A recent study has reportedly claimed that children who are overweight or obese “are more likely to have a neurological disease known as idiopathic intracranial hypertension [IIH], a rare condition that can result in blindness.” Sonu Brara, et al., “Pediatric Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension and Extreme Childhood Obesity,” Journal of Pediatrics, May 2012. Researchers apparently analyzed data from 900,000 participants in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) Children’s Health Study, concluding that 57 (73.1 percent) of the 78 KSPC children and adolescents diagnosed with IIH were overweight or obese. These children were also more likely to be age 11 or older at diagnosis as well as white, non-Hispanic and female. “Consistent with two previous studies, we found that female sex and obesity first emerge as strong IIH risk factors in postpubertal age children,” reported the study’s authors. “Extremely obese adolescents were 16 times more likely than normal weight children to have…
Category Archives Issue 442
Researchers with the University of California, Irvine, have allegedly demonstrated that low doses of bisphenol A (BPA) diglycidyl ether (BADGE) can turn adult stem cells and pre-fat cells into fat cells, raising questions about the obesogenic effect of a chemical commonly used in food packaging materials. Raquel Chamorro-García, et al., “Bisphenol A Diglycidyl Ether Induces Adipogenic Differentiation of Multipotent Stromal Stem Cells Through a Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor Gamma-independent Mechanism,” Environmental Health Perspectives, May 2012. The study’s authors evidently used multipotent mesenchymal stromal stem cells (MSCs) to evaluate BADGE’s effects on “adipogenesis, osteogenesis, gene expression and nuclear receptor activation.” Their results purportedly indicated that BADGE, a combination of BPA and epichlorohydrin, can induce adipogenic differentiation in both MSCs and preadipocytes at low concentrations “comparable to those that have been observed in limited human biomonitoring.” “There is an urgent need to understand the mechanisms underlying the predisposition to obesity and related disorders.…
The Food Chain Workers Alliance has issued a report claiming that most U.S. workers across the food sector—from production, processing, distribution, retail, and service—earn low wages with few health benefits, a situation that can pose safety risks to both employees and the public. Titled “The Hands That Feed Us: Challenges and Opportunities for Workers Along the Food Chain,” the 92-page report based its findings on nearly 700 surveys and interviews with employers and workers in the sector, which employs 20 million people and comprises one-sixth of the country’s workforce. Among the report’s findings of workers surveyed: (i) more than 86 percent reported earning low or poverty wages, (ii) 79 percent said they either do not have a single paid sick day or do not know if they do, (iii) 83 percent do not receive health insurance from their employers, (iv) 53 percent admitted to working while sick, (v) 57 percent…
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that the Roskam Baking Co. did not infringe a trademark by using the term “Texas Toast” in selling its packaged croutons. T. Marzetti Co. v. Roskam Baking Co., No. 10-3784 (6th Cir., decided May 25, 2012). Marzetti apparently began using the Texas Toast mark for its frozen garlic bread in 1995 and then adopted the term for use with a crouton product sold in 2007. The company attempted to register the mark in 2009, but the applications were initially denied “because of the potential likelihood of confusion with the mark Texas toast for bakery goods.” Thereafter, they were approved for publication as, “at a minimum, suggestive.” The defendant filed an opposition to the trademarks in 2010, and Marzetti, learning about the company’s Texas Toast croutons, filed this trademark infringement action. The Sixth Circuit agreed with the district court that the mark is not…
A California resident has filed a putative class action against Starbucks Corp. alleging that the company deceived consumers by failing to disclose that some of its products were made with cochineal extract, a common food-coloring ingredient made from crushed insects. Anderson v. Starbucks Corp., No. BC485438 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed May 25, 2012). Seeking to represent a nationwide class and statewide subclass of consumers, the plaintiff claims that she and the class members, had they known about the company’s use of the ingredient, would not have purchased the products for a number of reasons, including objections to consuming animal products, allergic responses to the ingredient or “sheer disgust.” Alleging violations of the California Unfair Business Practices Act and False Advertising Act, unjust enrichment, fraud by omission/concealment, and violation of California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, the plaintiff seeks disgorgement, restitution, compensatory and punitive damages, payment to a cy pres fund,…
