Welcome to all those who have picked up another edition of the Stirling Connection for your quarterly dose of "what's new in the life of Stirling".  For those who read the last edition of the Stirling Connection, you probably want to know the answer to the following question: 

 "How is Tia? - Tia how are you?"

Now, if you have no idea what I am talking about, then you obviously did not read the last edition (and shame on you!).

The answer ..... well, you will have to read this Newsletter to find out! I can tell you that Tia will have an on-going section in the Stirling Connection to pay for her expensive habits. She has to earn her keep somehow!

The feature article in this edition is called - "If organic is so good, how come we all wear clothes?" The article itself is focused on the impact of the recent recall of pet foods in the United States and how it relates to organic and non-organic opinions. Now that you are hopefully totally intrigued, please read on and enjoy. 

You may be aware Stirling is about to enter a new phase in its life, one that I think will be both exciting and rewarding.   Stirling's product portfolio is branching into non-medicated animal supplements with the intended purchase of ProVale^TM (see Press Releases).  Next edition, our feature article will look at the use of non-medicated feed additives.

As always, I invite all new followers of Stirling to visit our website to find out more about the "Stirling Story" or better still, get your name on our mailing list to receive announcements and company information the same day that they hit the ASX.

Society has a wonderful way of conditioning people to think one way or another. For example, we are all conditioned to wear clothes. In itself, it is a billion dollar industry fuelled by our innate belief that we have to change the design of our clothes to keep up with fashion. Wearing clothes however is not what you really call organic. We probably do it to please the masses and protect our eyesight against sights we would rather not see. Some will say it is to keep warm, but in the middle of a heat wave, this argument loses all its traction. So why do we do it? - Because we have been conditioned that way.

There is a wonderful advert that has been on in Australia, advertising - of all things - an ice cream. The commercial shows a man on a beach, perfectly at ease in his brief Speedos, surrounded by countless other people in bikinis and similar attire. However when he crosses the street into a shopping centre, still wearing nothing but his swimmers, he is considered to be totally under-dressed and in fact bordering on indecent exposure. The reality is we are conditioned to believe certain things without really questioning their logic.

Foods are no different. We have been conditioned to believe that "organic" is the best. After all, it is natural (just like wearing clothes), but that does not mean that everything else is not good for you or is not worthy of anything but a negative response. Currently we are going through a glut of misinformation about different types of foods. As a basic premise, all consumers deserve the right to know what is in their food and that includes the food of their "furry children" who, let's face it, are now part of the family.

The recent pet food recall that has swept across North America is such an example. What began as an issue limited to the pet food industry, has now raised concerns over livestock feed and human health, underscoring the relevance of feed hygiene practices and safe sourcing of ingredients in this age of global food and feed supplies. The pet food industry has been largely unregulated for a long time. Now in light of what's happened, people are finding out what is actually in the pet food they buy. People, not pets, choose pet foods, and they traditionally have been swayed by emotional, not scientific, factors.

The recall, which began with a previously undetected contaminant used as a fertilizer and plastic ingredient in China, has opened our eyes to a number of issues and has the potential to spark major reform, especially in the pet food market. The problem started when melamine was deliberately added to Chinese wheat glucan. One would think of this as being quite a natural substance - what can you do to wheat gluten?

The domino effect has been amazing. Shortly after the pet food recall, 60,000 hogs in eight US states were restricted from market because they had received feed manufactured with remnants of the contaminated pet food. About 10 days later, 80,000 breeder birds in Indiana were restricted from market because they also may have eaten feed made with the tainted pet food. Most recently, the FDA reported that a Canadian manufacturer was recalling commercial fish feed after discovering the presence of melamine. As many as 198 fish farms received the feed - two of them in the US still had their fish being held from market as of May 16. Last but not least, the former Director of the equivalent of the Chinese FDA has now been sentenced to death!

We will probably never know the full impact of this situation. Although the FDA logged as many calls in a day on this recall as it normally does in an entire year, they have only confirmed 16 deaths directly attributable to the contamination, despite various websites recording thousands of reported cases in dogs and cats. Whether any of the contaminated wheat gluten found its way into human food is still unknown.

All these developments have led to more pet owners attempting home preparation of dog and cat food - they are turning organic!! In early April (around the time of the recall), a cookbook for dog food was among the top 10 best sellers on Amazon.com. Three of the top 25 best sellers in the cooking category were cookbooks for dog food.

