348 



about eight times a day up until midniglit. I wish I could buy a cereal 

 that liad FPC in it so I could feel at least they received some protein 

 and get a little nourishment. 



Mr. Lennon, We are passing a bill today that carries in it several 

 hundred million dollars to feed the school lunch programs, the poor, 

 the elderly, and yet we can't use something in this country because, 

 well, it smells a little fishy. But they have eliminated that fishy smell, 

 haven't they, completely ? 



Mr. Beckmann. Yes, sir ; and when it is used in a concentration as 

 recommended in products, you don't know that it is in there at all. 

 I am sure most people here have had various breads or desserts or 

 something like that made with it. 



Mr. Lennox. I am going to ask unanimous consent to put in the 

 record at this point the letter that I wrote to the Vice President urging 

 him to use his influence and urging all the members of the Cabinet who 

 were members of the National Council to try to change this policy. 

 I won Id also like included the letter that I wrote to the President calling 

 his at tention to the possibilities of usin^ FPC in his fight on hunger 

 and malnutrition. 

 (The letters follow :) 



House of Repeesentatives, 

 Washington, D.C., March 20, 1969. 

 Hon. Spibo T. Agnew, 

 The Vice President, The White House, 

 Washington, D.C. 



Deai: Me. Vice Peesident : Tlie Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Con- 

 servation of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries conducted 

 hearings on Fish Protein Concentrate (FPC) last summer at the request of the 

 Bureau of Commercial Fisheries for the need of additional funding to construct 

 a research pilot plant to develop new and less expensive processes for producing 

 FPC. 



For years, we have been told how FPC can be used to fight hunger and mal- 

 nutrition throughout the world. At this time, we are in the process of sending 

 $900,000 worth of FPC to fight malnutrition in Chile. However, here in the United 

 States, FPC cannot effectively be used to combat malnutrition because Food and 

 Drug Administration regulations require that FPC be marketed in one-pound 

 packages or less. 



Testimony developed before our Subcommittee revealed that Dr. James L. 

 Goddard, the then Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, had indi- 

 cated a willingness to waive the one-pound packaging restriction on FPC if the 

 food additive were used in a Government sjKJnsored program to combat 

 malnutrition. 



Like you, I am keenly interested in the fight against hunger and malnutrition 

 in this country. We now have a plant in New Bedford, Massachusetts, that can 

 produce FPC that will meet the quality standards of the Food and Drug Admin- 

 istration. This product could be used here to help alleviate the malnutrition we 

 are told exists in our country. 



Several federal agencies would be involved in any developed feeding program 

 using FPC as a food additive. It seems to me that you, as Chairman of the Na- 

 tional Marine Council on Marine Resources and Engineering Development, could 

 best coordinate and further such a worthwhile program. 



I will be glad to assist and cooperate with you in this proposed program. 



With kind regards. 

 Most sincerely, 



Alton Lennon. 