A Florida resident has filed a complaint on behalf of a nationwide class of consumers against Frito-Lay, alleging that it sells the company’s snack foods, such as Tostitos® chips, Sunchips® and bean dip, as “All Natural” without disclosing that they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Foust v. Frito-Lay N. Am., Inc., No. 12-21975 (S.D. Fla., filed May 25, 2012). According to the complaint, “The Product poses a potential threat to consumers because medical research and scientific studies have yet to determine the long-term health effects of genetically engineered foods. Recent studies suggest that GMOs may in fact be harmful to a consumer’s health.” Still, the plaintiff does not allege personal injury, claiming instead that he would not have purchased the product “if he had known that the Defendant could not support their [sic] claim that the Product is all natural because it contains GMOs.” In this regard, the plaintiff notes that…
A federal court in New York has determined that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) arbitrarily denied petitions filed by advocacy organizations in 1999 and 2005 requesting the initiation of proceedings to withdraw approval from certain uses of antibiotic drugs in livestock. Nat. Res. Defense Council v. FDA, No. 11-3562, (S.D.N.Y., decided June 1, 2012). The ruling follows the court’s March 2012 grant of summary judgment to the plaintiffs on their first claim for relief. Additional information about that ruling appears in Issue 432 of this Update. The most recent ruling relates to the third claim for relief, that is, whether FDA violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it denied the two petitions “requesting that the FDA withdraw approval of certain uses of certain classes of antibiotics in food-producing animals.” The court first determined that it had subject matter jurisdiction over the claim, disagreeing with FDA’s assertion that its November 2011 decision…
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (I) Task Force on Obesity recently garnered national attention by proposing to limit the size of sugar-sweetened beverages sold at local food service establishments. In a May 31, 2012, report outlining several public health initiatives, the Task Force claims that “[s]ugary drink portion sizes have exploded over recent years” and urges a maximum size for these beverages as a way “to help reacquaint New Yorkers with ‘human size’ portions.” To this end, Bloomberg has introduced a measure that—if adopted by the city’s Board of Health at a June 12 hearing—would prohibit restaurants, food carts, delis, movie theaters, stadiums, and arenas from offering sugar-sweetened beverages in sizes that exceed 16 ounces. “Limiting the size of sugary drinks to no more than 16 ounces at food service establishments will help us confront the obesity and diabetes epidemics, which now affect millions of New Yorkers,” said Health…
After the Idaho State Liquor Division director was informed that a Utah-based distillery was considering suing the agency and state for refusing to allow the sale of Five Wives Vodka® in Idaho, the agency apparently decided that the product will now be allowed on state liquor store shelves and in bars. Discussing Idaho’s initial rejection of the distillery’s application, Director Jeff Anderson reportedly acknowledged that “people of the LDS faith” would not likely be shopping in liquor stores; still, he was quoted as saying, “that does not mean that we are not sensitive to them.” Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University Law School public-interest law professor, had informed Anderson of the distillery’s intent to sue the agency and the state if the director (i) refused to reverse his rejection of bar requests for Five Wives Vodka® special orders, and (ii) based a refusal to include the product on the state’s…
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has issued interpretive guidance on chlorothalonil in tomato products, concluding that the average consumer does not eat enough fresh tomatoes or tomato products to exceed the No Significant Risk Level (NSRL) for the pesticide. According to OEHHA, a NSRL for chlorothalonil of 41 micrograms (µg) per day will take effect on June 15, 2012, at which point businesses causing exposures in excess of the NSRL must comply with Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) warning requirements. OEHHA evidently based its upper-bound limit estimates on USDA pesticide residue surveys taken in 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2008, as well as National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey data on tomato consumption. “Consumption of chlorothalonil residues by the average consumer of tomatoes does not result in exposures that exceed the Proposition 65 NSRL of 41 µg/day for the chemical, where the residue levels in tomatoes are at…
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