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Milk Supply Vulnerable to Bioterrorism, Study Says
Introduction of as little as 10 grams of botulinum toxin into a milk tanker truck, could kill hundreds of thousands of people and cost the economy billions of dollars, according to an analysis by Stanford University researchers released yesterday despite opposition from federal officials (see GSN, June 14). Officials expressed concerns that the study could be used by terrorists looking to attack the U.S. food supply. The debate delayed release of the study by a month, the Washington Post reported. The report was posted yesterday on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ Web site. Study leader Lawrence Wein said he was surprised by the attempt to prevent publication. The information in the study was publicly available and could be accessed through an online search, he noted. The U.S. Health and Human Services Department remains critical of the study’s release, spokesman Bill Hall said yesterday. “We don’t see eye to eye on this,” Hall said. “If this ends up being the wrong decision down the road, the consequences could be quite severe and HHS will have to deal with it, not the National Academies.” If such contamination were to take place, children would likely be the first victims — milk for schools does not go through the grocery-distribution system, instead moving directly from processing plants to schools. “They’d be the canaries,” Wein said. Locks on tanker truck latches, improved pasteurization processes and better contamination tests are the most efficient ways to counter the threat, according to the study (Rick Weiss, Washington Post, June 29).
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