The role of science and medicine in shaping food policy worldwide in the twentieth century is the topic of an international conference being held at the University of Aberdeen between 9-11 April 1999.
More than 80 historians and scientists from the UK, Europe and the USA will look at historical forerunners of contemporary food debates including food scares, diet and health and the role and duties of governments in managing these important health matters.
The conference has been organised by Dr David Smith, lecturer in the History of Medicine at the University of Aberdeen and Dr Jim Phillips of the Department of Economic and Social History, Glasgow University. It is a sequel to the Spring 1993 Society of the Social History of Medicine/Glasgow Nutrition Group conference on ‘The History of Nutrition: institutional, scientific and policy issues.’
Dr. Smith explained: “From news stories that break practically every day, scientists and the general public are very award that the relationship between science and policy-making in connection with food is highly problematic. The conference will bring scientists and historians together, in the hope that the scientists will gain useful insights from looking at how issues were dealt with in the past.
“In addition, we hope that contact with the scientists will help to suggest to the historians topics and lines of approach of special contemporary relevance.”
Funded by The Wellcome Trust and the University’s Faculty of Arts and Divinity, the conference is taking place at a time when the History Department at the University of Aberdeen is becoming a centre of expertise in these areas as it celebrates its centenary year. Staff have expertise in food history, particularly the meat trade; the history of nutrition science; and recently, a project has begun in the Department on the history of the Aberdeen typhoid outbreak on 1964, supervised by Dr Smith, Professor Hugh Pennington and Professor Elisabeth Russell of the University’s Medical Faculty.
Dr. Peter Atkins of the Department of Geography of Durham University, will give a paper on the history of pasteurisation in Britain: ‘The recent media coverage on food safety and public concern is not as new as many think. Pasteurization of milk, for instance, was probably the number one food safety issue between the wars and generated a lot of fierce debate.’
Since the second world war one of the main debates has been concerned with links between diet and heart disease, stroke and obesity, but Vincent Knapp, of the State University of new York will show that European medical research into relationships between diet and degenerative diseases began several decades earlier.
International connections and comparisons will be an important theme of the conference. Anne Marie de Knecht van Eekelen, former lecturer in the history of medicine at the free University of Amsterdam commented: ‘One of my colleagues, Gerard Trienekens, of the University of Utrecht, will be speaking about the Dutch food system during world war two. The ‘hunger winter’ of 1944-45 is well known.
‘What is not so well known is that the Dutch wartime food system was relatively effective until that point, in spite of the occupation, because of the strategies adopted by the population and some of those in charge, in preventing too much food being diverted to the Nazi war machine.’
Two other papers will be concerned with the second world war. Professor Rima Apple of the University of Wisconsin will be discussing the hype around the vitamins in the United States during World War II. ‘Vitamins were already gaining in popularity before the war, but linking together the "miracles" of vitamin therapy and war-time demands for healthy soldiers and workers impelled the industry to greater heights of eloquence and increased sales. Consequently, it is not startling to see enterprising pharmacists promoting vitamins with the claim: “Ill health means less work ... less work means weaker fighting power! Help the win the war---and better health for yourself by giving your body proper vitamin intake”!’
Dr David Smith will be looking at the rise and fall of the government’s Scientific Food Committee in Britain during the second world war in Britain, in which John Boyd Orr, founder director of the Rowett Research Institute played a key role. Dr Smith explained: ‘People often regard the second world war as a period when science was applied relatively directly and unproblematically to food policy in Britain. My research suggests, however, that this was not the case. Even during the war. “getting something done” frequently involved scientists in lobbying politicians, popular writing and using the press.’
Dr Jim Phillips, who will be giving a paper on ‘Approaches to Food Safety Laws 1860-1938’, with his colleague from Glasgow, Michael French, added: 'Our work shows that since the late nineteenth century there was a strong bias in food regulatory framework in Britain not only towards the interests of farmers, but towards the food industry generally. The Ministry of Food, set up during the first world war, but disbanded, shortly afterwards, and the re-established in 1939, only temporarily and partially shifted the emphasis towards the consumers’ interests.
“The Ministry was abolished as a separate entity in 1955, and combined with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to form MAFF. In view of current plans for the Food Standards Agency, it seems to me essential to re-examine the history of the Ministry of Food, and this I am hoping to do in a future project, for which I am currently seeking funding.’
Historical lessons for the Food Standards Agency, and for European food regulation too, may not only come from examining the history of food regulation in Britain, but also from looking at the history of food regulation in other countries, particularly of the United States. Dr Suzanne Junod, a historian employed by the American Food and Drug administration, will be speaking about food regulation in that country. ‘During the 1960s standards setting in the US grew complex and time-consuming. The standards hearings for peanut butter began in 1968 and ended in 1971 and finally made it clear that strict standards of composition were not only a waste of time and money, but had come to work to the detriment of both business and consumers. Participants felt that they were close to arguing about the number of angels that could dance on the head of a pin when the peanut butter hearings began to revolve around how many peanuts had to be in standardized peanut butter.’
Dr Junod’s paper will deal with both the origins of FDA procedures, and the modification of their approach since the 1960s will be of great interest to the British participants, particularly those involved in discussions about the Food Standards Agency, such as the final conference speaker, Professor Hugh Pennington.
Professor Pennington will speak from his own recent experiences in food policy making as chair of the enquiry into the 1996 E coli 0157 outbreak. He will provide the conference with some insights into the workings of the enquiry and will share his reflections upon the role of the media and science in policy making.
Professor Phillip James, Director of the Rowett Research Institute, who created the FSA concept will also be attending the conference, to comment on a paper on nutrition policy-making since the second world by Mark Bufton and Virginia Berridge of the Department of Public Health and Policy of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
A copy of the full programme is available on request.
Further information from:
Dr David Smith, Department of History, University of Aberdeen,
Tel: 01224 273676 (Office) or 01224 494444 (Home)
Dr Jim Phillips, Department of Economic and Social History, Glasgow University,
Tel: 01382 644457
Christine Cook, Director of Public Relations, University of Aberdeen,
Tel: 01224 272013