A California appeals court has rejected a Napa restaurant’s attempt to circumvent the state’s foie gras ban by describing it as a gift for ordering another dish then arguing that a resulting suit brought by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) seeking an injunction was merely a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) in violation of the state anti-SLAPP statute. Animal Legal Def. Fund v. LT Napa Partners LLC, No. A139615 (Cal. Ct. App., order entered March 5, 2015). Additional information on the foie gras ban, which a California federal court struck down in January 2015, appears in Issue 550 of this Update. Kenneth Frank, the head chef at Napa’s La Toque restaurant, was a vocal opponent of California’s foie gras ban; he testified at state senate hearings, participated in public debates and authored a newspaper opinion piece on the subject. On three occasions, ALDF sent an investigator to La Toque…
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that adults and children reduce their daily intake of added sugars to less than 10 percent of their total daily energy intake. In addition, WHO calls for consumers to limit their consumption of added sugars to less than 25 grams (6 teaspoons) for further health benefits. The new advice follows the release of the U.S. Department of Health and Department of Agriculture’s proposed Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which would set similar limits for glucose, fructose and sucrose added to food and drink by manufacturers, retailers or consumers. “We have solid evidence that keeping intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake reduces the risk of overweight, obesity and tooth decay,” said Francesco Branca, director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, in a March 4, 2015, press release. “Making policy changes to support this will be key…
The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has extended the deadline for public comments on hazard identification materials on BPA and female reproductive toxicity from April 6 to April 20, 2015, in response to a request from the American Chemistry Council. OEHHA has also announced that the May 7 meeting of its Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DARTIC) to consider the addition of bisphenol A (BPA) to its list of chemicals known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity will be continued on May 21 in the same location if the committee is unable to finish its deliberations on May 7. Citing the availability of new epidemiological and toxicological data, DARTIC will assess “whether BPA has been clearly shown by scientifically valid testing according to generally accepted principles to cause female reproductive toxicity.” After adding BPA to the list of reproductive toxicants under the Safe…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service is hosting an April 27-30, 2015, public meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) in La Jolla, California. The event will serve as NOSB’s final review of substances with sunset dates in 2016, and sessions will include those covering reports from the Materials, Livestock, Crops and Handling subcommittees. The tentative agenda, relevant proposals and information about the comment submission and meeting registration process are available here; the deadline for submitting written comments or registering to make oral comments at the meeting is April 7. See Federal Register, March 12, 2015. Issue 558
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has introduced legislation that would ban the production, sale, distribution or possession of powdered alcohol. Schumer sponsored a similar initiative in 2014, and introduction of the new bill comes on the heels of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s March 10, 2015, approval of four labels for flavored Palcohol® products manufactured by Lipsmark LLC. “I am in total disbelief that our federal government has approved such an obviously dangerous product, and so Congress must take matters into its own hands and make powdered alcohol illegal,” Schumer said. “Underage alcohol abuse is a growing epidemic with tragic consequences and powdered alcohol could exacerbate this. We simply can’t sit back and wait for powdered alcohol to hit store shelves across the country, potentially causing more alcohol-related hospitalizations and God forbid, deaths.” See Press Release of Sen. Charles Schumer, March 12, 2015; The Hill, March 13,…
Three studies published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism have sought to quantify “the burden of disease and associated costs attributable to EDC [endocrine-disrupting chemical] exposures in the European Union.” Supported by the Endocrine Society, the research responds, in part, to the EU Commission’s request for an impact assessment that addresses the economic implications of restricting, phasing out or authorizing certain EDCs. To this end, the studies discuss the costs associated with EDCs and their alleged link to obesity and diabetes, male reproductive disorders, and neurobehavioral deficits and diseases. Using “the midpoint of each range for probability of causation” by EDCs, a fourth paper estimates the overall median cost of these diseases and disorders at $209 billion annually in Europe. “The primary finding of this manuscript is that there is a substantial probability of very high disease costs across the life span associated with EDC exposure in the EU,” note the authors.…
Responding to a shareholder resolution filed by As You Sow, Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. has reportedly agreed to reformulate its white powdered donuts to avoid the use of titanium dioxide nanoparticles. In return, the shareholder advocacy group has withdrawn its most recent resolution, which claimed that “recent research on the ingestion of inorganic nanoparticles has raised concerns regarding toxicity to humans and the environment.” According to As You Sow, 18.7 percent of shareholders supported a previous resolution asking Dunkin’ to identify any products containing nanomaterials. That resolution followed a 2013 report alleging that food-grade titanium dioxide can contain particles less than 100 nanometers “in at least one dimension.” “Insufficient safety information exists regarding these manufactured particles, especially for use in foods; preliminary studies show that nanomaterials can cause DNA and chromosomal damage, organ damage, inflammation, brain damage, and genital malformations, among other harms,” claims a March 5, 2015, As You…
A consumer has filed a putative class action in New York federal court against Blue Diamond Growers alleging that the company deceptively labels its Almond Breeze Almond Milk as “All Natural” despite containing potassium citrate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2, and D-Alpha-Tocopherol. Harlam v. Blue Diamond Growers, No. 15-877 (E.D.N.Y., filed February 19, 2015). The plaintiff alleges that 18 varieties of Blue Diamond almond milk contain the ingredients at issue, which she asserts are artificial or synthetic and, as a result, reasonable consumers would not expect to find them in products labeled as natural. “The [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] considers use of the term ‘natural’ on a food label to be truthful and non-misleading when ‘nothing artificial or synthetic . . . has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected to be in the food,’” she argues. Alleging unjust enrichment, breach…
A Florida federal court has refused to certify a nationwide class in a case alleging that Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. conceals the unsafe nature of its Redline® Xtreme energy drink. Mirabella v. Vital Pharm., Inc., No. 12-62086 (S.D. Fla., order entered February 27, 2015). Vital Pharmaceuticals argued that the class was unascertainable because it does not keep a master list of consumers, and customers rarely keep finished bottles that would help prove they belong in the class. The court agreed, finding that the energy drink “generally sold for less than $3.00” and customers were unlikely to retain receipts or other records of purchase; in addition, the company sells a variety of similarly branded products that may render consumers unable to determine whether they belong to the class because they might not remember which product they purchased. “Even Plaintiffs are unable to reliably recall or objectively prove how many bottles of the…
Refusing to certify the class, a California federal court has granted a partial motion to dismiss in a putative class action alleging that Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. mislabels its “100% Juice” products as “No Sugar Added” despite adding fruit juice from concentrate. Major v. Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., No. 12-3067 (N.D. Cal., order entered February 26, 2015). The plaintiff argued that adding the concentrate and labeling the products “No Sugar Added” violates California law, which prohibits use of that phrase on food “containing added sugars such as jam, jelly, or concentrated fruit juice.” Instead, she asserted, Ocean Spray must include the disclaimer that their products are not low-calorie foods. Ocean Spray argued that the plaintiff did not rely on the “No Sugar Added” label when purchasing the products, and the court agreed, pointing to a deposition in which the plaintiff admitted that calorie content was not a motivating factor in…
