A recent study has proposed a model linking the butter flavoring known as diacetyl to bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, a lung disease diagnosed in microwave popcorn plant workers. James Mathews, et al., “Reaction of the Butter Flavorant Diacetyl (2,3-Butanedione) with N-α Acetylarginine: A Model for Epitope Formation with Pulmonary Proteins in the Etiology of Obliterative Bronchiolitis,” Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, November 2010. Researchers with RTI International and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences evidently analyzed the effects of diacetyl on N-R-acetylarginine ,in an effort to understand how the chemical reacts with cell membranes containing the amino acid arginine. According to the study abstract, “Because diacetyl modifies arginine residues, an immunological basis for its toxicity is under investigation.” “Currently, the mechanism(s) of diacetyl toxicity (are) unknown; however, the results of this study suggest that injury to the airway epithelium may involve alteration of cellular proteins containing arginine, including those on…
Category Archives Issue 375
Food & Water Watch (FWW) has published a report critical of seafood eco-labels that certify products as “environmentally friendly” or “sustainably produced.” Titled De-Coding Seafood Eco-Labels: Why We Need Public Standards, the report examines several seafood certification programs created “in response to a range of controversial issues related to the production and consumption of fish.” According to FWW, these privately operated programs have capitalized on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s failure to implement an “organic” seafood label. Moreover, FWW argues, “some of these certification programs have additional interests beyond providing consumer guidance. Whether it’s an interest in establishing a relationship with a fishery in order to work toward improvement, or getting more eco-certified product on the market, these other interests compete with label neutrality.” The FWW report finds that the six labeling programs under review “demonstrate inadequacies with regard to some or all of the following: environmental standards, social responsibility and…
Authored by the co-founders of the Zagat Survey, this New York Times op-ed examines a recent spate of class action lawsuits arguing that many prominent restaurateurs, including Lidia Bastianich and Mario Batali, “are routinely cheating their workers by confiscating waiters’ and busboys’ tips to share with managers and other ineligible employees.” Tim and Nina Zagat, however, question whether these culinary giants would continue to intentionally cheat employees while facing costly lawsuits and “draconian penalties” under the state’s new Wage Theft Protection Act. “The biggest worry for restaurateurs, though, is that one error—for example, just one ineligible employee found sharing in tips—could cost a restaurant its ‘tip credit,’ which permits restaurants to pay their waiters less than the full minimum wage because the state assumes that they get $2.60 an hour in tips,” write the Zagats. “If a restaurant’s tip credit is yanked, it has to repay that much for every…
A California egg producer has filed a lawsuit against the state and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) seeking a declaration that the improvements it has already made to its facilities, referred to as “the enriched colony housing system,” comply with the requirements of Proposition 2 (Prop. 2). JS West Milling Co., Inc. v. California, No. 10-04225 (Cal. Super. Ct., Fresno Cty., filed December 8, 2010). Prop. 2, approved in 2008, prohibits agricultural operations from confining farm animals, for all or the majority of any day, in a way that prevents the animal from “lying down, standing up, and fully extending his or her limbs; and turning around freely.” The plaintiff emphasizes that it does not seek to challenge the voter-approved proposition. Rather, because its requirements are “vague, and there is substantial disagreement among the agricultural community, animal rights groups, and other interested parties as to what they…
A Florida resident has filed a putative class action against Tropicana Products,Inc. and a retailer, alleging that promotions for Trop50 Pomegranate Blueberry Juice Beverage® are deceptive because the product consists primarily of“a mixture of cheap apple juice and grape juice concentrates.” Cruz v. Tropicana Prods., Inc., No. 10-62926CA08 (Fla. Cir. Ct., Miami-Dade Cty., filed December 14, 2010).Seeking to certify a statewide class of consumers, the plaintiff claims that Tropicana hoped to tap into the “enormous new market”of those seeking to benefit from the antioxidants in blueberries and pomegranates by creating a “deceptive and misleading label with many elements not required by state or federal regulations.” The complaint refers to a September 2010 jury verdict in California finding that Welch Foods, Inc. marketed its 100% Welch’s White Grape Pomegranate® beverage deceptively with labeling that was “literally true” but “had a tendency to deceive a substantial number of consumers.” The complaint also notes…