Even more recently, one of the major US poultry producers has changed over to what it is calling "antibiotic-free, hormone-free" chicken. Why? Because they conducted a number of surveys (of selected participants) and they are responding to the consumers' interests. They do reserve the right to use antibiotics to fight disease in chickens, however. Hello, there are a couple of things here that are missing. If chicken, or any other meat for that matter, did not have any hormones, they would be dead! All meat is tested for antibiotics and at the time of sale must be "antibiotic-free" and what happens to all those chickens that do "get sick" and need antibiotics?

Now I am not knocking organic food per se, but let's not forget, it was not that long ago that we had a human recall in organic foods which sickened over two hundred people, four of whom died. The problem was traced to contamination with a deadly strain of bacteria, (E. coli O157:H7, I bet you're glad that I told you that, aren't you?) Add to this, previous cases of people becoming sick with botulism from drinking infected carrot juice and knowing that a recent survey found 89% of organic chicken samples tested positive for Campylobacter (believe me you do not want to get an infection from that!)

Whether you choose to eat organic or not - and for some people the cost is simply too prohibitive (because all those bacteria are expensive to grow!) - is not the issue. Regulations need to enforce uniform and appropriate levels of control that start with clear definitions of what is in a product. Ingredients in all products (natural or not) need to have clear traceability, and manufacturers have to take accountability in cases of contamination, just like in the pharmaceutical industry. People can then make educated decisions on the nature of what it is they want and can afford to eat.

The pet food recall has also reinforced the dangers of one-sided information flow. It is very easy to use the media to promote one side of an argument, especially when the other side remains silent. The debate between organic and non-organic, biotech and non-biotech is heavily weighted in favour of those that speak out, because people are thirsty for information and will latch onto whatever information is provided at the time. We want to hear that our chicken is free of hormones, does not contain any harmful substances and other motherhood statements and we grab hold of them even if we do not know what it really means. Remaining silent and saying nothing is no longer an option in the food war, or the pet food war for that matter, it is time to balance the equation. You never really know what's under the clothes unless you have a look, but please don't start taking off your clothes just yet, the ice cream sales weren't all that good I hear.

Word is Getting Out .....

The number of visitors to Stirling's website has steadily increased throughout the first half of this year. In December 2006, there was an average of 75 visits per day. In April this year we topped 100 visits per day and last month had a record number of daily visits almost 190 visits per day. The interviews with Boardroom Radio have also proven popular. From May last year to April this year, seven interviews were conducted with a total number of over three thousand, nine hundred listeners tuning in.

Not Enough Power in the Poop .....

In Benson Minnesota, right in the heart of turkey-producing country (over 44 million birds per year) turkey farmers have a unique way of getting rid of the turkey manure. They take it to the old train station where it sits in huge piles. Benson has recently opened the country's first animal waste energy plant costing more than US$200 million. While this might seem like a very "green" thing to do, environmentalists don't see it that way. A senior official with one of the local advocacy groups was reported as giving his primary reason, saying "As a matter of public policy, it stinks." While officials on the other side say it has been a tremendous help to the turkey farmers, apparently it takes 500,000 tons of turkey waste to produce enough power for a few rural counties. As one article alerts, before you go scooping out the cat's litter tray, not all manures are alike. Turkey litter is special because, unlike cow or chicken or dog and cat litter, it is dry and burns. (Not well enough in Benson obviously).

Where Have All the Honey Bees Gone?.....

More than a quarter of the country's 2.4 billion bee colonies in the US have gone missing. Tens of billions of bees according to an article in the New York Times have disappeared. Although some would like to believe it is due to genetically-engineered crops, a secret plot by the Russians or Osama Bin Laden and some have even blamed God for recalling them, it appears they have fallen prey to a virus and/or parasite. It has reached such proportions that it is now referred to as "Colony Collapse Disorder".

Putting the "B" Back Into Biotech ....

Two recent articles have come out with very positive news concerning the benefits of biotechnology and pharmaceutical technologies in livestock production. An article in the April edition of "Beef" reported a recent study performed by Iowa State University realising the economic benefit of pharmaceutical technologies (including beta agonists of which R-salbutamol is a representative) on beef production at US$365/head. The article goes on to say that without this intervention, the selling price for cattle would have to increase by 36% to cover the increase in production costs.

