Atlanta Daily World

Cranberries Contaminated With A Possible Cancer Producing Agent Being Sold, U. S. Gov't Warns

U. S. Warns On Using Berries For Thanksgiving

WASHINGTON- (UPI)-The government warned Monday three weeks before Thanksgiving that some of the cranberries being sold in stores across the nation are contaminated with a possible cancer-producing agent.

The warning applied to both fresh and canned cranberries.

Arthur S. Flemming, secretary of health, education and welfare, cautioned that there was no way at present for buyers to tell which berries in their local groceries might be contaminated.

He told a news conference that until such a procedure can be worked out by the government and the industry, the public would be "on the safe side" by refraining from buying cranberries.

His warning put in jeopardy a traditional item of both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

TRYING TO SEPARATE

But Commissioner George P. Larrick of the Food and Drug Administration said that "if there is any way of getting clean berries to the public in time for Thanksgiving, we will certainly do it."

Thanksgiving is Nov. 26.

Larrick said government and industry were cooperating on a plan for separating contaminated berries. An FDA spokesman said the agency was processing an order for the seizure of one shipment in the San Francisco area.

Flemming emphasized that scientists have not yet determined whether the agent causes cancer in humans. But, he said, it definitely produces malignancies in the thyroids of rats.

The agent is aminotriazole, a chemical weed killer.

Flemming said FDA inspectors turned up evidence over the weekend that berries from the 1958 and 1959 crop produced in Oregon and (Continued on Page 3, Col. 5)

Cranberries (Continued from Page One)

Cranberries were found with residue from the weed killer. He added the agency was making on-the-spot checks to whether cranberries from other producing areas Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Michigan and New Jersey also have been contaminated. A spokesman for a big New Jersey firm said the chemical had not been used in that state.

IMPROPER USE POSSIBLE

Flemming said it was possible the weed killer had been improperly used on other food crops and that the FDA also was checking on this.

The cabinet officer

The National Cranberry Association had offered complete cooperation with further sales of the 1958 and 1959 Washington Oregon. The association represents about 90 percent of the cranberry industry.

Shortly after Flemming's announcement, the Washington State Agriculture Department ordered a ban on shipment of any cranberries found to be contaminated. Washington and Oregon produce about 12 percent of the national cranberry output which is estimated at about 100 million pounds.

In Hanson, Mass. Kenneth Cole-son, president of the National Cranberry Association said tests by experts hired by the industry showed that humans could eat tons of the weed killer without being killed by it.

Flemming said in the light of present knowledge that the chemical induces cancer in rats, the cranberries seized in the Northwest and Massachusetts were being destroyed.

Agriculture Department said Monday the 1959 cranberry crop was expected to be the largest in history, amounting to 1-2-9,000 barrels. It said the crop was about 8 percent larger than last year.