In an academic analysis, a Tufts University researcher has reportedly called for “strong legislation” to protect Canadians from continued exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) in light of Canada last year becoming the first country to declare the chemical a toxic substance. Laura Vandenberg, “Exposure to bisphenol A in Canada: invoking the precautionary principle,” Canadian Medical Association Journal, February 2011. Although noting that Canadians have half the levels of BPA in their bodies as Americans—reasons for which may include the absence of Canadian BPA production plants—Vandenberg suggests that the lack of a BPA ban in Canada puzzles consumers. “Health Canada continues to maintain that bisphenol A is safe at current exposure levels and does not pose any risk to the general population; regulations to remove bisphenol A from all food-contact sources, or ban it completely, are not yet forthcoming, presenting a conflict that is likely to confuse the public,” Vandenberg wrote.…
Category Archives Issue 383
Highlighting the California lawsuit that seeks to stop McDonald’s from marketing “Happy Meals” to children, a March 2011 Inside Counsel article cautions corporate counsel to pay attention to such litigation, because, frivolous or not, the case marks a growing national focus on health and governmental initiatives to impose reforms on the food industry. Additional information about the case appears in Issue 375 of this Update. Author and managing editor Ashley Trent quotes Shook, Hardy & Bacon Agribusiness & Food Safety Co-Chair Madeleine McDonough, who questioned whether the lawsuit could be certified as a class. “There are so many individual issues,” she said. “What kind of advertising did [putative class members] actually see? What’s the proof that they actually relied on the advertising? What are the reasons they ate at McDonald’s? What did they eat? What kind of control did the parents exercise?” Other legal experts questioned the strength of the lawsuit’s substantive…
According to media sources, documentarian Morgan Spurlock recently screened his latest film about advertising and product placement at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, with plans for a general audience release in April 2011. Best known for “Super Size Me,” a film critical of the fast-food industry, Spurlock’s “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Made” apparently “unmasks the marketing process to bring audiences behind closed doors directly into the pitch meetings and marketing presentations which ultimately inform our everyday entertainment decisions,” according to a press release issued by film sponsor POM Wonderful®. Financed entirely by product placement, the film reportedly explores the world of co-promotion “with humor and insight,” although Advertising Age also noted a focus on “advertising’s wrongs,” such as “the marketers’ hooks in children,” and new techniques such as neuromarketing. “I felt the best way to examine the ever-growing debate of brand integration in film and television was…
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has reportedly requested information from China concerning the country’s use of steroids in raising cattle after some athletes blamed tainted beef for their positive drug tests. Noting that he is awaiting a response from the Chinese minister for a “full explanation of what happens in the industry,” WADA director general David Howman said, “there seems to be some evidence that some beef in China may have been stimulated in their growth by the use of steroids.” A WADA-accredited lab in Cologne, Germany, apparently discovered that 22 of 28 returning travelers from China tested positive for low levels of agency-banned clenbuterol, a livestock-bulking substance that builds muscle and burns fat. In related developments, the Spanish cycling federation recently cleared the Tour de France champion who had blamed his positive clenbuterol test on contaminated meat from Spain, and a German table tennis player was cleared after blaming…
The director of legal initiatives for Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has authored an article on front-of-package (FOP) food and beverage labeling that calls for “new directions for research and regulation.” Jennifer Pomeranz, “Front-of-Package Food and Beverage Labeling: New Directions for Research and Regulation,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, March 2011. Claiming that “food labels have become unwieldy from a consumer, health, and regulatory perspective,” Jennifer Pomeranz’s article explores the current state of “FOP schemes, health and nutrition claims, and enforcement activity,” and makes specific research recommendations for each context. In particular, it notes several areas—such as health and nutrition claims—that appear ripe for regulation and where additional scientific evidence could overrule First Amendment objections. “When the FDA and industry finalize their FOP schemes, research will be needed to assess their scientific validity, their efficacy for consumer use and comprehension, and whether a mandatory FOP scheme is necessary,”…
A British Columbia resident who operates a “cowshare” that produces and distributes raw milk to members has filed a lawsuit against the provincial government challenging a regulation that prohibits the sale of milk that has not been pasteurized. Jongerden d/b/a Home on the Range v. The Queen, No. S-111196 (Sup. Ct., British Columbia, filed February 23, 2011). According to the complaint, the plaintiff has been cited for packaging and distributing raw milk for human consumption and was further cited for contempt when she continued to sell the milk after labeling it as “not for human consumption.” The plaintiff contends that raw milk has beneficial health effects and that the ultra vires regulation has prevented her from obtaining and consuming raw milk from a lawful source.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued two decisions allowing the sale of ethanol blends above 10 percent, referred to as E15, for use in model year 2001 and newer vehicles. Both decisions have been challenged in court, and the agency has filed a response to a motion filed by food industry interests asking the court to accelerate the briefing schedule. GMA v. EPA, No. 10-1380 (D.D.C., opposition filed February 17, 2011). EPA asked the court considering the actions to instead adopt a consolidated briefing schedule that allows both decisions to be addressed, in the interest of preserving judicial resources. In a footnote, EPA suggests that the food industry parties may lack standing to challenge the agency’s E15 waiver. Apparently, EPA regulations give “only fuel and fuel additive manufacturers” the ability to register E15, and they are already represented in a challenge to EPA’s action. EPA also notes, “given that several steps…
The Center for Food Safety has returned to a federal court in California charging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) with violations of the law in partially deregulating genetically engineered (GE) sugar beets. Center for Food Safety v. Vilsack, No. 11-0831 (N.D. Cal., filed February 23, 2011). Details about the agency’s action are included in Issue 381 of this Update. Seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, the group and several other organizations concerned about the safety of GE crops and their alleged potential to contaminate conventional and organic crops, challenge the February 4, 2011, APHIS decision to approve an environmental assessment prepared in connection with the agency’s decision to issue an interim partial deregulation of Roundup Ready® sugar beets. According to the complaint, “The partial deregulation decision purports to allow planting and use of [GE sugar beets] pending the completion by APHIS of an…
The U.K. Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) has issued a February 25, 2011, Health and Iron Report recommending that the general population eat no more than 500 grams of red and processed meat per week, or 70 grams per day. At the request of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy, which in 1998 linked red and processed meat to colorectal cancer risk, SACN undertook “a comprehensive review of the role of iron in human nutrition,” including “potential adverse effects both of iron deficiency and of iron excess.” It ultimately concurred with the earlier findings that “high consumers of red and processed meat should consider reducing their intakes because of possible links with a risk of colorectal cancer.” SACN particularly noted that adults consuming more than 90 grams of red and processed meat per day “should consider reducing their intakes” to reflect the population average of…
The United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced that it is commissioning research aimed at modernizing official controls on meat. Noting that “the driving force” behind the Future Meat Controls Research Programme is to “improve public health by adopting a more risk- and evidence-based approach to meat production,” FSA said four areas of research will be part of the evidence to support regulatory change. Areas of research needed are (i) “an evaluation of food chain information, and collection and communication of inspection results for all species”; (ii) “trialling the visual inspection for fatting pigs from non-controlled housing conditions”; (iii) “a qualitative risk assessment of visual inspection of red meat and farmed/wild large game (all ages and species other than swine)”; and (iv) “trialling the use of a plant inspection assistant in approved game handling establishments (small and large wild game).” FSA requests proposals by April 6, 2011.
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