Writing in the New Scientist, a Washington, D.C.-based journalist recently discussed the latest research on the effect of “junk food,” or foods high in sugar, fat and salt, on animal and human brains and behavior. Bijal Trivedi reports, “Some say there is now enough data to warrant government regulation of the fast food industry and public health warnings on products that have harmful levels of sugar and fat.” According to Trivedi, studies have shown that some foods appear to have an addictive effect similar to cocaine addiction on rat brains and that two routes to “food addiction” could be linked to overactive and underactive dopamine systems: “one if you find food more rewarding than the average person, and another if it isn’t rewarding enough.” Trivedi discusses the consideration that tobacco activist John Banzhaf has been giving to “food addiction”; he apparently believes that sufficient evidence exists for the U.S. Office…
Category Archives Issue 364
The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has released a fall 2010 paper highlighting obesity prevention policies with “the potential for the greatest impact.” The center’s recommendations relate to preschools and schools, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, marketing to children, weight bias, food deserts, and ongoing surveillance of these efforts. Among other guidelines, the paper urges legislators, regulators and other public health officials to (i) prohibit the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages and whole milk in preschools; (ii) restrict school sales of competitive foods to those which meet standards set by the Institute of Medicine, as opposed to the federal government; (iii) raise the cost of sugar-sweetened beverages by 10 to 20 percent; (iv) remove materials with branded foods from schools, preschools and all government properties frequented by children; and (v) require children’s meals to meet nutritional standards if they include incentives. According to the Rudd Center, “All of these strategies…
The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) and the U.S. Animal Health Association (USAHA) have prepared a white paper based on the Joint Strategy Forum on Animal Disease Traceability held August 30-31, 2010, in Denver, Colorado. Responding to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) “new, flexible framework for animal disease traceability,” the forum reportedly included attendees from 43 states, four tribes, 33 state health agencies, 38 industry organizations, eight universities, and 34 food producers and companies. It focused on the Traceability Regulation Working Group’s preliminary directions “in the areas of official identification, exemptions, performance standards, compliance components, recordkeeping requirements, and proposed timelines.” According to a September 10, 2010, press release, the paper specifically covers forum discussions related to (i) “the inclusion of identifying feeder cattle after a workable system is in place for adult cattle”; (ii) “the use and relevance of ‘Brite’ tags, back tags and brands”; (iii) “reasonable timelines…
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has released a report, “Driving the Fox from the Henhouse: Improving Oversight of Food Safety at the FDA and USDA,” that provides the results of a March 2010 survey of 8,000 food safety agency employees. Conducted at Iowa State University’s Center for Survey Statistics, the questionnaire solicited responses from 1,700 workers at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), who evidently reported that corporate and government interference “remains strong” in agency decision-making. The report highlights the 54 percent of respondents who reported “that the weight agencies give to political interests… is ‘too high,’” as well as the 34 percent who made similar statements about business interests. The findings also note that approximately one-quarter of respondents claimed to have “frequently or occasionally” experienced situations where either corporations or members of Congress “have forced the withdrawal or significant modification of [an…
A putative class action has apparently been filed in a federal court in Illinois by six named plaintiffs who allegedly became ill after consuming Salmonella-tainted eggs from Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms in Iowa. The plaintiffs’ attorney has reportedly been given permission to inspect the farms for evidence. According to a news source, the plaintiffs allege that the companies’ negligence is responsible for the outbreak and suggest that more than the known 1,500 individuals sickened by the contaminated eggs could be class members. In a related development, news sources report that Wright County Egg had dozens of positive results for Salmonella from swabs taken on conveyor belts and in other facility areas as early as 2008 and failed to notify local, state or federal officials. Animal safety experts reportedly called such contamination “surprising” and suggested that repeated positives indicate the company was not “getting to the root cause of what the…
POM Wonderful LLC has filed a complaint for declaratory relief in a D.C. federal court against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alleging that it (i) exceeded its authority in requiring Food and Drug Administration (FDA) preapproval of health-related claims on food products, that is, those claims stating that a product treats, mitigates or prevents disease, and substantiation of non-disease-related claims with two “well-controlled” clinical studies; (ii) violated advertisers’ First and Fifth Amendment rights by requiring compliance with these new standards; and (iii) failed to comply with notice and comment rulemaking procedures in establishing the standards. POM Wonderful LLC v. FTC, No. 10-1539 (D.D.C., filed September 13, 2010). According to the complaint, FTC has advised POM Wonderful that it must comply with standards recently announced in consent orders against other companies and now apparently applicable to the food and dietary supplement industry as a whole. Additional information about one of those orders…
A federal court in Illinois has dismissed claims that companies failing to disclose that the fiber in their snack-bar and yogurt products is “non-natural” chicory root-based inulin, which allegedly lacks the same health benefits as “natural” fiber, have violated state consumer fraud laws. Turek v. General Mills, Inc., No. 09-7038 (N.D. Ill., decided September 1, 2010). According to the court, the plaintiff’s claims are expressly preempted by the federal Nutritional Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) because they would impose requirements under state law that are not identical to federal law requirements. The products at issue are labeled with statements about the percent of daily fiber they contain or grams of fiber provided per serving. Discussing the application of preemption provisions in various federal laws, the court also sets out all of the federal regulations pertaining to fiber in foods. The court concludes, “plaintiff wants to change the labeling on defendants’…
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of one defendant and several claims in multidistrict litigation (MDL) alleging that a dairy certified as organic and the retailers selling its milk violated state deceptive trade practices laws because the dairy did not comply with national organic program standards. In re: Aurora Dairy Corp. Organic Milk Mktg. Sales Practices Litig., No. 09-2762 (8th Cir., decided September 15, 2010). While finding express and conflict preemption as to those matters dismissed, the court also determined that some claims could survive, depending, on remand, how the district court rules on defendants’ motions to strike the consolidated class complaint and the plaintiffs’ motion to amend that complaint. Dismissed outright from the 19 consolidated putative class actions was the company that certified Aurora Dairy as an organic supplier. According to the court, “to the extent state law permits outside parties, including consumers, to interfere…
Canadian health ministers reportedly met in St. John’s, Newfoundland, to discuss several health initiatives, including a plan to reduce the daily recommended intake of sodium to 2,300 mg from 3,400 mg by 2016. According to a September 14, 2010, press release issued by Alberta Health and Wellness Minister Gene Zwozdesky, government officials in attendance considered (i) “a framework for action to promote healthy weights (including reducing childhood obesity)”; (ii) “a commitment to make marketing healthy foods for children a priority”; and (iii) “supporting the call of Canadian Premiers for everyone to lower their personal sodium intake (including encouraging the food industry to meet voluntary targets for sodium reduction in prepared and packaged foods).” The ministers have reportedly accepted the new target sodium levels, which were the subject of closed-door meetings with Canadian Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq. “Our interim goal is to see the Canadian populations reduce their average sodium intake…
The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) has issued five regulatory proposals to respond to consumer and safety needs regarding nanomaterials found in mass-produced consumer products including food, electronics and cosmetics. During a recent workshop in which representatives from 12 member states met to prepare for a regulatory review of nanomaterials by the end of 2011, Belgian officials proposed that the EU (i) “define the obligation to inform the consumer of the presence of nanomaterials in consumer products”; (ii) “ensure the traceability of the chain so as to be able to return to the source, if necessary” by maintaining a nanomaterials register; (iii) “identify the most appropriate regulatory path at the EU level for risk evaluation and management,” (iv) “encourage member states, during this transitory period, to take up the responsibility and draw up integrated national strategies and concrete measures in favor of risk management, information and…
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