The New York Times Magazine featured several prominent food writers in its October 12, 2008, food issue, which covered topics ranging from agricultural production to marketing strategies. Author Michael Pollan penned an open letter, titled “Farmer in Chief,” addressing the numerous food security challenges facing the next U.S. president. Pollan tells the president-elect that even as he copes with rising food prices and decreasing production, he must also “make reform of the entire food system one of the highest priorities of your administration: unless you do, you will not be able to make significant progress on the health care crisis, energy independence or climate change.” Going on to explain the complexities of modern agriculture and its dependence on oil, Pollan recommends that the administration adopt one core idea: “we need to wean the American food system off its heavy 20th-century diet of fossil fuel and put it back on a…
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The attorneys general for Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey have written to 11 companies asking them to discontinue the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles and infant formula packaging. Attorneys General Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Anne Milgram (N.J.) and Joseph R. Biden III (Del.) apparently asked manufactures to “affirm [their] commitment to safe products for our children,” citing recent studies that purportedly link BPA to “potential health problems.” The letter also noted that U.S. Representatives John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) have called for a Senate bill to ban the substance in all children’s products, as well as an investigation spearheaded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). “The preventable release of a toxic chemical directly into the food we eat is unconscionable and intolerable,” Blumenthal was quoted as saying. “Credible, escalating laboratory evidence demonstrates that even low-dose exposure to BPA…
According to a news source, a migrant worker from southern Guangdong province has sued Sanlu Group Co., alleging that the melamine in its baby formula caused his 11-month-old son’s kidney stones. The lawsuit, which has not yet been accepted by the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court, apparently seeks US$132,000 in damages. The plaintiff’s lawyer has reportedly indicated that he is planning to sue the Dairy Association in China for failing to properly supervise its member companies. More than 10,000 children have been hospitalized in China after drinking milk contaminated with melamine, which, in some batches of milk powder, has been found at levels of 6,196 parts per million. These levels far exceed the Health Ministry’s recently adopted permissible limit of one part per million for infant formula and 2.5 parts per million for liquid milk, milk powder and foods containing more than 15 percent milk. See Findlaw.com, October 10, 2008.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), which has been studying the contents of bottled water for the past two years, reportedly notified a national retailer that it intends to bring a lawsuit under California’s Proposition 65 for the company’s failure to inform consumers that some brands of bottled water contain chlorine-based contaminants that are known to the state to cause cancer. Numerous media outlets announced the release of EWG’s study results, which purportedly show that leading brands contain many of the same contaminants as tap water, such as bacteria, caffeine, acetaminophen, fertilizer, solvents, plastic-making chemicals, and the radioactive element strontium. Researchers opined that some of the substances, detected below federal health standards, come from the tap water that some companies use in their bottled products and others apparently leach from the plastic bottles. Environmental engineer Jane Houlihan, who coauthored the study, was quoted as saying, “In some cases, it appears bottled…
A microwave popcorn consumer who allegedly developed a lung injury from her exposure to diacetyl, the chemical responsible for the butter flavoring in the product, has sued popcorn manufacturers, retailers and flavoring companies in a Missouri state court, alleging product liability and negligence. Khoury v. ConAgra Foods Inc., No. 0816-CV31620 (Jackson County Circuit Court, Missouri, filed October 10, 2008). Represented by plaintiffs’ lawyer Kenneth McClain, who brought diacetyl-related litigation against employers on behalf of exposed workers with bronchiolitis obliterans and has also sued cigarette manufacturers on behalf of sick smokers, the plaintiff alleges that defendants failed to warn consumers that inhaling the “buttery aroma of Act II” microwave popcorn could cause respiratory damage.
A federal court in Ohio has dismissed the putative class action claims filed by a woman who alleged that Kroger Co. deceived the public by selling its beef as aged, when it was actually selling beef packaged and shipped almost immediately after slaughter. St. Clair v. Kroger Co., No. 7-03798 (N.D. Ohio, decided October 14, 2008). The case was originally filed in state court and removed on defendant’s motion under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA). Because the plaintiff failed to allege that Kroger had prior notice that its conduct was “deceptive or unconscionable,” the court was compelled under Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices Act (CSPA) to dismiss the class claims. Prior notice, under the law, must be “in the form of a rule adopted by the state Attorney General or a judicial decision made publicly available,” neither of which was referred to in the complaint So ruling, the…
A federal court in New Jersey has reportedly approved a $24 million settlement that resolves claims for contaminated pet food filed in 80 putative class actions against more than 60 companies. In re Pet Food Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 1850 (D.N.J., settlement approved October 14, 2008). The claims, which had been consolidated for pretrial proceedings before a multidistrict litigation (MDL) court, arose out of the deaths and illnesses of cats and dogs that consumed pet food with wheat gluten which had been adulterated with melamine in China to boost its protein content. The contamination led to a massive recall in March 2007. Apparently, more than 10,000 pet owners have filed claims; they will reportedly have until November 24, 2008, under the settlement’s terms to obtain up to $900 per animal, even without receipts for pet food or the costs of their pets’ illness and death. No sums will be paid…
A California jury has reportedly awarded an organic farm in Santa Cruz $1 million for the contamination of its edible herbs by pesticides applied on neighboring farms. Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo v. W. Farm Serv., Inc., No. ___ (Cal. Dist. Ct., Santa Cruz Cty., September 29, 2008). Pesticide drift from aerial spraying allegedly made it impossible for the plaintiff to sell large portions of its sage, rosemary and dill harvests in 2006 and 2007. The defendant, a pesticide application company, has reportedly indicated that it intends to appeal the verdict; a spokesperson was quoted as saying that the verdict “raises concerns about future use of organophosphates in California.” The company apparently claims that it followed all product labeling standards and county agricultural permits when it applied the pesticides and that decisions about the uses and risks of pesticides should rest in the hands of government regulators and not juries. The company also…
The U.S. Supreme Court has reportedly asked the solicitor general to file a brief discussing the federal preemption issues in case filed against retailers for failing to inform California consumers that the farm-raised salmon they sold was artificially colored. Albertson’s, Inc. v. Kanter, No. 07-1327 (U.S.). FDA regulations allow salmon farmers to augment the normally grayish pigment of farm-raised fish with chemicals that turn the flesh pink like that of wild salmon. Federal law also requires that the use of coloring be indicated on product labels, but does not allow individuals to enforce the law through litigation. The plaintiffs filed several lawsuits in state court alleging that the grocery stores violated federal and state food and drug labeling laws by failing to provide this information to consumers. A trial court and intermediate appellate court found that federal law preempted the claims, but the California Supreme Court ruled in plaintiffs’ favor. Further…
Japanese health officials have reportedly warned consumers that particular lots of frozen green beans imported from China are tainted with the organophosphate insecticide dichlorvos, resulting in the illness of at least three people. Residents of Kashiwa in the Chiba Prefecture experienced mouth numbness, vomiting and other symptoms after eating adulterated beans manufactured by Shandong-based Yantai Beihai Foodstuff Co. and sold in Japan under the Ingen brand. Japanese regulators stated that the beans contained 6,900 parts per million of the pesticide, or approximately 34,000 times the legal limit. At this level, a 132- pound person would feel acute symptoms if she consumed just 0.07 gram of the product, according to officials. Quarantine authorities have since halted all food imports originating with the company, urging retailers to pull 265 tons of the frozen beans from shelves pending an investigation. The ministry also noted that it was willing to work with Beijing to resolve…
