Researchers with the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention have published an article discussing the development of a database that compiles reports on food fraud and highlights those ingredients most prone to fraud in the food supply. Jeffrey Moore, et al., “Development and Application of a Database of Food Ingredient Fraud and Economically Motivated Adulteration from 1980 to 2010,” Journal of Food Science, April 2012. The database “provides baseline information and data useful to governments, agencies, and individual companies assessing the risks of specific products produced in specific regions as well as products distributed and sold in other regions.” Among other matters, the information collected shows that olive oil, milk, honey, saffron, orange juice, coffee, and apple juice “were the most common targets for adulteration reported in scholarly journals.” They are represented in more than 50 percent of the scholarly records in the database. Other “potentially harmful issues identified include spices diluted with…
Category Archives Issue 437
A recent study has claimed that sodium intake exceeding the 1,500 mg per day recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA) was “associated with an increased risk of stroke independent of vascular risk factors.” Hannah Gardener, et al., “Dietary Sodium and Risk of Stroke in the Northern Manhattan Study,” Stroke, April 2012. Researchers evidently relied on data from 2,657 Northern Manhattan Study participants, of whom only 12 percent met the AHA-recommended levels for sodium. In particular, the 21 percent of subjects who consumed more than 4,000 mg sodium daily based on self-reported food surveys had an increased risk of stroke compared with those who consumed less than 1500 mg. Although the study authors also identified “a 17 percent relative increase in the hazard of stroke for every 500-mg/day increase in dietary sodium intake,” their findings did not suggest “a linear dose-response relationship between sodium consumption and stroke risk.” “Our study…
“Ready-to-eat cereals are the fourth biggest source of added sugars in Americans’ diets, behind sugary drinks, desserts, and candy,” opine Center for Science in the Public Interest Director of Nutrition Policy Margo Wootan and New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center Director David Ludwig in this article, disputing claims that children who eat sugary cereals for breakfast are less likely to be overweight than those who do not eat breakfast at all. According to Wootan and Ludwig, the research supporting such claims “cannot prove cause and effect, and most have been funded or conducted by the industry.” They argue instead that manufacturers should market their lower-sugar offerings to children as well as adults, citing studies conducted by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity that show such products “are well accepted by children” even though cereals targeted to youth typically “contain 85 percent more sugars and 65 percent less…
The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) executive officer has co-authored a book examining America’s obesity epidemic. Judith Salerno’s The Weight of the Nation: To Win We Have to Lose was published to complement a four-part HBO documentary on obesity debuting May 14-15, 2012, and a national campaign to curb obesity rates, both of which were featured in Issue 423 of this Update. The book was co-written by the documentary’s executive producer, John Hoffman, and its co-producer, Alexandra Moss. According to IOM, the book explores “the array of factors that feed America’s obesity problem—from the human body itself, which evolved to crave more food than it needs, to restaurant portion sizes that pack a day’s worth of calories into one meal, to neighborhoods and workplaces that encourage little physical activity.” IOM also plans to release a report titled “Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention” at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Weight of…
New research conducted by Morando Soffritti, director of the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna, Italy, has allegedly found that male mice systematically dosed with sucralose throughout their life cycles were more likely to develop a specific type of cancer. Presented at the April 25 childhood Cancer 2012 Conference in London, the research evidently relied on 843 mice and appeared to identify a dose-dependent relationship between sucralose consumption and leukemia in male mice only. “Health concerns over aspartame are leading consumers to switch to the widely promoted alternative: sucralose,” said Soffritti, who has long lobbied European regulators to take aspartame off the market. “Now that we have found evidence of a link between sucralose and cancer in mice, similar research should be urgently repeated on rats, and large-scale observational studies should be set up to monitor any potential cancer risk to human health.” See Childhood Cancer 2012 Press Release, April 25, 2012. Meanwhile,…
