Mandatory sodium limits for processed foods could be 20 times more effective than voluntary reduction measures. Linda Cobiac, et al., “Cost-effectiveness of interventions to reduce dietary salt intake,” Heart, November 2010. Australian researchers evaluated the public health benefits and cost-effectiveness of four possible strategies for reducing dietary salt: (i) the current Australian program that provides incentives for food manufacturers to voluntarily reduce sodium in their processed foods, (ii) a government mandate to moderate salt in processed foods, (iii) dietary advice for people at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and (iv) dietary advice for anyone at high risk. Writing that “dietary advice targeting individuals is not cost-effective,” the study’s authors concluded that programs which “encourage the food industry to reduce salt in processed foods are highly recommended for improving population health and reducing health sector spending in the long term.” They suggested, however, that “regulatory action from government may be needed…
Category Archives Issue 371
A recent study has reportedly concluded that viable skin can absorb bisphenol A (BPA), raising concerns about exposure from handling BPA-laden products such as receipts. Daniel Zalko, et al., “Viable skin efficiently absorbs and metabolizes bisphenol A,” Chemosphere, October 2010. French researchers used both pig and human cultures to determine that “BPA is readily absorbed and metabolized by the skin,” which converted the substance into two conjugates known as BPA mono-glucuronide and BPA mono-sulfate. “The trans-dermal route is expected to contribute substantially to BPA exposure in human [sic], when direct contact with BPA (free monomer) occurs,” concluded the authors. The study evidently confirms earlier findings released ahead-of-print in Environmental Health Perspectives indicating cashiers had the highest urinary BPA concentrations among a sample of 389 pregnant women. According to a November 2, 2010, Science News article, University of Missouri-Columbia Professor Frederick vom Saal has described the French research as “unequivocal in showing…
Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) recently held its Ninth Forum on Consumer Protection in Berlin, where 300 participants discussed the alleged health risks of recycled materials used in food packaging. More specifically, the meeting focused on cardboard packaging made from recycled paper, which evidently contains mineral oils used in newspaper ink that can migrate “in relevant amounts into the packaged foods.” While acknowledging that a final assessment “is not yet possible,” BfR has cited animal tests suggesting that these mineral oil residues “are deposited in the liver and lymph nodes and could damage these organs.” It has thus recommended minimizing the migration of these oils into foods. “This concerns dry foods with a large surface such as rice, semolina, corn flakes and noodles,” states the BfR press release. “As a possibility, the BfR Forum discussed the use of liner bags, for example made of aluminum coated plastics, in…
KFC franchisees have reportedly made their closing arguments before a Delaware Chancery Court in a dispute over the company’s advertising policies. They contend that 1997 amendments to the company’s corporate documents gave them the authority to propose and approve different advertising recommendations. The lawsuit was apparently filed after KFC Corp. launched an advertising campaign for grilled chicken menu offerings, which the franchisees opposed for their potential to dilute the company’s fried chicken brand. According to a news source, the franchisees argued that while they can veto funding for advertising by majority vote, this power is illusory because KFC could institute delays, thus causing a blackout that would inflict significant damage on franchisees. The company apparently countered that the franchisees do have the right to make recommendations or modifications to the company’s advertising policy and have exercised that right on several occasions. Still, the company reportedly indicated that the franchisees cannot have…
A Florida man has sued a Houston’s restaurant and its manager for failing to train servers to explain to patrons how to eat grilled artichokes, contending that their negligence led to his hospitalization and exploratory bowel surgery. Carvajal v. Hillstone Restaurant Group, Inc., No. 10-57757 CA 03 (Fla. Cir. Ct., Miami Dade Cty., filed October 27, 2010). He alleges ordering a special item offered by a server, “which Plaintiff advised he had never seen or heard of previously.” According to the complaint, plaintiff Arturo Carvajal was not instructed that the outside portion of the leaf should not be eaten, although the restaurant “had a duty to use reasonable care with respect to the serving and explanation of items not described on the menu; which by their appearance as served appeared wholly consumable.” He is seeking damages in excess of $15,000.
Nestlé Prepared Foods Co. has filed a complaint against the suppliers of ingredients for its Lean Cuisine® frozen meals, which it was apparently forced to recall when it learned that some of the meals were contaminated with foreign, hard blue plastic pieces. Nestlé Prepared Foods Co. v. Nat’l Food Trading Corp., No. 10-1077 (D. Utah, filed October 29, 2010). According to the complaint, the plastic pieces were mixed into the sun-dried tomatoes that defendants sold to Nestlé. Customer complaints purportedly alerted Nestlé to the contamination, and “[a]t least one consumer reported an injury caused by the hard blue plastic materials.” Recalling some 880,000 pounds of frozen meals allegedly caused Nestlé to incur “substantial losses, including, but not limited to, refunds to customers, the value of the recalled meals, the value of the unusable sun dried tomatoes, cancelled orders, and the costs of shipping, storage, plant operations, and investigation, as well as…
The California Supreme Court has denied a petition for review filed by fast food restaurants seeking to overturn an intermediate appellate court ruling allowing further proceedings on claims that they violated Proposition 65 by selling grilled chicken products to consumers without appropriate warnings about carcinogens created by the cooking process. Physicians Comm. for Responsible Med. v. McDonald’s Corp., No. S186566 (Cal., decided October 27, 2010). The intermediate appellate court determined that federal law did not preempt the claims. Additional information about its ruling appears in Issue 360 of this Update.
A California court of appeals has denied the request of a former Chipotle employee to certify a class of current and former non-managerial employees alleging that the company violated labor laws by denying them meal and rest breaks. Hernandez v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. B216004 (Cal. Ct. App., 2d Dist., modified opinion filed October 28, 2010). The court agreed with the defendant that California law requires that employers provide, but not ensure, that employees take breaks. The court also found no error in the trial court’s denial of class certification because the court record showed that “Chipotle did not have a universal practice with regard to breaks.” Apparently, while the company paid for meal and rest breaks, some employees declared that they always missed meal breaks, some missed meal breaks but not rest breaks, some were not denied meal breaks, and others declared their breaks were delayed or interrupted…
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a district court’s dismissal of claims filed by a 76-year-old woman who alleged that she was seriously burned when trying to remove the lid from a cup of tea she purchased at Starbucks. Moltner v. Starbucks Coffee Co., No. 09-4943 (2d Cir., decided November 3, 2010). The court issued a non-precedential summary order to affirm the grant of defendant’s summary judgment motion. According to the court, the district court correctly excluded the testimony of plaintiff’s experts because they were unreliable under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 standards. In this regard, the court stated, “[w]ithout the testimony of her expert witnesses, Moltner’s claims fail because there is no way for a reasonable juror to determine, with respect to her defective design claim, whether the risks posed by the product’s design outweighed its utility, or, with respect to her negligence claim, whether Starbucks failed to…
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has given preliminary approval to an ordinance (No. 101096) that would prohibit restaurants from offering toy giveaways in children’s meals deemed too high in calories, salt or fat. Approved by an 8-to-3 vote on November 2, 2010, the legislation reportedly has enough votes to override Mayor Gavin Newsom’s expected veto when the bill comes before the board for a final vote. If approved, the law would take effect in December 2011. Under the ordinance, restaurants would be prohibited from offering “incentive items” such as toys, trading cards or admission tickets in meals containing more than 600 calories and 640 milligrams of sodium, and if fat makes up more than 35 percent of the calories, except for fats contained in nuts, seeds, eggs, or low-fat cheese. It would also require meals to include a certain amount of fruits and vegetables. District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty…
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