A recent study claims that the calorie counts which restaurants provide for their fare is “accurate overall,” although there is “substantial inaccuracy for some individual foods, with understated energy contents for those with lower energy contents.” Lorien E. Urban, et al., “Accuracy of Stated Energy Contents of Restaurant Foods,” Journal of the American Medical Association, July 20, 2011. Noting that restaurant foods “provide approximately 35% of the daily energy intake in US individuals,” researchers used a validated bomb calorimetry technique to test 269 food items, including 242 unique items, from 42 quick-serve and sit-down restaurants in Arkansas, Indiana and Massachusetts. Their findings apparently indicated that 19 percent of the 269 samples “contained measured energy contents of at least 100 kcal/portion more than the state energy contents,” an amount “that has been projected to cause 5 to 15 kg of weight gain per year if consumed daily.” The study also determined…
Category Archives Issue 402
Corporations and Health Watch writer Monica Gagnon recently interviewed Anna Lappé about her new book, Diet for a Hot Planet, which describes the agricultural industry as “not just a victim but also a perpetrator of climate change.” According to Lappé, “Our food system indirectly and directly is responsible for about one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions,” a statistic she says is “largely missing from the public conservation.” In particular, Lappé focuses on a “corporate response to the crisis” that reflects the “multifaceted” nature of the food sector, where “players don’t always have the same self-interest and use different strategies of denying or acknowledging their impact on climate.” “What we are seeing is that lot of food companies are pushing to be their own police, not to have government regulate the industry,” Lappé claims, turning a critical eye on strategies like “green advertising” and urging consumers to conduct their own research on…
The 17 companies comprising the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) have reportedly agreed to abide by new uniform nutrition criteria as part of a voluntary effort to encourage healthier dietary choices among children. Under the new rules, CFBAI signatories have pledged not to market the following products to children: (i) juices with added sugars and more than 160 calories per serving, (ii) ready-to-drink flavored milks containing more than 24 grams of total sugars per 8 fluid ounces, and yogurt containing more than 170 calories and 23 g of total sugars per 6 ounces; (iii) seeds, nuts, nut butters, and spreads with more than 220 calories, 3.5 g of saturated fat, 240 milligrams of sodium, and 4 g of sugar per 2 tablespoons; and (iv) main dishes and entrees with more than 350 calories, 10 percent calories from saturated fat, 600 mg of sodium, and 15 g of sugar…
A New Jersey appellate court has partially reinstated a lawsuit against an Indian restaurant that mistakenly served meat samosas to a group of Hindu vegetarians, who are now seeking compensation for emotional distress and to recover the cost of traveling to India for a purification rite. Gupta v. Asha Enterprises, L.L.C., A-3059-09T2 (N.J. Sup. Ct., decided July 18, 2011). According to the court opinion, plaintiffs notified Moghul Express & Catering Co. of their “strict vegetarian” status and were twice “assured of the vegetarian nature of the food,” which actually contained meat. The complaint alleges that this oversight caused the diners spiritual injury and involved them “in the sinful cycle of inflicting pain, injury and death on God’s [creations], and it affects the karma and the dharma, or purity of the soul.” Although the New Jersey Superior Court initially dismissed the claims of negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, consumer fraud, products…
The European Commission (EC) has launched a promotional campaign “to help address the difficulties faced by the fresh fruit and vegetables sector following the E. coli crisis.” Consisting of an advertorial and an audiovisual package for distribution in all European Union (EU) member states, the effort is reportedly an attempt to “win back consumer trust.” As part of the campaign, EC announced that emergency funding of €210 million has been targeted to aid EU fruit and vegetable producers. “In recent weeks, the E. coli crisis forced farmers to dispose of perfectly safe vegetables left to rot by concerned consumers,” noted the EC, adding that the “solution can only come from consumers reintroducing fruits and vegetables into their daily diet.” Initially attributed to several sources from France and Germany, an E. coli outbreak earlier this year reportedly killed 51 people. The outbreak’s source was eventually traced to Egyptian fenugreek seeds and…
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to stop the approval process for genetically engineered salmon. Fifteen members of the House of Representatives and eight members of the U.S. Senate signed separate letters to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg expressing economic and environmental concerns over the fast-growing fish. “We are concerned that the FDA’s review of GE salmon uses the same criteria as it would for approving a veterinary drug,” noted the Senate letter, adding that “the lack of transparency in the approval process is extremely disconcerting given that approval of GE fish is likely the first step toward approval of many more GE animals for human consumption.” The House recently approved an amendment prohibiting FDA from using money to approve GE salmon applications in fiscal year 2012 and, according to the letters, similar language has been drafted for consideration by the Senate.…
