A recent Harvard School of Public Health study has allegedly identified a “strong association” between red meat consumption, especially processed red meat consumption, and Type 2 diabetes. An Pan, et al., “Red meat consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: 3 cohorts of US adults and an updated meta-analysis,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2011. Researchers apparently analyzed data from three cohort studies: 37,083 men followed for 20 years in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study; 79,570 women followed for 28 years in the Nurses’ Health Study I; and 87,504 women followed for 14 years in the Nurses’ Health Study II. The study’s authors also apparently conducted “an updated meta-analysis, combining data from their new study with data from existing studies that included a total of 442,101 participants, 28,228 of whom developed type 2 diabetes during the study.” According to an August 10, 2011, Harvard School of Public Health press…
Category Archives Issue 405
“Insects—part delicacy, part gag—are chic again,” contends New Yorker staff writer Dana Goodyear in an August 15, 2011, article examining the rise of entomophagy, or insect-eating, among U.S. gourmands, sustainability proponents and more adventurous diners. According to Goodyear, “The current vogue reflects not only the American obsession with novelty and the upper-middle-class hunger for authenticity but also deep anxiety about the meat we already eat—which is its own kind of fashion.” She traces the efforts of enthusiasts like Montana State University entomologist Florence Dunkel and James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef Award winner José Andrés, both of whom want to acclimate local palates to the insects enjoyed by 80 percent of the world’s population. “We need to feed humanity in a sustainable way,” Andrés tells Goodyear. “Those who know how to produce protein will have an edge over everyone else. World War Three will be over control of food and water,…
The Consumer Federation of America will hold its 34th Annual National Food Policy Conference on October 3-4, 2011, in Washington, D.C. Topics will include imported food safety, federal legislative priorities, food marketing and social media, and the global food system.
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has announced its fall 2011 Seminar Series featuring the interdisciplinary work of public policy and health advocates, as well as legal and industry insights. Speakers in the series will include (i) Legacy President and CEO Cheryl Healton (Lessons Learned from the Tobacco Wars for Products Which Adversely Impact Health); (ii) Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Assistant Professor Lainie Rutkow (Can the Food Industry Legally Choose to Do No Harm?); (iii) Columbia Mailman School of Public Health Assistant Professor Y. Claire Wang (Excess Intake and Taxes on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Potential Implications on Healthcare Costs); (iv) Center for Science in the Public Interest Director Michael Jacobson (Nutrition and the Politics of Food); and (v) American University School of Communication Professor Kathryn Montgomery (Emerging Issues in Digital Food Marketing). Hosted at the Rudd Center in New Haven, Connecticut, the seminars are open to the public…
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently issued a summary of an October 21, 2010, workshop titled “Legal Strategies in Childhood Obesity Prevention,” where public policy experts and stakeholders discussed national, state and local health initiatives that employ legal strategies “to bring about change as well as the challenges in implementing these changes.” The workshop summary reflects attendees’ views on various topics, including (i) the potential of legal strategies to address childhood obesity; (ii) how legal strategies have been used in other public health areas, such as firearm injury prevention; (iii) actions by the Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other federal agencies; (iv) food industry perspectives; (v) whether regulations and taxes can prevent obesity; (vi) legal approaches to increase physical activity in communities; (vii) the use of litigation to effect policy changes; and (viii) the role of attorneys general and local public health agencies. More specifically, workshop…
Hundreds of individually named Philippine banana plantation workers alleging physical and mental injury from exposure to pesticides have filed suit against a number of agricultural and chemical companies in a California state court seeking compensatory and punitive damages. Macasa v. Dole Food Co., No. BC467134 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed August 8, 2011). The plaintiffs allege that 1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP), sold under the brand names Nemagon® and Fumazone®, is a “highly toxic and poisonous pesticide” that purportedly causes “sterility, testicular atrophy, miscarriages, congenital reproductive outcome, liver damage, asthma and various forms of cancer in humans when absorbed by the skin or inhaled.” They claim that DBCP continued to be used in the Philippines despite being banned in the United States by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979. The complaint alleges that the U.S. Department of Agriculture advised the chemical company defendants as early as 1961 “to place precautionary warning…
A California resident has filed a pair of putative class actions in state court against companies that market their coconut water with purportedly exaggerated nutrient claims and overstated hydrating benefits or as a miracle cure for a host of medical problems. Shenkman v. All Mkt., Inc., No. BC 467166; Shenkman v. One World Enters. LLC, No. BC467165 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed August 8, 2011). Seeking to certify statewide consumer classes, the plaintiff alleges intentional and negligent misrepresentation, fraud, and violations of California’s False Advertising Act and Unfair Business Practices Act. The plaintiff requests compensatory and punitive damages, disgorgement, restitution, payment to a cy pres fund, a corrective advertising campaign, and an apology. Among other matters, the plaintiff claims that One World Enterprises sells “O.N.E. Coconut Water” throughout the United States in more than 18,000 retail outlets and promotes it “as a miracle product, curing various medical problems and…
A California consumer who alleged that he gained weight while using a diet drink has reportedly failed to demonstrate that he has standing to pursue putative class consumer-fraud claims against the manufacturer because he did not keep track of his caloric intake when he used the product. Fletcher v. Celsius Holdings, Inc., No. BC439055 (Cal. Super. Ct., decided August 10, 2011). Granting the manufacturer’s motion for summary judgment, the court apparently determined that, without the caloric intake data, it would be impossible for the plaintiff to prove that the product did not, as advertised, burn up to 100 calories when consumed. According to a news source, the plaintiff alleged that he used the product while training to become a firefighter from October 2009 to January 2010, and gained 10 pounds. He also alleged that he maintained a healthy diet and a rigorous exercise regimen during this period. The court suggested that…
Three lead class attorneys who, for five years or longer, have represented African-American farmers claiming discrimination in government farm loan programs, have filed their fee petition seeking 7.4 percent of the preliminarily approved $1.25 billion settlement, or $90.8 million. In re: Black Farmers Discrimination Litig., Misc. No. 08-0511 (D.D.C., filed August 8, 2011). The petition recites the efforts required to obtain redress for the farmers, who missed the deadline for filing claims under the first such settlement in 1999, including working for congressional approval of laws in 2008 and 2010 establishing a fund to compensate them. According to the petition, the fee award request, to be divided among all class counsel, is “expressly within the range authorized by the Settlement Agreement.”
According to a news source, the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation has sued Sprout Foods, Inc., an Oregon-based organic vegetarian baby food manufacturer, for failing to carry out its obligations to produce an Institute-branded line of products (Janey Baby®) under a 2010 licensing agreement. Jane Goodall Inst. for Wildlife Research, Educ. & Conservation v. Sprout Foods, Inc., No. 11-5554 (S.D.N.Y., filed August 10, 2011). The plaintiff reportedly claims that it decided to license the Janey Baby® name to Sprout Foods after an “extensive search for a suitable licensee that could provide organic and vegetarian products in the infant food category.” Allegedly signed by Sprout Foods CEO Max McKenzie, the August 2010 agreement gave Sprout an exclusive license to use the famous primatologist’s brand and name in exchange for royalties generated by baby food sales. The Institute reportedly alleges that the baby food producer has not sold or…
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