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ASN Health and Nutrition Policy Newsletter
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Congressional Action
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Senate Confirms Price as Secretary of DHHS
By a party line vote of 52 to 47, the Senate confirmed Congressman Tom Price, a retired orthopedic surgeon from suburban Atlanta who served as chairman of the House Budget Committee. President Trump had commented that the Administration would be putting forth a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act soon after Price was sworn in. The details of that plan and the Congressional package remain secret, but it appears to be more difficult to achieve consensus on those details than was once thought.
As noted in previous ASN policy brief, the DHHS Secretary oversees a $1 trillion budget, the largest among Departments and includes Medicare, Medicaid, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In Price's confirmation hearings, he suggested that Medicare might be converted to a "fixed amount voucher-based program." He has suggested that he supports research for cancer and other diseases, but noted that increases in NIH funding would have to result in decreases in other Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) accounts. More will unfold in the next few weeks, as Price nominates candidates to lead the various DHHS agencies.
House Agriculture Committee Farm Bill Hearings Begin
- On February 16, 2016, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on Pros and Cons of Restricting SNAP Purchases that included witnesses from the Food Marketing Institute, the Food Trust, American Enterprise Institute, the Hamilton Project of the Brookings Institution, and Dr. Brian Wansink, Director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab. Committee Chair Mike Conaway (R-TX) cited a "report released late last year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that showed sweetened beverages are the number two product class purchased by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beneficiaries, behind meat, poultry and seafood." However, the Economic Research Service study data revealed that SNAP-household purchases of carbonated soft drinks are nearly the same as those of non-SNAP households.
The major highlights of this hearing were:
- Five of the six witnesses agreed that access to healthy foods, education, and incentives for healthy food purchases were the better approach to changing SNAP food purchases to healthy items than restricting candy and sugar sweetened beverages.
- Agriculture Committee members had universal support for SNAP education and explored ways to bring it to rural as well as urban areas through land-grant university programs and for forging collaboration among retailers, community-based groups, academics, and other private sector partners such as the Chamber of Commerce to bringing access to healthy foods to rural and urban food desserts.
- A major challenge is defining what is a "sugar-sweetened beverage" or what is a "candy" - an example was given of a trial in Minnesota which allowed candy with wheat but excluded candy without wheat.
- Witnesses presented research that underlined the difficulty of changing food choices,
a. Dr. Schanzenbach showed children receiving SNAP benefits were more likely (>18%) to graduate from high school compared to non-SNAP users, as adults they had lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome, and women had higher earnings, were more likely to be employed and used social programs less frequently.
b. Food Trust showed Incentives increase fruit and vegetable purchases but did not decrease soft drink purchases;
c. Dr. Wansink encouraged redesign of the retail environment to drive up healthy food sales;
d. SNAP education program reduced obesity rates, created jobs and stimulated economic development.
e. SNAP recipients may buy soft drinks with cash if SNAP benefits restricted; and
f. Smaller retailers in urban and rural areas, operating with a 1-2% profit margin, may drop SNAP program if administrative costs of determining sweetened drinks too high.
Wide Range of Research and Nutrition-related Bills Introduced
Congressman Steve King (R-IA) introduced H.R.610 the Choices in Education Act of 2017 that contains language to
repeal a specified
USDA
rule that established certain nutrition standards for the national school lunch and breakfast programs, related to increased availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat or fat free milk in school meals; reducing the levels of sodium, saturated fat, and trans fat in school meals; and meeting children's nutritional needs within their caloric requirements. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced S.338 to protect scientific integrity in Federal research and policymaking, and for other purposes. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) introduced H.R.1054 to promote botanical research and botanical sciences capacity. Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (D-OH) has introduced H.R.952 to improve and expand the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act donations to food banks. Congressman Don Young (R-AZ) introduced H.R.203 to expand the Summer Meal Program. Finally, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Congressman Peter Welch (R-VT) introduced the DAIRY PRIDE Act (S.130 and H.R.778, respectively) that would limit use of term "milk" on plant-based beverages.
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Administrative Action
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Healthy People 2020 Midcourse Review
The Healthy People 2020 Midcourse Review provides a snapshot of objective progress toward meeting targets halfway through the 10-year initiative, providing a roadmap for the second half of the decade. The 820-page report provides detailed progress and health disparities data, as available, for over 1,200 objectives. Among the leading health indicators, there was "little or no detectable changes" in three key nutrition objectives:
- NWS-9 Obesity among adults (age-adjusted, percent, 20+ years)
- NWS-10.4 Obesity among children and adolescents (percent, 2-19 years)
- NWS-15.1 Mean daily intake of total vegetables (age-adjusted, cup equivalents per 1,000 calories, 2+ years)
AHRQ Sodium and Potassium Research Protocol Released
Since the 2005 released DRI Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate report, there have been two related National Academies reports, the NIH National Heart Lung and Blood Institute-funded Lifestyle Interventions to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk, and three Dietary Guidelines for Americans reports published. After examining these new scientific reviews and exploring the use of chronic disease endpoints in future DRI reviews, the joint United States and Canada Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) Working Group has recommended that a sodium and potassium evidence review be conducted to inform the update of the sodium and potassium DRIs and selected the DHHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to undergo a systematic review of the evidence. To determine whether-and how-data on chronic disease risk reduction could be used in setting Upper Limits and Adequate Intakes for potassium and sodium, the AHRQ has released its research protocol for the Effects of Dietary Sodium and Potassium Intake on Chronic Disease Outcomes and related risk Factors.
