News Coverage
Food Group Downplays Perchlorate Fears
Published May 1, 2003
The National Food Processors Association (NFPA) - the self-described voice of the $500 billion food processing industry - takes issue with recent warnings by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) about the potential dangers of perchlorate in vegetables.
In a report released Monday, EWG says that lettuce grown in Southern California and Arizona in the fall and winter may contain levels of perchlorate in excess of what is considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The group found that 18 percent of lettuce samples contained detectable levels of perchlorate, and an average serving of contaminated lettuce contained four times more perchlorate than the EPA says is safe in drinking water.
Perchlorate is the explosive component of rocket and missile fuel. Although there are currently no enforceable perchlorate safety standards, the EPA's currently recommended safe dose is equal to one part per billion (ppb) in drinking water.
Officials with NFPA say the findings should not alarm consumers and that the public needs to "rely upon appropriate regulatory agencies to proceed with monitoring and risk assessment."
"Widespread groundwater and surface water contamination by perchlorate has been found and studied since the late 1990s in the southwestern United States," said Henry Chin, NFPA vice president with the organization's Center for Technical Assistance. "Whereas drinking water has been the primary focus of study, implications for food and food safety are only beginning to be explored and better understood."
It is important for the public to realize that "no federal or state agency has called for a change in diet based on current information," Chin said. "More data are needed on perchlorate in food, and future monitoring is planned."
NFPA says its supports the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) plans to monitor for perchlorate levels in foods, to research actual consumer exposure and to undertake assessments to determine whether dietary exposures can pose a health risk.
It is estimated that perchlorate contaminates more than 500 drinking water sources in 20 states, serving well over 20 million people. This includes the Colorado River, a major source of drinking water for many in the Western U.S. and a key irrigation source - 70 percent of the nation's lettuce grown from October to March relies on water from the Colorado.
Of the 15 leading lettuce-growing counties in the U.S., according to EWG, 10 have known or suspected sources of perchlorate pollution.
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, introduced a bill in March to unearth the extent of perchlorate contamination. In a letter sent Monday to the FDA, Boxer cited EWG's study and urged the agency to investigate perchlorate contamination in food.
"The federal government is already woefully behind in addressing perchlorate contamination in drinking water," Boxer wrote. "This delay is unacceptable. We cannot exacerbate the problem by ignoring the possible contamination of our food."