A recent study has claimed that, “among formula-fed infants or infants weaned before the age of 4 months, introduction of solid foods before the age of 4 months was associated with increased odds of obesity at age 3 years.” Susanna Huh, et al., “Timing of Solid Food Introduction and Risk of Obesity in Preschool-Aged Children,” Pediatrics, February 2011. Harvard researchers apparently followed 847 children enrolled in a pre-birth cohort study known as Project Vida, using “separate logistic regression models for infants who were breastfed for at least 4 months (‘breastfed’) and infants who were never breastfed or stopped breastfeeding before the age of four months (‘formula-fed’), adjusting for child and maternal characteristics.” The study findings apparently indicated that, among the formula-fed infants only, “introduction of solid foods before 4 months was associated with a six-fold increase in odds of obesity at age 3 years.” “One possible reason why we saw…
Category Archives Issue 381
A study presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2011 has reportedly linked daily diet soda consumption “to a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and vascular-related deaths.” Led by University of Miami scientist Hannah Gardener, researchers analyzed soft drink consumption for 2,564 people enrolled in the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS), grouping participants into seven categories ranging from those who drank less than one soda of any kind per month, to those who reported daily regular or diet soda consumption. The study results evidently showed that, after an average follow-up of 9.3 years, participants who drank one diet soda every day “had a 61 percent higher risk of vascular events than those who reported no soda drinking.” “This study suggests that diet soda is not an optimal substitute to sugar-sweetened beverages, and may be associated with a greater risk of stroke,” Gardener was quoted as saying. She added,…
Based on a small sample of butter purchased in Texas grocery stores, researchers have concluded that high levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) found in one sample “were likely transferred from contaminated wrapping paper to butter.” Arnold Schecter, et al., “Contamination of U.S. Butter with Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers from Wrapping Paper,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 2011. While they were unable to pinpoint the contamination’s source, the study’s authors suggest that their research can “serve to alert the public, scientists, food processors, and regulatory agencies that relatively high levels of food contamination with emerging POPs [persistent organic pollutants] sometimes occurs.” They call for additional research and spot checks by regulatory agencies “to determine when and where screening for POPs contamination of food is most appropriate and would also help reduce incidence of contaminated food sold to the public.” Meanwhile, in commentary on recent scientific literature involving food contact materials, an assistant University…
New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman tackles the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) latest dietary guidelines in this opinion piece claiming that “the agency’s nutrition experts are at odds with its other mission: to promote our bounty in whatever form its processors make it.” According to Bittman, the guidelines are clearest when promoting “good” foods like fresh produce, but become “vague” when describing what not to eat, often resorting to scientific language and acronyms like SOFAS—Solid Fats and Added Sugars—“to avoid offending meat and sugar lobbies.” “The [USDA] can succeed at its conflicting goals only by convincing us that eating manufactured food lower in SOFAS is ‘healthy,’ thus implicitly endorsing hyper-engineered junk food with added fiber, reduced and solid fats and so on, ‘food’ that is often unimaginably far from its origins,” opines Bittman. “The advice people need is to cook and eat more real food, at the expense…
The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) recently released an updated expert policy report estimating that 340,000 cancer cases in the United States could be prevented each year through “eating a varied and healthy diet, undertaking regular physical activity, being at a healthy weight and limiting alcohol intake.” According to a February 3, 2011, joint press release, positive changes in these lifestyle factors could achieve “significant reductions in particularly common cancers . . . including breast (38 percent of cases), stomach (47 percent of cases) and colon (45 percent of cases).” Reflecting the most recent global incidence data from GLOBOSCAN 2008, these revised estimates evidently square with the World Health Organization’s 2010 Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health, which concluded that “regular physical activity can prevent many diseases such as breast and colon cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes.” In addition, AICR and WCRF have…
A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) economist, writing in the Journal of Consumer Affairs, has reportedly cited the lack of a suitable definition for nanotechnology as an obstacle to the potential labeling of foods and packaging incorporating nanoparticles or materials. According to Jean Buzby, while the National Nanotechnology Initiative defines nanotechnology in terms of size, i.e., “dimensions between approximately 1 and 100nm,” this range “is an arbitrary measure and was not set on any real meaning or relationship between particle size and toxicological effects or kinetics, such as chemical reaction rates.” Buzby apparently opines that the technology’s potential benefits need to be communicated to the public and calls for increased funding for safety research. In a related development, the Carolina Academic Press is reportedly poised to release a law school treatise on nanotechnology titled Nanotechnology Law and Policy Cases and Materials. Authored by Texas Tech University School of Law Professor…
According to a news source, a prosecutor in Florida appears willing to accept an insanity defense in the case of a man who murdered his father while depressed, sleep-deprived and under the purported influence of an energy drink. A psychiatrist reportedly testified during a bond reduction hearing that defendant Stephen Coffeen, who allegedly smothered his father in 2009, suffered a “psychotic break” that was “accelerated by his use of Red Bull.” The defendant’s brother, Thomas Coffeen, is apparently skeptical about the defense, writing to the court, “since when is being tired, and high on an energy drink, an excuse for cold blooded murder, anyway?” The court has denied bond and set another hearing in the case for February 17, 2011. See St. Petersburg Times, February 7, 2011.
The parties litigating whether Welch Foods, Inc. falsely labeled its “100% Juice White Grape Pomegranate flavored 3 juice blend” beverage have filed a stipulation of settlement in a California federal court. Burcham v. Welch Foods, Inc., Nos. 09-05946 and 10-01427 (C.D. Cal., filed February 7, 2011). Under the agreement, a nationwide class of consumers would release their claims in return for refunds and coupons for replacement products, depending on whether they can prove that they purchased the product. The company would place coupons for free juice products in Sunday newspapers throughout the United States at a total value of $30 million. While Welch’s continues to maintain that the labeling claims are preempted by federal law and that the company has complied in all respects with federal law, it also claims that it lost money selling the white grape pomegranate juice. Acknowledging the difficulties in locating class members, Welch’s has also…
Adams Extract & Spice has sued Van de Vries Spice Corp. in a New Jersey federal court alleging damages in excess of $75,000 due to a 2009 spice recall involving ground red pepper allegedly contaminated with Salmonella. Adams Extract & Spice, LLC v. Van de Vries Spice Corp., No. 11-00720 (D.N.J., filed February 8, 2011). Apparently, Van de Vries sold 11,000 pounds of the spice to Adams Extract which then incorporated it into various products sold under its brand name. After learning about the contamination risk, Adams Extract issued a product recall that allegedly “resulted in significant damages to Adams Extract.” Alleging negligence by failure to comply with Food and Drug Administration standards, breach of contract, breach of warranty, and strict product liability, Adams Extract seeks compensatory damages, interest, costs, and delay damages.
Ruling on a request by a non-governmental organization (NGO), two supreme court justices in India have reportedly asked the government to remove food and soft drink company representatives from food-safety standards and enforcement panels. According to the justices, the industry representation clearly breaches the mandate of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Under the law, government panel members must be independent scientific experts who may consult with the food industry and consumers before adopting standards regulating the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import of food products. The NGO had reportedly sought a scientific investigation into the contents of soft drink beverages, claiming that their consumption is a major cause of adolescent obesity. An industry spokesperson apparently responded by calling obesity a rich man’s problem in a country where more than a third of the population lives below the poverty line. He cited the Indian Council for Medical Research, which…
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