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{{#Show badges: | Front groups}}The '''International Food Information Council''' (IFIC) describes its mission as being to "communicate science-based information on food safety and nutrition to health and nutrition professionals, educators, journalists, government officials and others providing information to consumers."<ref name="About IFIC">International Food Information Council, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080222004326/http://www.ific.org/about/index.cfm About the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation"], organizational website, accessed March 2008, archived by the WayBack Machine February 22, 2008.</ref>

==Defending BiotechGMOs==

IFIC has been working on genetically modified food biotechnology issues since 1992 and has a lot of pro-biotech genetically modified organism (GMO) and food industry propaganda on its website, including such gung-ho gems as the following:

In 1992, IFIC hired Dr. [[G. Clotaire Rapaille]], a [[Jungian]] psychoanalyst, to advise them on ways to win public support for GM foods. Rapaille provided a list of "words to use" and "words to lose" when talking about the topic. The "words to use" included terms such as beauty, bounty, children, choices, cross-breeding, diversity, earth, farmer, flowers, fruits, future generations, hard work, heritage, improved, organic, purity, quality, soil, tradition and wholesome. "Words to lose" included: biotechnology, chemical, DNA, economic, experiments, industry, laboratory, machines, manipulate, money, pesticides, profit, radiation, safety and scientists.<ref>Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, "[httphttps://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2000Q4/truth.html Liquid Truth: Advice from the Spinmeisters]," ''PR Watch'', Fourth Quarter 2000.</ref>

On June 27, 2012, IFIC's food safety and defense manager, Katie Burns -- a public relations professional whose job description also consists of "[[crisis management|risk/crisis communications]]"<ref>International Food Information Council, [http://www.foodinsight.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=4FyST8bmS9c%3d&tabid=88 Katie Burns], organizational biography, accessed July 2012</ref> -- wrote an article attacking [[raw milk]], entitled "Raw Milk: Clear Risks, No Benefits." The article repeats the [[U.S. Food and Drug Administration]]'s sometimes misleading oversimplifications, such as, "[[pasteurization]] DOES kill harmful bacteria" (in fact, pasteurization kills some ''but not all'' harmful bacteria; for example, ''Mycobacterium paratuberculosis'', the bacteria which cause Johne's disease in cattle and are linked to Crohn's disease in humans, may survive current [[pasteurization]] conditions<ref>Irene R. Grant, [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC106461/ Does Mycobacterium paratuberculosis Survive Current Pasteurization Conditions?], ''Applied and Environmental Microbiology'', July 1998, 64(7), pp. 2760–2761</ref><ref>Gao A, Mutharia L, Chen S, Rahn K, and Odumeru J., [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12512593 Effect of pasteurization on survival of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis in milk], ''Journal of Dairy Science'', December 2002, 85(12), pp. 3198-205</ref> and are present in one in ten ruminants passing through livestock auction facilities in the U.S<ref>National Johne's Education Initiative, [http://www.johnesdisease.org/ Johne's Information Central], organizational website, accessed July 2012</ref>) and "pasteurization DOES NOT reduce milk's nutritional value"<ref>Katie Burns, [http://www.foodinsight.org/Blog/tabid/60/EntryId/624/Raw-Milk-Clear-Risks-No-Benefits.aspx Raw Milk"Clear Risks, No Benefits]," ''Food Insight'', IFIC blog, June 27, 2012</ref> (in fact, although the effects are complex, a 2003 University of Minnesota study found that pasteurization lowers levels of thiamine, vitamin E, biotin, and vitamin B-12,<ref>Suzanne Driessen, University of Minnesota, [http://www.extension.umn.edu/foodsafety/components/columns/Oct29.htm Raw Milk vs. Pasteurization Debate Revisited], research university publication, September 2003</ref>, for example).

The blog entry, which was later cross-posted to ''Food Safety News'' and other anti-raw milk publications, does not disclose that members of IFIC's Board of Trustees include two representatives from [[Mars]], Incorporated, as well as representatives from [[Coca-Cola]], [[General Mills]], and [[Kraft Foods]].<ref>International Food Information Council, [http://www.foodinsight.org/About/Board-Of-Trustees.aspx Board of Trustees], organizational website, accessed July 2012</ref> According to a 1996 University of Wisconsin study, large cheese makerscheesemakers, including Kraft Foods, often sell cheese at a loss in the lightly traded market to lower the prices it pays they pay for the millions of pounds of milk and cheese it buys they buy elsewhere. Under federal rules, milk prices are tied directly to the price of cheese milk at the exchange.<ref>Willard F. Mueller, Bruce W. Marion, Maqbool H. Sial, and F.E. Geithman, [http://www.aae.wisc.edu/pubs/misc/docs/cheese.pdf Cheese Pricing: A Study of the National Cheese Exchange], March 1996.</ref> The ability of small farmers to earn a higher price for milk sold directly to local eaters without having to ship to a large processing facility for pasteurization and bottling may present a long-term risk to Kraft Food's business model of low fluid milk prices.  ==BPA== IFIC also posts frequently on the topic of [[BPA]], and maintains a "Bisphenol A (BPA) Resource Page".<ref> [http://www.foodinsight.org/Bisphenol_A_BPA_Resource_Page Bisphenol A (BPA) Resource Page] Accessed March 16, 2015.</ref> ==Personnel== As of June 2013, members include:<ref>, International Food Information Council Foundation, [http://www.foodinsight.org/About/Board-Of-Trustees.aspx Board of Trustees], Foundation Website, accessed June 5th, 2013.</ref>  *Chair, Robert Gravani*Vice Chair, Jeanne Goldberg*Secretary, Nancy Childs*Treasurer, James Conlan*President and CEO, David Schmidt*Executive Director, Kimberly Reed

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