GAO Food Safety Report
The U.S. Government Accountability Office released its food safety report last month which expressed a need for a national strategy to address food safety. The report noted that 16 different federal agencies oversee food safety in the U.S. which puts the system at risk of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement.
OWH Research Grants Announced
The Office of Women's Health (OWH) participates in the Office of the Chief Scientist Research Grants Harmonization process to identify women's research projects for funding. This year, OWH selected 7 new research projects for funding based on OWH's Women's Health Research Roadmap. The outcomes of the research projects will help FDA develop innovative approaches to identify and evaluate the impact of sex differences in the safety and efficacy of medical products used by women.
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National Initiatives
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Ag Research Congressional Exhibition and Reception
The AFRI Coalition, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research, and Supporters of Agricultural Research Foundation have announced the Agricultural Research Congressional Exhibition and Reception
.
The event will highlight innovative and cutting edge researchers and projects. It will be held at the
United States Capitol Visitor Center Congressional Auditorium and Atrium
from
5:30 to 7:30 PM
on
April 5. The nomination deadline is
February 22
. The exhibitor fee is $1,000 per team.
First National Academies' DGA Report Released
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released their first report from their review of the Dietary Guidelines process, which focused on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) selection process. The committee gave recommendations to standardize the committee member selection process to increase transparency, engage a third party to conduct initial review of candidates, and to use a Conflict of Interest form and process that addresses financial, ethical and other potential biases. The Committee also recommended a public comment period be included in the DGAC selection process.
RWJF Releases Infant and Toddler Feeding Guidelines
The American Heart Association (AHA) commissioned report, Cardiovascular Disease: A Costly Burden for America found that heart disease will cost the US $1.1 trillion per year by 2035 and that nearly half of the US population will have some form of cardiovascular disease. This report confirmed similar findings in a 2011 AHA report.
NYC Sodium Warning Label
An appeals court ruled that the New York City salt warning rule, which was challenged in court by the National Restaurant Association, will remain in place. The rule requires menu items containing more than 2,300mg of sodium must be labeled with a salt-shaker warning icon.
Soda Labels and Taxes
For the second time, California State Senator Bill Monning reintroduced a bill to put a warning label on sugar-sweetened beverages that contain 75 calories from added sweeteners per 12 ounces. In this version of the bill, the warning label includes type 2 diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay as risks. In soda taxes, Santa Fe, NM is taking a cue from Philadelphia and proposing a 2 cent tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to collect money for early childhood education.
SNAP Food Restrictions Rejected in Arkansas
The Arkansas State Senate rejected a House bill instructing the state DHHS to restrict SNAP purchases to food items with sufficient nutrition value. The opposition cited cost to retail stores during implementation and the family's loss of choice.
FRAC Breakfast Scorecard
The Food Research and Action Center has released its annual school breakfast scorecard. It found that 56 percent of low-income children participated in the breakfast program, a 3.7 percent increase from the previous year and a 9 percent increase since 2009.
MEETINGS
FDA Announces Public Meeting to Discuss Use of the Term "Healthy" in Food Labeling
The FDA announced a public meeting to discuss the use of the term "healthy" in the labeling of food products. The public meeting will be held on March 9 from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. at the Hilton Washington DC/Rockville Hotel, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Register here.
Leadership Approaches to Defending and Advancing Prevention and Public Health Webinar
The American Public Health Association,
Prevention Institute, Public Health Institute, and Trust for America's Health are co-sponsoring a webinar on
Tuesday, February 28 at 11:30am EST
about
strategies that prioritize value-based health care and sustained investments in proven prevention and public health activities tailored to meet community health needs and preference. Register here.
A Healthy People 2020 Progress Review Webinar
The DHHS will hold a progress review of Healthy People 2020 discussing heart disease, stroke, arthritis, osteoporosis, and chronic back conditions on
Tuesday, February 28 at 12:30pm ET. Register here.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
ILSI NA Summer Fellowship Program
The International Life Sciences Institute North America's (ILSI NA) Technical Committee on Food and Chemical Safety is sponsoring a summer Fellow to work on a project to "apply read across approaches for food-related chemicals to understand their potential use in food safety assessment." The application deadline has been extended to February 27.
FFAR Seeks New Innovator Award Nominations
P4A Call for Proposals
Policies for Action (P4A), a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation research program, has put out a call for proposals. "P4A seeks to engage long-standing health care, mental and behavioral health, and public health researchers, as well as experts in areas that we recognize have strong influence on health, well-being and equity-such as labor, criminal justice, education, transportation, housing, and the built environment." The proposal deadline is March 10.
NIFA Funding for Tribal Colleges and Universities
The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced $1.7 million in funding to build research capacity at land-grant tribal colleges and universities. Funding is made through NIFA's Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program. The deadline for applications is March 21.
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