Poisoned Milk Report Concerns Feds

Government Wanted Article Held On Grounds It Could Aid Terrorists

(AP)  Wein said Tuesday he was surprised when Simonson raised objections to the paper. He said he had met with officials of HHS, the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the dairy industry last fall to discuss the paper.

After that, Stuart Nightingale, an emergency preparedness official at HHS, asked to see the paper, Wein said. He said he sent it to Nightingale, and, when he didn't hear back, he assumed there was no problem.

After Simonson objected to publication, officials of the Academy and government agencies met to discuss the paper.

"I think PNAS acted professionally," Wein said. It was correct of them to delay the paper and listen to the government concerns, he said.

A key question is the percentage of botulinum toxin that would be inactivated by milk pasteurization, and Alberts, the Academy president, said that in those discussions the Academy learned improvements had been made to the process since the terrorist attacks.

Because of those improvements the nation may be safer from such an attack than the paper estimated, he said.

However, Alberts added, many food protection guidelines are voluntary and there is "everything to be gained by alerting the public and state governments to the dangers so that they can help the federal government in its ongoing, highly laudatory, attempts to reach 100 percent compliance with its guidelines."

The report describes the milk supply chain from cow to consumer. It describes points where toxin could be introduced, such as a holding tank at a farm, a truck transporting milk to the processing plant or a raw milk holding tank at the plant.

One gram of toxin could affect as many as 100,000 people and 10 grams up to 568,000, the researchers concluded. A gram is about the weight of a paper clip.

Wein and Liu suggest a number of steps to prevent an attack including locking of tanks and trucks when not in use. They urge the government to require similar protections for the food industry in overall.

Last September the National Research Council, an arm of the Academy, urged continued open access to scientific research. It also suggested creation of an advisory board to review research and report on any security implications. Then-HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson ordered establishment of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity.

The panel is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Thursday.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private institution that provides scientific advice under a congressional charter.