additive. If an additive is rejected, the manufacturer must give H E W 6 0 days notice that he intends to go ahead and use his chemical. This gives H E W time to take the matter to court to get an injunction. If H E W does not go to court, the manufacturer can use his additive commercially. HEW must then gather evidence that
the additive is dangerous and sue t h e manufacturer. T h e court then decides if the additive i s safe. The O'Hara bill contains no grand father clause as such. However, it re quires the Secretary of H E W t o pub lish a list of substances which h e says are safe for use in foods. Appearance of a chemical o n this list would b e con clusive evidence of its safety. No specific requirement that an a d ditive must be useful before it can b e used is in the OTIara bill. • FDA Views· A key issue in t h e food additives control problem a s FDA sees it is: Should safety be decided b y scientists or b y a jury of laymen? Many F D A officials feel strongly that the question of safety is best decided by scientists, as provided b y t h e Del aney bill. Determining safety and set ting tolerances, i n FDA's opinion, is not well suited to t h e judicial process. F D A has no objection t o t h e con tinued use of old standby additives such as salt and vinegar. But, says Harvey, FDA i s opposed t o a blanket grandfather clause. However, h e says, industry should be given time after a new law is passed to finish testing addi tives now in u s e which have not re ceived informal clearance. F D A has no reservations about t h e use of completely harmless chemicals, whether or not they have functional value, says Harvey. FDA's problem is h o w to control the use of possibly harmful chemicals. • Industry's Position. Industry gen erally agrees that laws requiring pre testing of food additives are needed. According to a n industry spokesman, even the grandfather clause difference can probably b e resolved fairly easily. But methods of controlling additives are another story. Industry wants a law which would force F D A to decide within a reason able time whether an additive is safe. If an additive is rejected, industry wants a chance to argue its case b e fore an impartial tribunal—not FDA, which rejected the additive in the first place. As for the question of usefulness, an industry spokesman points out that deciding how useful an additive is could be pretty much a matter of opin ion. For example, a n additive could be desirable because it simplifies a manufacturing process and yet be use less in the finished food product.
Cyanamid's offers 2 reaction centers
MALEIC ANHYDRIDE
ANHYDRIDE
msR
attwatea
nottWe WA
1. ADDITION TO DOUBLE BONO Alcohols
with active hydrogens,
such
as allyl
alcohol:
H R'OC-COOR' -> | + · 2R0H H 2 C-C00R'
HC-COOR - f 3 R'OH HC-COOR Saturated Aldehydes ι
Ο Η II
HC-COOR 4 - R'CHO HCCOOR
•
R'C—C-COOR H2CC0OR R'C=0 HCCOOR 1 I I HCCOOR 1 η I Η
acid anhydride
There's a lot you can do with the anhydride and double bond of
MALEIC ANHYDRIDE for example: Maleic Anhydride is a n economical starting point for product synthesis.
HIGH PURITY
CYANAMID will be glad to assist in your evaluation of Maleic Anhydride for de velopment or production purposes.
2. ESTERIFICATION HC-C Ο + ROH II HC-C
half ester
HC-COOR II >HC-COOH
diester
)
HCCOOR HCCOOR
These esters can in turn be polymerized with some vinyl monomers to produce internally plasticized copolymers.
CFAJVAJVTIJD
AMERICAN CYANAMID COMPANY Manufacturers Chemicals Department 3 0 Rockefeller Plaza, New York 20, Ν. Υ. In Canada: North American Cyanamid Limited, Toronto and Montreal
FEB.
18, 1 9 5 7 C & E N
37
GOVERNMENT Dichloroacetic Acid, a strong organic a d d , undergoes the normal reactions of such acids.
The two
chlorine atoms offer many substitutive possibilities. For additional
KAY-FRIES
reactivity
of the c a r b o x y l
group,
the acid chloride, currently under development by Kay-Fries, should b e o f interest. of
drugs,
dyes,
and
general
To manufacturers organic chemicals,
these products offer many possibilities in synthesis.
dichloroacetic acid ;CHCOGH KAY-FRIES
SPECIFICATIONS (Tentative)
purity: 9 8 % min. m. p.: 1 0 . 5 ° C. min.
TYPICAL REACTIONS 2RC6H4NH2 + CIsCHCOOH —^ (RC6H3NH)2CHCOOH + aniline or subst anilines
(In this reaction di-subst -anilino acetic acids may also be
+
2HCI
+
CI2CHCOOH — > (ROfeCHCOOH
+
2NaCI
diallcoxyacetic acid
TECHNICAL FRIE
BULLETIN
AVAILABLE
American-British Chemical Supplies, Incl Selling Agents For
CHEMICALS. INC.
38
C&EN
I
KttYFMES CHEMICALS, INC. 1 8 0 M a d i s o n Avenue,
FEB. 18. 19 57
High Cost Recruiting EVIDENCE is accumulating that tax money is being used to subsidize the pirating of engineers for government defense contracts. So said Rep. James C. Davis (D.-Ga.) last week as he released a Navy Department report to his committee comparing the engineeri n g recruitment costs of firms with many defense contracts and firms with fe^w contracts. Rep. Davis is chairman of the House Subcommittee on Manpower Utilization which is investigating manpower utilization in the D e fense Department and by defense contractors (C&EN, Dec. 2 4 , 1956, page 6299). Rep. Davis calls the difference in recruiting costs for the firms with defense contracts and those without, "startling." The Navy selected 37 firms whose business results principally from defense contracts (90% or more) and compared their cost of recruiting engineers and other technical personnel with the same costs for a group of 17 "commercial" firms. For the commercial firms, defense contracts accounted for less than 25% of their business in most cases. The defense contractors spent an average of $808 to hire a new engineer compared with $502 for the comiriercial firms. The defense contractors spent four times as much as the commercial firms for new employees' moving expenses, more than twice as much for help wanted advertising, and 50% more for applicants' travel expenses. To limit tie amounts of money that will b e allowed for this purpose in cost-reimbursable and fixed-price contracts, the Navy is taking these steps: • Call in individual firms whose costs appear to b e high to explain the reason for the high costs. • Notify contractors that Navy auditors will pay special attention to the reasonableness of recruiting costs.
diphenoxyacetic acid'
sodium alcoholate
KAY. -
obtained.)
CljCHCOOH —*• (C 6 H 5 0) 2 CHCOOH
phenol
2NaOR
2HCI
bis-(4-dmino-subst.phenyl)-acetic acids
2C6H5OH +
Therefore, says industry, F D A should b e limited t o deciding if an additive is safe, not that it is useful.
N e w York 16. N . Y. M U r r a y H i l l 6 0 6 6 1 1
"It is n o wonder the Government is having difficulty recruiting and holding engineers/* said Rep. Davis. "I am pleased to see that the Navy is taking corrective steps. Every day of delay means greater demands for higher salaries for government engineers. These demands are hard t o deny as long as this vicious cycle of the Federal Government competing with itself is permitted to continue/*
