Collections
Bibliography
Thursday, April 16, 2015

Food safety scientists have ties to Big Tobacco

The Center for Public Integrity dug into the tobacco documents for their investigative report on food scientists and their ties to the tobacco industry, posted April 15, 2015.

Food companies repeatedly utilize a handful of scientists to determine whether new food additives can be deemed “generally recognized as safe,” (GRAS). No surprise, several of these scientists did similar work for the tobacco companies.

The scientists who review a new food additive to determine if it’s “generally recognized as safe” have the final word on that ingredient and its use. Once the panel of experts deems a new additive GRAS, it can go into foods that end up on supermarket shelves, with no notice to or review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This effectively circumvents a rigorous government safety review.

A look at a few key documents from the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library:

http://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/kqgl0088 - Borzelleca “has been secured by the tobacco industry to represent our position” during discussions with the Department of Health and Human Services regarding cigarette additives.

http://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/mynv0003 - "If scientific issues are raised that Covington & Burling is not in a position to address, we might also call on our scientific consultants, who could respond to specific questions or make themselves available for interviews if appropriate. We currently expect that Dr. Borzelleca will be our main spokesman."

http://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/xhdp0076 - Borzelleca served on the Philip Morris Scientific Advisory Board where his colleagues included Michael Pariza, Steve Taylor and William Waddell. According to CPI, these scientists are among the top 15 most contracted experts for safety assessments of ingredients added to food.

http://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/gxwd0079 - GRAS panelist A. Wallace Hayes also served as an executive for RJR Nabisco, where he worked on both tobacco and food safety issues. A 1990 RJR performance record notes one of his objectives was to “increase our knowledge base regarding the role of nicotine/cotinine in smoking enjoyment/satisfaction.”

Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Do You Use Bates Numbers In Your Search? Have 15 minutes to Test the Industry Documents Digital Library site?

If you’re an LTDL or DIDA user that searches with, pays attention to, and/or browses by Bates numbers, we’d love your help testing out a feature of the new site - http://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu.

You'll take a short, self-directed test from the comfort of your own computer in exchange for a $10 Starbucks gift card (and the warm, fuzzy feeling of helping to make our new site as useful and usable as possible).

We’ve partnered with UserTesting to record your feedback as you browse the new site.

    •   Please go to the following URL to start the test: http://www.usertesting.com/pp/NN7KJd0JYQs

    •   You’ll be asked to download a small piece of software to record your test

    ◦   This is a small, safe program that should launch after the download has finished

    ◦   It will only record your screen and voice during this testing session, not your face, and you can uninstall it when the test is finished

    ◦   Your whole screen will be captured, so please collapse any sensitive windows

    •   Once you’ve started recording, it’s very important that you end your recording before 60 minutes is up (but it won’t take nearly that long, we promise). Unfortunately, if you go past 60 minutes your video will be lost

Please let us know if you have any trouble, and have fun!
Wednesday, April 01, 2015

LTDL - New Search Features and Countdown to Site Launch

We are excited to announce the launch of an updated version of our newly redesigned Industry Documents Digital Library (IDDL) application!

This updated release includes a new look as well as new content pages and new features.  This release also starts the countdown to the retirement of the current LTDL/DIDA sites in June 2015 so if you have not begun using the beta site, now is the time!

*Just a reminder: You can search across industry archives (LTDL and DIDA) from the main IDDL portal - http://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/ or head right to the specific industry -
Tobacco = http://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco OR
Drug = http://industrydocuments.library.ucsf.edu/drug

New Content Pages:
Each industry archive now has its own set of Collection, Research Tools and Help pages.  Here you will find resources such as collection descriptions for each industry archive, links to the publications/papers written using documents, fields you can use in your search and citation information.

    New "Actions" menu: 
    This menu houses all actions for the document in question: Save the record to your "Bookmark" area, download the PDF and associated attachments,  download the citation information, view all metadata in the record, and email the document to yourself and/or others.