The Mexican owner of U.S. and Mexican trademarks for an “automatic pistol-shaped bottle design . . . used in connection with alcoholic beverages, with the exception of beers” and its exclusive U.S. distributor have filed trademark infringement claims against the company that sells, markets and imports into the United States Eagle Shot Tequila® in a pistol-shaped bottle. Mexcor Distribs. Inc., v. Purveyors LLC, No. 12-1240 (S.D. Tex., filed April 19, 2012). The plaintiffs allegedly demanded that the defendant cease and desist from doing so, and the defendant failed to respond. Seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, the plaintiffs also seek an accounting and payment of profits earned from the date of first use of the mark, treble damages, attorney’s fees, and costs. They allege trademark infringement and unfair competition under the federal Lanham Act, as well as Texas common law on trademarks and unfair competition. According to the complaint, the defendant’s…
A Venice, Italy-based wine producer has sued a German wine distributor for unfair competition and trademark and copyright infringement in a federal court in California, alleging that the defendant ships to the United States for sale by a U.S. distributor a “gray market” product purporting to be the plaintiff’s pinot grigio wine. Santa Margherita, S.p.A v. Unger Weine KG, 12-3499 (C.D. Cal., filed April 23, 2012). According to the complaint, the U.S. distributor entered a consent order with the plaintiff in 2011 prohibiting it from importing, selling, marketing, and distributing Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio in the United States. The plaintiff contends that it sells its wine in the United States exclusively through an Illinois distributor and closely monitors the distribution network to ensure product quality. The complaint alleges, “Gray Market Santa Margherita Wine is sold and distributed outside this authorized distribution channel and is not subject to the same quality…
The claims process under two settlements reached with the company that makes the hazelnut spread Nutella® is underway, and consumers can recover up to $20, or $4 each for up to five jars purchased during the relevant periods. In re: Ferrero Litig., No. 11-205 (S.D. Cal.) (California class, Aug. 1, 2009 – Jan. 23, 2012); In re: Nutella Mktg. & Sales Practices Litig., No. 11-1086 (D.N.J.) (Nationwide class, except California, Jan. 1, 2008 – Feb. 3, 2012). The settlement funds available to both classes total $3.05 million, but if the claims exceed this amount, individual payments “will be reduced proportionately.” Under the settlement agreement, the company, which continues to deny any wrongdoing, will modify its product label and certain marketing statements, create new TV ads, and change the Nutella® website. The company also agreed not to object to a California fee award of $900,000 and New Jersey fee award of $3…
A federal grand jury in Illinois has brought criminal indictments against four individuals who allegedly distributed more than 110,000 pounds of Mexican cheese in the United States in 2007 despite Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “hold” orders and also allegedly “washed” cheese returned by dissatisfied customers by scraping off mold and fungus so it could be resold. United States v. Zurita, No. __ (N.D. Ill., indictment returned April 18, 2012). No illnesses or other public health issues were attributed to the adulterated cheese distribution in the six-count indictment. The charges involve three separate shipments of cheese from Mexico that FDA ordered to be held and then later ordered either “detained” or “refused” after testing revealed the presence of Salmonella, E. coli, alkaline phosphate (found in unpasteurized products), and Staphylococcus. The defendants allegedly conspired to distribute the shipments despite FDA orders not to do so. They also allegedly distributed cheese before inspection, failed…
A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge has determined that the owner of 10 Jimmy John’s fast-food restaurants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area violated federal law during a labor dispute by, among other matters, posting a pro-union employee’s phone number on its Facebook® page and suggesting that members text the employee to “let him know how they feel.” Miklin Enters., Inc. d/b/a Jimmy John’s and IWW, Nos. 18-CA-19707, -19727, -19760 (N.L.R.B., Div. of Judges, decided April 20, 2012). According to the judge, the assistant manager’s posts encouraged other employees and managers to “harass” the employee “for activities that were protected, as well as some that were arguably unprotected.” A co-owner’s subsequent Facebook® posts disparaging the employee further “condoned such harassment.” The employer terminated the pro-union employee and several others for posting flyers on restaurant bulletin boards and in areas near the restaurants suggesting that public health could be…
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