During the second National Soda Summit held in Washington, D.C., in early June 2014, ChangeLab Solutions, which has been active in tobacco control, presented a “Sugar-Sweetened Beverages [SSB] Playbook” calling for a public information campaign that would include telling consumers “you’re drinking 16 packs of sugar in that cola.” Other “playbook strategies” include a progression of activities: limiting SSBs on government property and in workplaces and schools, prohibiting SSBs in childcare and afterschool programs, restricting SSB marketing in schools, eliminating SSBs from children’s meals, licensing SSB retailers, taxing SSBs, and limiting SSB portion sizes. Each recommended action is accompanied by examples and model policies and ordinances. Issue 527
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Monthly magazine Consumer Reports has started a campaign to rid food labels of the word “natural” following a survey that found significant confusion over the term’s meaning. The Consumer Reports National Research Center, which conducts the research published in the magazine, conducted a phone survey of 1,000 people and asked them about their understanding of the use of “natural” on a food label and what they think it should mean. The center reportedly found that “[a]bout two-thirds believe [“natural”] means a processed food has no artificial ingredients, pesticides, or genetically modified organisms, and more than 80 percent believe that it should mean those things.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines suggest that manufacturers can use the term if nothing artificial or synthetic has been added to their products, but the definitions are vague and flexible, Consumer Reports argues. “We want to clean up the green noise in the food label marketplace…
A federal court in Georgia presiding over the criminal case filed against the former owner of the Peanut Corp. of America, implicated in a nationwide Salmonella outbreak in 2009, has denied Stewart Parnell’s motion to seal an exhibit that the government intends to introduce as Rule 404(b) evidence— that evidence pertaining to crimes, wrongs or other acts. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-12 (U.S. Dist. Ct., M.D. Ga., Albany Div., order entered June 13, 2014). Details about the criminal charges appear in Issue 472 of this Update. Parnell claimed that the evidence, an email, is “highly prejudicial” and would taint the jury pool. The government argued that “the exhibit is a judicial document subject to the common law right of access.” The court agreed with the government, because the document was discovery material that had been filed in connection with Parnell’s motion in limine, seeking to keep it from being…
A federal court in the District of Columbia has denied the request of the Black Farmers & Agriculturalists Association, Inc. to intervene in lawsuits brought by female and Hispanic farmers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleging gender and race bias in the administration of farm loan and disaster benefit programs. Love v. Vilsack, No. 00-2502 (D.D.C., decided June 13, 2014). Additional information about the gender discrimination claims appears in Issue 374 of this Update. The association was not a member of the settlement class established to resolve the claims of African-American farmers who failed to file claims for administrative adjudication before the deadline expired in Pigford v. Glickman (Pigford I). Those missing the deadline saw their claims revived under the 2008 Farm Bill and consolidated in litigation collectively known as Pigford II. Details about that litigation appear in Issue 395 of this Update. The association sought (i) a declaration…
A California Assembly committee has voted 8-7 against a bill (S.B. 1000), passed in May 2014 by the Senate, to require warnings on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) alerting consumers that “[d]rinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay.” Those on the Assembly Health Committee opposing the measure were apparently concerned that it singled out a single industry and children would not necessarily read the label. Industry advocates reportedly called the proposal unfair, because it would have required warnings on SSBs containing 75 calories while allowing higher calorie foods to be sold without them. Bill sponsor Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel), who also introduced unsuccessful legislation that would have imposed a tax on soft drinks, was quoted as saying, “I remain committed to pursuing this issue and being part of a broad public health campaign to educate communities about the proven health risks of sugary drinks.” See Reuters,…
In advance of the July 14-18, 2014, 37th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in Geneva, Switzerland, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has published a notice soliciting public comments to inform U.S. positions on various proposed commission standard-setting actions. No deadline for submitting comments has been specified. FSIS is responsible for keeping the public informed of the activities of international standard-setting organizations, including the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which was created in 1963 by two U.N. organizations—the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO)— to establish food standards that are often adopted and implemented by governments around the world, including the United States. Codex committees discussed in the FSIS notice include those focusing on residues of veterinary drugs in foods, contaminants in foods, food additives, pesticide residues, methods of analysis and sampling, food labeling, food hygiene, fresh fruits and vegetables, nutrition and…
A recent study has allegedly linked higher red meat intake in early adulthood to an increased breast cancer risk, raising questions about how dietary habits adopted before midlife can affect health outcomes. Maryam Farvid, et al., “Dietary protein sources in early adulthood and breast cancer incidence: prospective cohort study,” BMJ, June 2014. In addition to analyzing food questionnaire data from 88,803 premenopausal women ages 26-25 who were enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II, researchers with the Harvard School of Public Health documented 2,830 cases of breast cancer during 20 years of follow-up. Based on this data, they concluded that not only were higher intakes of total red meat associated with an increased risk of breast cancer overall, but that “higher intakes of poultry, fish, eggs, legumes, and nuts were not related to breast cancer overall.“ “So far, studies have suggested no significant association between red meat intake and breast cancer,”…
A recent article in The Atlantic illustrated the confusion surrounding fructose, glucose, sugar, and other sweeteners by interviewing several researchers whose conclusions on nutrition and sugar contradict each other to varying degrees. James Hamblin points to Mehmet Oz’s unqualified support—and later retraction—of agave syrup as a natural and healthy sweetener alternative to sugar or high-fructose corn syrup as an example of how the current scientific understanding of fructose and glucose is incomplete and difficult to draw conclusions from. Agave is composed of 90 percent fructose and 10 percent glucose, compared to an even split for table sugar and 55 percent fructose in high-fructose corn syrup. Because of its low glucose content, agave has a low glycemic index, which led many nutritionists to believe that it was a healthy alternative. Fructose has since been blamed for, among other diseases, liver damage and atherosclerosis, and described as “toxic,” a label that one…
Camel’s milk and its associated products may be the next “super food” category, according to USA Today. Several U.S. farms with breeding camels have reportedly adopted camel-milking programs in seven states, with new programs set to open soon in seven more. Scientific studies show that camel milk has higher levels of several nutrients—including protein, potassium, magnesium, B vitamins, iron, copper, manganese, vitamin C, and zinc—as well as lower cholesterol than cow’s milk. The process of milking the camels is apparently easier than milking cows, as dromedary (single-humped) and Bactrian (double-humped) camels are taller and do not require seating or crouching while milking them, but they produce less milk than cows. One camel farmer uses a 15-second flash pasteurization process that reportedly retains nutrients more efficiently, but the pasteurization for camel milk has yet to be standardized. See USA Today, June 8, 2014. Issue 526
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. is investigating a potential data breach that may have exposed thousands of customers’ credit and debit card data. After contacting banks to determine commonly visited locations, a cybersecurity blogger reported that the data of customers who visited P.F. Chang’s between March 2014 and May 19, 2014, has been offered for sale on an underground Website known for selling data resulting from the Target breach in late 2013. While the source of the potential breach remains unknown, experts suggest that thieves planted malware onto the point-of-sale systems that employees use to run customer’s credit cards because similar malware was used to steal credit and debit card information from other retailers. See USA Today, June 11, 2014. Issue 526