      Please let us know how these new features are working or not working for you.  You can submit feedback through either the survey link at the top of the screen or the Ask Us form under Help.   We are confident users will find the new site has all that LTDL and DIDA had and so much more but your input will assist us in making it even better.
      Tuesday, March 31, 2015

      More Previously Confidential PM Documents and a new Indian Tobacco Industry Collection

      31,277 new documents were added this week to the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library.
      The breakdown is as follows:





      Tuesday, March 10, 2015

      Over 30,000 previously confidential documents now public on LTDL

      We have added 30,329 new documents to the Industry Documents Digital Library.

      The breakdown is as follows:
      We have also added 110 new documents to the Seroquel collection on the Drug Industry Documents Archive (DIDA).  This collection contains documents from litigation against UK-based AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Seroquel, an antipsychotic medication used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The plaintiffs alleged the drugmaker failed to warn users of the drug's possibly harmful side effects, including the risk of diabetes and related medical complications.
      Thursday, March 05, 2015

      BAT and Promotion of the EU's Regulatory Reforms

      Five new publications have been added to the Tobacco Documents Bibliography. Subjects range from the 2014 European tobacco products directive to corporate practices to promote "hyperconsumption" of specific products such as tobacco, alcohol and processed foods.

      Reference Highlight 

      Smith KE, Fooks G, Gilmore AB, Collin J, Weishaar H. Corporate Coalitions and Policy Making in the European Union: How and Why British American Tobacco Promoted “Better Regulation”. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 2015 February 02. 

      Over the past fifteen years, an interconnected set of regulatory reforms, known as Better Regulation, has been adopted across Europe, marking a significant shift in the way that European Union (EU) policies are developed. Drawing on documentary and interview data, the article discusses how and why large corporations, most notably British American Tobacco (BAT), worked to influence and promote these reforms. The authors show (1) how policy entrepreneurs with sufficient resources can shape the membership and direction of advocacy coalitions; (2) the extent to which “think tanks” may be prepared to lobby on behalf of commercial clients; and (3) why regulated industries such as tobacco may favor the use of impact assessments (IA) in policy making. The authors argue that "a key aspect of BAT's ability to shape regulatory reform involved the deliberate construction of a vaguely defined idea that could be strategically adapted to appeal to diverse constituencies."

      Key Documents from LTDL

      BAT began to consider ways to increase its influence over EU policy by promoting the need for a form of structured risk assessment to be embedded within the European legislative process. The view being policy requirement for a particular form of risk assessment could help the company defeat efforts to introduce policies restricting smoking


       (BAT 1995)



      BAT was advised by the consultancy company Charles Barker to construct a supportive coalition of interests, initially focusing on recruiting other businesses with potentially overlapping interests in risk assessment...Charles Barker also advised BAT to use a 'front group' to expedite the campaign to promote regulatory reform. (BAT 1995)



       "The lack of official statistics will mean that greater attention and credibility will be [given] to the industry developed statistical series. This can be used to advantage in discussions and negotiations with government agencies as it means that the industry has access to information (potentially including economic assessment studies) that are unavailable to government officials. Officials will often be more willing to talk to industry in these circumstances." (BAT 1997)
      Wednesday, February 25, 2015

      25 years of Smokefree Skies!

      On February 25, 1990, smoking was banned on all U.S. domestic airline flights.  This fight for the health of flight attendants and passengers was achieved thanks to the hard work of health groups, Senators Lautenberg and Durbin, and the flight attendants who came forward for their right to breathe smokefree air.  This ban eventually led to smokefree air on all flights to and from the U.S. and to smokefree policies for airlines worldwide.

      For more in-depth information please check out ANR's 25th Anniversary of Smokefree Skies page - you will find press releases, a history of the groundbreaking legislation, and a variety of materials to help commemorate this milestone.



      Videos to Watch: