Researchers with Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity have published a study purportedly assessing the effectiveness of “major obesity public health campaigns from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.” R. Puhl, et al., “Fighting obesity or obese persons? Public perceptions of obesity-related health messages,” International Journal of Obesity, September 2012. After showing a random selection of 10 obesity-related messages to “a nationally representative example of 1014 adults,” the study’s authors reported that participants responded most favorably “to messages involving themes of increased fruit and vegetable consumption, and general messages involving multiple health behaviors.” In particular, those messages that made no mention “obesity” but instead focused on general behaviors and empowerment were rated as more motivating by surveyed adults, while campaigns that “implied personal responsibility and blame… received the more negative/less positive ratings among participants.” “This suggests that messages intended to motivate individuals to be healthier…
Category Archives Issue 453
A new study in which Wistar rats were exposed to bisphenol A (BPA) through drinking water from gestation through puberty purportedly shows that “behavioral impacts of BPA can manifest during adolescence, but wane in adulthood, and may be mitigated by diet.” Heather Patisaul, et al., “Anxiogenic Effects of Developmental Bisphenol A Exposure Are Associated with Gene Expression Changes in the Juvenile Rat Amygdala and Mitigated by Soy”, PLoS One, September 5, 2012. The rats were reared on a soy-based or soy-free diet, and the changes observed were associated only among those on the soy-free diet. The animals, which were found on assessment to have internal BPA doses “within a human-relevant range,” were assessed for anxiety-like and exploratory behavior after weaning but before puberty. According to the authors, “BPA induced anxiogenic behavior in juveniles and loss of sexual dimorphisms in adult exploratory behavior” in the soy-free animals.
A recent study has reportedly documented “lower cognitive performance and reductions in brain structural integrity” among adolescents with metabolic syndrome (MeTS), “thus suggesting that even relatively short-term impairments in metabolism, in the absence of clinically manifest vascular disease, may give rise to brain complications.” Po Lai Yau, et al., “Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome and Functional and Structural Brain Impairments in Adolescence,” Pediatrics, October 2012. Researchers with the New York University School of Medicine and the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research apparently conducted cognitive testing on 111 adolescents with and without MeTS, concluding that those with metabolic syndrome “showed significantly lower arithmetic, spelling, attention, and mental flexibility and a trend for lower overall intelligence.” In addition, MRIs of the participants reportedly showed, “in a MeTS-dose—related fashion, smaller hippocampal volumes, increased brain cerebrospinal fluid, and reductions of microstructural integrity in major white matter tracts.” According to the report, these “alarming” findings imply that…
The U.K. Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has issued a statement urging regulators to prohibit all TV advertising for foods high in sugar, fat or salt before the 9 p.m. watershed. Citing a 2003 Food Standards Agency review that allegedly measured the impact of food promotion on children, RCPCH President Hilary Cass reportedly said that the current regulations are too weak to protect young viewers from “commercial exploitation.” “Although they are trying to avoid junk food advertising around specific children’s program, you’ve still got it around soaps and other programs that children watch,” Cass was quoted as saying. “So the only realistic way to do it is to have no junk food advertising before the watershed in any programs at all.” RCPCH has endorsed the International Obesity Taskforce’s Sydney principles “for achieving a substantial level of protection for children against the commercial promotion of foods and beverages.”…
The Kellogg Co. has reportedly agreed to modify its “Froot Loops” cereal website following recommendations from the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), which called for better disclosure that advertising is present within the site’s games and activities. An “investigative unit of the advertising industry’s self-regulatory system . . . administered by of the Council of Better Business Bureaus,” CARU noted in a press release that “none of the 12 different games—all of which featured Fruit Loops cereal and/or Toucan Sam—disclosed the advertising within the games’ content.” It was evidently concerned that “children would not understand that the games promote the sale of Froot Loops and, to comply with CARU’s guidelines, should be clearly labeled as advertising.” The disclosures will apparently state “This is advertising from Kellogg’s.” See CARU News Release, August 27, 2012.
A recently published study involving transgenic rice has reportedly drawn criticism from Greenpeace China, which has accused U.S. researchers of using Chinese children “as guinea pigs in [a] genetically engineered ‘Golden Rice’ trial.” According to media sources, the advocacy group has cited a joint Chinese-U.S. study appearing in the August 2012 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition as evidence that scientists sidestepped authorities by allegedly feeding vitamin-enriched Golden Rice to 24 children without the required approvals. “It was actually back in 2008 that we first heard of this experiment and immediately informed the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture,” opined a August 31, 2012, Greenpeace China blog post that has since sparked a government investigation into the trial. “The Ministry came back and assured us no Golden Rice had been imported and the trial had been stopped—something that unfortunately appears not to be the case.” The study in question apparently examined…
A European Court of Justice panel has determined that a German winemaker may not, under European Union law, place labels on its bottles including the word bekömmlich (meaning digestible, wholesome or nourishing). Deutsches Weintor eG v. Land Rehinland-Pfalz, Case C 544/10 (E.C.J., decided September 6, 2012). According to the court, “[b]y highlighting only the easy digestion of the wine concerned, the claim at issue is likely to encourage its consumption and, ultimately, to increase the risks for consumers’ health inherent in the immoderate consumption of any alcoholic beverage. Consequently, the prohibition of such claims is warranted in light of the requirement to ensure a high level of health protection for consumers.” The matter returns to a German court for final ruling.
A New York resident has filed a putative class action in a California federal court seeking to recover damages allegedly sustained by pet owners whose dogs became sick after eating “Chinese Chicken Jerky.” Langone v. Del Monte Corp., No. 12-4671 (N.D. Cal., filed September 6, 2012). The plaintiff cites and quotes a number of items published on the Internet purportedly showing that the Food and Drug Administration had been warning, at least since 2007, that chicken jerky products could pose a threat to dogs. “Notwithstanding these warnings,” he claims, “Del Monte continued to market the product as being wholesome and Del Monte placed no warnings concerning their products on their packaging to date.” Seeking to represent a nationwide class of product purchasers, the plaintiff alleges violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law and breach of express warranty and implied warranty of merchantability under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. He…
A New York resident has filed a putative class action against The Dannon Co., alleging that because the company adds “filler materials, such as water, corn starch, and Milk Protein Concentrate” to products that it sells as yogurt, the products contain “banned additives” and, as a matter of federal law, are not yogurt, are misbranded and “cannot legally be sold in the United States.” Conroy v. The Dannon Co., Inc., No. 12-6901 (S.D.N.Y., filed September 11, 2012). A number of allegations in the complaint, including a history of yogurt-making, are carbon copies of a complaint filed in a California federal court in August 2012 against Cabot Creamery Cooperative, alleging that its Greek-style yogurt cannot be sold in the United States for similar reasons. Filed by the same law firm, that case is discussed elsewhere in this Update. Seeking to certify a nationwide class and New York subclass of product purchasers, the…
A California resident has filed a putative nationwide class action with astatewide subclass against a yogurt maker that sells “Greek-Style Yogurt” which allegedly contains ingredients that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned from use in yogurt. Smith v. Cabot Creamery Coop., Inc., No. 12-4591 (N.D. Cal., filed August 31, 2012). According to the named plaintiff, the company sells its product as “authentic Greek yogurt” thus allowing it to “charge a substantial price premium. . . . But the price premium for Cabot Greek is even larger, because Cabot Greek has no value whatsoever. Because the product is adulterated, it cannot legally be sold at any price. It is worthless.” The plaintiff contends that by using whey protein concentrate and milk protein concentrate as filler materials to thicken the product, the company does not incur the time and expense required to produce real Greek yogurt. Among other matters, the plaintiff…
