The California Senate has passed a bill (S.B. 1000) that would require all sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) containing more than 75 calories per 12-ounce serving to carry labels warning of obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. Milk-based beverages and 100 percent fruit and vegetable juices would be exempt. Introduced in February 2014 by state Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel) and co-sponsored by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, the “Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Safety Warning Act,” is backed by the California Medical Association, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California and California Black Health Network. Noting “overwhelming evidence” linking obesity and the consumption of sweetened beverages,” and claiming that SSBs are the “single largest source of added sugars in the American diet,” the bill specifically seeks to “protect consumers and promote informed purchasing decisions . . . about the harmful health effects that result from the consumption of drinks with added sugars.” If passed by…
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The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority has reversed an earlier decision upholding two complaints alleging that Heineken UK Ltd.’s print and TV advertisements gave the impression that its Kronenbourg 1664 beer was brewed in France and made primarily from French hops, despite text disclaimers stating that the product was “Brewed in the UK.” According to ASA, Heineken argued that Kronenbourg 1664 “could correctly and reasonably be described as a ‘French beer’ because of its heritage, the origin of its recipe and the use of the Strisselspalt hop, as well as its ownership and the yeast type used.” In particular, the company noted that the aromatic Strisselspalt hop— though not the sole hop used in the beer—was the key ingredient in creating the beer’s final character and taste, attributes that could not be captured “from a simple calculation of the proportion in which [the Strisselspalt hop] featured in the recipe.” In its…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a public consultation on a draft scientific opinion evaluating “allergenic foods and food ingredients for labeling purposes.” Prepared by EFSA’s Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA), the new draft updates previous scientific opinions “relative to food ingredients or substances with known allergenic potential listed in Annex IIIa of 2003/89/EC,” including cereals containing gluten, milk and dairy products, eggs, nuts, peanuts, soy, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, celery, lupin, sesame, mustard, and sulfites. To this end, NDA addresses the following topics: (i) “the prevalence of food allergies in unselected populations”; (ii) “proteins identified as food allergens”; (iii) “cross-reactivities”; (iv) “the effects of food processing on allergenicity of foods and ingredients”; (v) “methods for the detection of allergens and allergenic foods”; (vi) “doses observed to trigger adverse reactions in sensitive individuals”; and (vii) “approaches used to derive individual and population thresholds for selected allergenic…
Responding to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and the Mercury Policy Project (MPP), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will soon update guidance on the permissible levels of mercury in seafood and the associated potential risks for pregnant women and young children. While CSPI and MPP urged the agency to mandate mercury-level labeling on seafood and at fish counters in grocery stores, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said that labels would not be mandated under its forthcoming guidelines. Previous guidance issued in 2010 indicated that pregnant women should limit seafood intake to less than 12 ounces weekly and discouraged consumption of shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel. See Associated Press, May 30, 2014. Issue 525
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a June 26, 2014, public meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss two proposed rules aimed at updating nutrition information and serving size requirements on Nutrition and Supplement Fact labels. Introduced 20 years ago, the Nutrition and Supplements Facts labels “help consumers make informed food choices and maintain healthy dietary practices.” Among others, the agency has proposed the following changes: (i) to require information about “added sugars”; (ii) to update daily values for nutrients such as sodium, dietary fiber and Vitamin D; (iii) to require manufacturers to declare potassium and Vitamin D amounts on the label, because they are new “nutrients of public health significance”; (iv) to change the serving size requirements to reflect how much people “actually” eat; (v) to require that packaged foods, including drinks, that are typically eaten in one sitting be labeled as a single serving and that calorie…
In response to Affordable Care Act provisions, requiring restaurants and similar retail food establishments to provide calorie and other nutrition information for menu items, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and a bipartisan group of senators have reportedly requested that the Office of Budget and Management (OMB) review nutrition labeling regulations to “ensure that any measures adopted will allow flexibility for restaurants and avoid unnecessarily burdening food retail establishments where nutrition information is already prevalent.” “Since FDA published its proposed rule to implement nutrition labeling of standard menu items at chain restaurants, many concerns have been raised about the regulations expanding to non-restaurants, such as grocery and convenience stores, where the vast majority of food products are already labeled with nutritional information,” wrote the senators in a May 30, 2014, letter to OMB Administrator Howard Shelanski. “The proposed rule also could affect restaurants with highly variable items or different food service…
Researchers in the Netherlands have reportedly identified a link between computer games with food advertisements and higher calorie consumption in children, especially among those identified as impulsive. Frans Folkvord et al., “Impulsivity, ‘Advergames,’ and Food Intake,” Pediatrics, May 5, 2014. The study of 261 children aged seven to 10 assessed them for impulsivity, and then they played a matching game with branded content—an “advergame”— of either a candy brand or a toy brand. While the children were allowed to eat candy during play, half of each group playing each game was told that they would be rewarded for refraining from eating. The researchers observed the children for five minutes and measured their food intake. Overall, the children playing the game with the candy brand ate more than the group playing the toy-branded game, but most of the children who were promised rewards for not eating the candy consumed fewer calories…
A recent study by Purdue University scientists has purportedly concluded that the amounts of artificial food colors found in many popular U.S. foods are much higher than previously thought, and children—the target market for the most heavily dyed foods—could be consuming 100 to 200 mg of artificial color in a day, well over the 30 mg that has allegedly been shown to contribute to behavioral disorders such as attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Although manufacturers are required to disclose whether a food contains artificial coloring, the law does not require that they disclose how much of each color is used, and, according to the study, the amounts of artificial coloring in foods has increased more than five-fold since 1950. “In the 1970s and 1980s, many studies were conducted giving children 26 mg of a mixture of dyes,” said study author Laura Stevens. “Only a few children seemed to react to the…
“Fed Up,” a new documentary produced and narrated by Katie Couric, with appearances by food experts Marion Nestle, Michael Pollan and Michele Simon, among others, chronicles the struggle of obese children who have purportedly become addicted to food. While the film claims that unethical advertising, snack ubiquity, enabling parents, and poor school environments have contributed to America’s obesity epidemic, it primarily places the blame on this nation’s obsession with sugar and the government’s alleged capitulation to the food industry and its lobbyists, referring to them as pushers of “the new tobacco.” The film also features scientists Robert Lustig and David Ludwig, as well as real-food advocate Mark Bittman. See NPR The Salt, May 19, 2014. Issue 524
Iowa State University Assistant Professor Austin Stewart has developed a virtual reality world that he says could be used to convince caged chickens that they are in a free-range environment. Stewart’s project, Second Livestock, envisions round skyscrapers filled with chickens wearing virtual-reality headsets and standing on omnidirectional treadmills. If implemented early in a chicken’s life, a chicken would believe that it is outside, Stewart suggests, and raising chickens in confinement could become more humane. While Stewart admits that his plan would be far too expensive to implement right now, “I had to show that this technology is plausible,” he said. See Ames Tribune, May 10, 2014. Issue 524
