Additives on Agenda for Session ; Gov. Agreed To Add Health Policy Bills

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http://tinyurl.com/9zeus Additives on Agenda for Session ; Gov. Agreed To Add Health Policy Bills By JACKIE JADRNAK Journal Staff Writer Activists asking state boards to ban aspartame and thimerosal from food, drugs and vaccines could have a new avenue open up to them. Gov. Bill has agreed to add two bills -- to create a nutrition council and to ban thimerosal, a preservative containing mercury, in vaccines -- to the agenda for the upcoming legislative session. "He agreed to put them on the call," said Welby, 's health policy adviser. The 30-day session is restricted to certain types of legislation, including bills on topics that lists on an official "call" to the Legislature. "He didn't say he's in

favor of them -- he's in favor of them being discussed," she added in an interview earlier this week. Welby said he made the commitment in a brief meeting shortly before Christmas with Fox, Dr. Ken Stoller and Leland Lehrman. Fox, a Santa Fe gallery owner, has asked the Environmental Improvement Board to ban aspartame from food products sold in New Mexico. Stoller, a Santa Fe physician, has petitioned the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy to ban

aspartame and thimerosal in children's medications and vitamins. Both boards are seeking legal advice on what authority they have in these areas. Bills creating a Nutrition Council were considered in last year's legislative session. They addressed nutrition and health education for children and health care practitioners, but also called for investigation of foods or additives that might cause cancer or be toxic to the nervous system. In a letter published in the Albuquerque Journal a year ago, Fox wrote, "this council would examine the harmful and injurious effects of many additives and ban them from New Mexico, even if they are on FDA's (the Food and Drug Administration's) 'generally recognized as safe' list." Health Secretary Lujan Grisham wouldn't say in an interview Wednesday if she favors such a council, which would be attached to her department. She said she would look for "an objective, professional process to have

nutritional priorities -- what additives out there should we think about?" On thimerosal, she said she may recommend that support banning the preservative from flu vaccines for children through elementary school. Now, vaccine for children younger than 3 is mercury-free, but the preservative is included in vaccines for older children. Other childhood vaccines currently do not contain thimerosal. This year, the Department of Health distributed 14,500 children's vaccines and 50,000 adult vaccines that included thimerosal, according to spokeswoman Deborah Busemeyer. Source: Albuquerque Journal

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