By the Numbers

—According to a recent report published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Balitimore determined that 51 percent of the waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States during the last 50 years followed episodes of extreme rainfall—storms ranking in the top 10 percent of those for the area during that period. Sixty-eight percent of the outbreaks followed storms ranked in the top 20 percent. During their research, scientists found that 133 disease outbreaks originated from surface water such as lakes and rivers, and that they followed strong storms that occurred the month of the outbreak or the month before. There was a longer lead time, up to three months, for outbreaks involving ground water such as wells or aquifers. Those sources accounted for 197 outbreaks. In all, 548 outbreaks of waterborne disease occurring between 1948 and 1994 were studied.

—According to the Food Institute in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, (1) food-based retailing accounts for almost one quarter of the nearly $3-trillion U.S. retail trade; (2) between 1990 and 1999, wholesale food prices rose 8.6% while consumer food prices in the same period rose 23.9%; (3) there were 3,367 food and food-related business divestitures in the past five years; and (4) per capita consumption of meat, poultry and fish rose 2.8% in 1999.

—A recent press release from the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology examined the results of a poll conducted by Zogby International designed to analyze consumer awareness of genetically modified foods in the United States. Zogby’s poll, conducted June 21-23, 2001, surveyed 1,231 adults nationwide and found more than half (55%) had heard a “great deal” or “some” about genetically modified foods, with individuals living on the West Coast polling the highest (61%). The Zogby poll also measured the group’s overall confidence in the government’s ability to monitor genetically modified food. More than half of those surveyed (52%) said they were “very” or “somewhat” confident in the government’s ability to manage the genetically modified food while ensuring public safety. Approximately (45%) of respondents said they were “not confident” or “not at all confident” with the government’s ability to oversee GMOs.

—According to The Electronic Telegraph, millions of cows destroyed in the attempt to eliminate the spread of mad cow disease in Europe will be converted to “green” diesel fuel. A processing plant with the capability to produce 11 million gallons of bio-diesel fuel a year will be constructed at Newarthill in Lanarkshire in Great Britain. The meat and bone meal from the infected cattle will be burned to generate electricity to convert the tallow and waste vegetable oil from restaurants into bio-diesel for passenger cars and small motor trucks. Britain has a stockpile of 394,000 tons of meat and bone meal, and 212,000 tons of tallow, which they have had difficulty disposing of. The diesel created at this plant will be mixed with conventional diesel to produce emission-efficient fuel.