A second article last week predicted that the use of animal feed additives would increase in response to increased demands for meat to top a figure of US$15 billion by the year 2010.

Upcoming Events

May 6-9 : Stirling attended BIO 2007 as part of the Australian pavilion with the assistance of the Western Australian Government, Department of Industry and Resource. BIO, which is now regarded as the largest Biotechnology conference in the world, was well attended again and the Australian pavilion did the Australian Biotech industry proud. Pictured right is Calvin London, the Hon. Francis Logan, Minister for Industry and Enterprises in Western Australia and Mr Justin Stillitano, Business Development Manager for Stirling.

August 22 : General Meeting of Stirling Shareholders to vote on the acquisition of Progressive BioActives Inc. (see ASX Release July 19).

September 23-26 : Stirling will be at the Agricultural Biotechnology International Convention to be held in Calgary, Canada. It was at this event last year where we first heard about PBI.

Stirling's Press Releases in 50 Words or Less

May 2 : Safe and Effective Dose Determined for Overweight Dogs, detailed the results from Stirling's first trial for treating overweight dogs. The study demonstrated excellent potential for R-salbutamol as a treatment in canine obesity.

May 7 : Stirling Set to Acquire North American Bioscience Company, detailed the terms and conditions for the acquisition of the Canadian Bioscience Company PBI. PBI has a patented beta glucan compound for use in livestock and animals.

July 19 : Stirling Signs Share Purchase Agreement to acquire PBI, indicated to shareholders that the share agreement for purchase of PBI has been signed subject to a shareholders' meeting in August. The acquisition of PBI will provide Stirling with some sales revenue opportunities for development in North America and an enhanced intellectual portfolio.

July 23 : Stirling Commences Final Stage of Fish Trial, provided an update on the recent Australian trial in pigs which showed an upper commercial limit of 6 parts per million and the commencement of the second phase of the trial with R-salbutamol in fish. This trial with more mature-aged fish is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year.

Hello - my name is Tia, I am the darling little Shih-Tzu that my dad introduced you to in the last Newsletter. Since then my mum and dad have discovered that I can do no wrong at all (He He He - I have got them totally bluffed!). Now I get to do my own segment of the newsletter. Each edition I will get to tell you something that you didn't know or tell you about the really cool things that you can get or do for your little furry friend.

My dad ended up getting me one of those really great outdoor toilets (The Pet Loo) but I've got to say I'm not too crazy about the grass  - it prickles my privates!! I've seen this new grass I would like. It's called K9 grass. Each blade is knitted not tufted so it's gentle on my behind and is impregnated with Alphasan (whatever that is). The label says it controls odour and kills bacteria - sounds good to me.

As this is my first piece, I have written a little poem explaining how things are around the London household, now that I have arrived.

Before I arrived - Tia not allowed in house.
When I arrived - well only in certain rooms.
After two weeks - allowed in all rooms but not on the furniture.
After four weeks - Tia allowed on furniture, but not sleep with "the pack" on bed.
First time dad goes away - Tia sleeps on bed.
Dad comes home - Tia only allowed on bed some nights.
After eight weeks - Tia tells mum and dad when she wants to sleep on bed with pack.
Current state of affairs - Tia tells mum and dad when to go to bed and when to get up.
Only one thing Tia does not understand - how come mum and dad can go to toilet inside when it is raining but Tia has to go outside?
Have included my latest photo........'til next time.

A Little Bit of Humour to Finish Off

To God from the Dog.....

Dear God: We can understand verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent ID's, electromagnetic energy fields and Frisbee flight paths. What do humans understand?

Dear God: Why do humans smell flowers but seldom, if ever, smell one another?

Dear God: Things I must remember:

The litter box is not a cookie jar.
The sofa is not a face towel.
The cat is not one of my squeaky toys, so when he makes a noise it is usually not a good thing and I should not try harder.

Very (very !!!!) Bad Funnies for You.....

A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you but don't start anything."

Patient: "Doc, I can't stop singing The Green, Green Grass of Home". Doc comments "That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome." Patient asks, "Is it common?" Doc says "Well, It's not unusual."

And finally there was a person who sent twenty different puns to his friends, with the hope that at least ten of the puns would make them laugh. He was wrong  - wait for it.....No pun in ten did!

Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.