The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a new working group “to evaluate new scientific evidence on the potential effects of bisphenol A (BPA) on the immune system.” Prompted by a Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment report on new studies “describing pre- and perinatal effects of BPA on the immune system,” EFSA’s Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavorings and Processing Aids plans to issue a scientific statement on BPA and immunotoxicity at its September 13-15, 2016, plenary meeting. See EFSA News Release, June 20, 2016. Issue 609
Posts By Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.
At the behest of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) has issued a report examining “the approaches to data collection, analysis, and interpretation that have been used in recent reports on obesity prevalence and trends at the national, state, and local level, particularly among U.S. children, adolescents, and young adults.” Titled Assessing Prevalence and Trends in Obesity: Navigating the Evidence, the report reviews the literature to date, providing “a framework for assessing and interpreting published reports,” as well as “recommendations for improving future data collection efforts and filling data gaps.” Given the various challenges presented by data collection—such as inconsistencies among data sources; insufficient sample size; discrepancies between measured and self-reported data index; and the limitations inherent in trend estimates and interpretations—NAS offers the Assessing Prevalence and Trends (APT) Framework to help stakeholders, policymakers and other “end users” compare various studies…
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has proposed wine labeling revisions to address concerns about the accuracy of labeling information for wines that contain more than 7-percent alcohol by volume but are exempt from label approval requirements. According to TTB, the regulations that govern wine labeling include (i) 27 CFR 24, which requires wine containers to feature “the name and address of the wine premises where bottled or packed; the brand name; the alcohol content; the kind of wine; and the net contents of the container,” and (ii) 27 CFR 4, which governs “the use of one or more grape variety names as a type designation, the use of type designations of varietal significance, the use of vintage dates, and the use of appellations of origin on wine labels,” such as the use of American viticultural area (AVA) names. Wines not intended for interstate or foreign commerce,…
Shook Partner Bert Ocariz served as an arbitrator in a dispute between Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. and Inversiones y Procesadora Tropical SA that concluded with an award of $32 million to Del Monte. Del Monte Int'l GmbH v. Inversiones y Procesadora Tropical SA, No. 20097/RD (Int'l Chamber of Commerce). Del Monte argued that the Costa Rican pineapple producer had continued to cultivate its MD-2 pineapple after its contract lapsed in 2013. Ocariz and the other arbitrators found that although a 2002 settlement agreement held the MD-2 was in the public domain, the pineapple grower continued to use the same crops and seeds provided by Del Monte after the companies’ contractual relationship had concluded. The award includes $26.1 million in damages, interest and attorney’s fees as well as costs of $2.5 million. Issue 609
Following June 11, 2016, riots and arrests in Marseille related to a Euro 2016 match between England and Russia, France has reportedly restricted the sale of alcohol in cities hosting the next games in the soccer tournament. Under the measures, public areas and shops in Lille and Lens could not sell alcohol before or during the matches, while bars and cafes were told not to sell drinks in containers that could be used as missiles thrown from terraces. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazenueve told reporters, “I have asked for all necessary measures to be taken to prohibit the sale, consumption and transport of alcoholic drinks in sensitive areas on match days and the day before, and on days when fan zones are open.” An executive from the Football Supporters Federation, which supports England and Wales teams and fans, told the BBC that the ban would not work, arguing that “the…
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has launched what it describes as “the first easily, searchable database of nearly 16,000 processed food and drinks packaged in materials that may contain the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol A, or BPA.” According to EWG, the new database organizes information obtained from a food industry website into a list of products that users can search from EWG’s Food Scores application. “The industry website’s apparent main purpose is to help food companies supply warning signs to retailers,” states EWG in a June 17, 2016, press release. “It reveals that Americans are far more widely exposed than previously known to a hormone-disrupting industrial chemical that poses greatest risk to pregnant women, infants and children. But the website is a chaotic jumble––incomplete, inconsistent, poorly organized and hard to use.” EWG claims that its BPA database features 926 brands linked to 16,000 products, “including more than 8,000 soup, vegetable, sauce…
Following the release of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) final guidance finding that “evaporated cane juice” (ECJ) should be labeled as “sugar” on food products, Lifeway Foods has filed a motion arguing that the May 2016 rule should not affect the outcome of a consumer’s lawsuit against the company arguing it mislabeled its kefir smoothies. Figy v. Lifeway Foods Inc., No. 13-4828 (N.D. Cal., San Francisco Div., motion filed June 13, 2016). The case is one of many stayed or dismissed without prejudice awaiting FDA guidance after the agency announced it would reconsider the issue in March 2014. In its motion, Lifeway argues that the guidance is “intended to advise” and “does not establish any rights for any person and is not binding on the FDA or the public.” “The Guidance has no more bearing on Plaintiff’s claims under California’s consumer protection statutes than it has on his common…
The High Court of England and Wales has reportedly held DJ Houghton Chicken Catching Services liable for claims brought by six Lithuanian men who allege they were victims of trafficking. The company lost its license after police raids in 2012 found what the Gangmasters Licensing Authority called “the worst UK gangmaster ever.” The men assert that during their employment catching chickens for the company, they were denied sleep and toilet breaks, charged illegal work-finding fees, abused and assaulted, denied minimum wages and provided dirty, overcrowded and unsafe living quarters. The owners of the company argued that a Lithuanian supervisor was at fault for the treatment, but the court reportedly found that the supervisor’s methods were integral to business operations, leaving the company liable for his actions. The attorney representing the Lithuanian men told The Guardian, “This is the first time a British company has been found liable for victims of…
The European Commission (EC) has published a report finding that foods intended for sportspeople do not require special provisions under the regulation on food for specific groups (FSG Regulation), which will replace the framework on foodstuffs intended for particular nutritional uses (PARNUTs) on July 20, 2016. Based on the results of an external study commissioned by the EC Directorate General for Health and Food Safety, the report explains that the FSG Regulation covers foods targeting vulnerable population groups— such as food for infants and young children, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control—but does not extend to sports foods intended for either (i) sportspeople who practice sport more than once a week, or (ii) lifestyle users who practice sport less than once a week or not at all. “Thus, since a categorization as foodstuff intended for particular nutritional uses will no longer be available to…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has submitted a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf urging the agency to prohibit retail distribution of highly concentrated caffeine products, including powdered (PPC), liquid and inhaled caffeine. The recently released letter supplements CSPI’s 2014 citizen petition requesting the ban following the deaths caused by over-ingestion of caffeine powder. FDA sent warning letters to companies selling the substance, but “FDA’s five letters appear to have ceased the sale of powdered caffeine at only the companies to which the agency addressed the letters,” the CSPI document argues. “In the larger marketplace, sales of PPC remain commonplace, and the substance is still widely available. This compelling evidence demonstrates why a ban is the only step that will protect consumers from the hazards of PPC.” Issue 608