Alleging damages in excess of $50 million, a company that processes and sells baby carrots, along with its liability insurers, has sued the maker of a product that was promised to increase vegetable shelf-life, alleging that carrots treated with the sanitizer “suffered elevated yeast growth and severely premature spoilage as compared to [plaintiff’s] historical experience and carrots processed using chlorine dioxide at the same time.” Wm. Bolthouse Farms, Inc. v. Ecolab, Inc., No. 10-01005 (E.D. Cal., filed December 9, 2010). The product at issue is “Tsunami 100,” which the defendant apparently began marketing to the plaintiff in 2007 as a replacement sanitizer, claiming that its higher price was justified by superior performance. According to the complaint, the defendant “never warned Bolthouse that there was any risk that Tsunami 100 would actually decrease the shelf life of the carrots being processed.” Claiming that the scientific literature made it clear that the product’s peroxyacetic…
Seeking to represent a class of California children younger than age 8 and their parents, the mother of a 6-year-old girl has reportedly filed a putative class action against McDonald’s Corp., alleging that it baits children by advertising its “unhealthy Happy Meals” with toys and thus “has helped create, and continues to exacerbate, a super-sized health crisis in California.” Parham v. McDonald’s Corp., No. __ (Cal. Super. Ct., San Francisco Cty., filed December 15, 2010). Counsel for the plaintiff includes Stephen Gardner with the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which announced several months ago that it would be filing such a lawsuit. According to the complaint, “Most Happy Meals are too high in calories, saturated fat, and sodium to be healthful for very young children,” and the company “is engaged in a highly sophisticated scheme to use the bait of toys to exploit children’s developmental immaturity and…
The same day that the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement over alleged deceptive advertising claims for DanActive® beverage and Activia® yogurt, Ohio’s attorney general filed a lawsuit alleging that The Dannon Co. has violated the state’s Consumer Sales Practices Act (CSPA) by failing to substantiate the health-related claims it makes for the products. Ohio v. Dannon Co., Inc., No. 10-12-18225 (Ct. Com. Pl., Franklin Cty., filed December 15, 2010). The complaint takes issue with marketing claims that the products either promote digestive health or boost immunity. Under the authority of the CSPA, Attorney General Richard Cordray (D) brings the action “in the public interest” and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, liability for “the reasonable costs and expenses of the investigation and prosecution of the Defendant’s actions, including attorneys’ fees,” as well as $25,000 “for each unfair or deceptive act or practice alleged herein.” According to the complaint, Activia® has…
The Federal Trade Commission has announced the settlement of allegations that The Dannon Co. exaggerated the health benefits of its Activia® yogurt and DanActive® dairy beverage. Under the terms of the settlement, Dannon does not admit any law violations, but agrees to stop promoting its yogurt as a product that relieves temporary irregularity or its dairy beverage as a product that reduces the likelihood of getting a cold or the flu, unless certain conditions are met. These include that the immunity claims are specifically permitted by the Food and Drug Administration and the irregularity claims are substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence. The company also agreed to pay $21 million to the 39 states whose attorneys general were also investigating its advertising claims. According to a news source, Dannon has indicated that it will in the future clarify that Activia’s benefits require three servings of the product daily. The…
A federal court in New York has entered an order approving the pre-trial discovery and motions scheduling order agreed to by the individual plaintiffs remaining in the litigation alleging that fast-food marketing caused adverse health effects related to obesity. Pelman v. McDonald’s Corp., No. 02-7821 (S.D.N.Y., order filed December 15, 2010). Under the terms of the agreement, fact discovery will close November 30, 2011; expert discovery will close April 30, 2012; and briefing on motions for summary judgment will end August 30, 2012. The court denied the plaintiff’s motion for class certification in October; additional details about the ruling appear in Issue 370 of this Update.
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