A federal court in California has given final approval to the $2.6 million settlement of a class action alleging that Diamond Foods falsely represented that the omega-3 in its walnuts provides health benefits. Zeisel v. Diamond Foods, Inc., No. 10-01192 (N.D. Cal., decided October 16, 2012). Additional information about the case appears in Issue 436 of this Update. While additional claims may be filed by class members until October 26, as of September 7, more than 23,000 class members had submitted claims, and they have been submitted at a rate of about 1,000 each week. The court issued its ruling after the parties provided supplemental briefing on the cy pres issue. Under the unpublished final disposition, the court indicated that any residual funds will be provided to the American Heart Association, which “provides education on issues relating to heart healthy food, including education about how to read food labels.” The court…
Category Archives Issue 458
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has denied a motion to centralize, for pre-trial purposes, 10 lawsuits pending in five districts against Gerber Products Co. and Nestlé USA, Inc. alleging that the companies “misleadingly advertise and market infant formulas and cereals as promoting immunity, digestive health, and visual and cognitive function because they contain probiotic cultures” and other ingredients. In re Gerber Probiotic Prods. Mktg. & Sales Practices Litig., MDL No. 2397 (JPML, decided October 16, 2012). According to the court, five of the 10 lawsuits are already consolidated in the District of New Jersey where Gerber is headquartered. One of these cases was filed in California, “thus one transferor court already has concluded that under Section 1404 the District of New Jersey is the proper venue for this litigation.” Because the defendants filed section 1404 change of venue motions in the remainder of the cases, and if all…
French MEP Francoise Castex has reportedly condemned California’s statewide ban on the production and sale of any product that is “the result of force-feeding a bird for the purpose of enlarging its liver beyond normal size,” calling the prohibition on foie gras “a battle for Europe.” After a recent attempt by producers to enjoin the 2004 law failed in federal court, Castex convened a news conference in European Parliament where she eviscerated the legislation as “very negative” and a violation of international trade rules. “There are five member states where foie gras is produced, not just France,” she said, referring to Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Spain. According to Castex, the foie gras sector comprises 30 percent of the local economy in her own region of France, which has already hired an attorney to represent the country in a legal challenge to the United States. Her remarks also drew support from…
The Statens Serum Institut and National Food Institute at the Technical University of Denmark recently released a report charting a decline in overall antibiotic use in the country’s food animals. Funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Ministry of the Health, the Danish Integrated Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring and Research Program (DANMAP) monitors “the consumption of antimicrobial agents for food animals and humans” and “the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria isolated from food animals, food of animal origin and humans.” It also studies the association between antimicrobial consumption and antimicrobial resistance, seeking to identify “routes of transmission and areas for further research studies.” Data from DANMAP 2011 apparently showed a 15 percent decrease in total veterinary consumption of antimicrobial agents since 2010, “mainly attributed to a decreased consumption in pigs.” In particular, DANMAP 2011 reported a 30 percent…
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take action to address seafood fraud. In her October 15, 2012, letter, Boxer defines seafood fraud as “the mislabeling of one species of fish for another fish that is often cheaper and more readily available.” Boxer cites studies purportedly showing that the practice may be “pervasive” throughout the United States and contends that it not only constitutes “deceptive marketing, but it can also pose serious health concerns, particularly for pregnant women seeking to limit exposure to heavy metals or individuals with serious allergies to certain types of fish.” Among the studies cited are those finding mislabeled 20 percent of 88 samples tested in Boston, 55 percent of 119 samples tested in California and 31 percent of 96 samples tested in Florida. The senator expresses her concern with the low number of inspections FDA conducts on both imported…
Researchers with the New South Wales Cancer Council and University of Adelaide have assessed food and beverage TV advertisements broadcast in five major Australian cities during children’s programming from September 1 to October 31, 2010, and found a total of 951 breaches of both mandatory and voluntary regulations. Michele Roberts, et al., “Compliance with children’s television food advertising regulations in Australia,” BMC Public Health, October 5, 2012. According to the study, “[a]lmost 83% of all food and beverages advertised during children’s programming times were for foods classified as ‘Extras’ in the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. There were also breaches in relation to the amount of advertising repetition and the use of promotional appeals such as premium offers, competitions, and endorsements by popular children’s characters.” The researchers conclude that the country’s current regulatory system “is not providing comprehensive protection for children from exposure to television advertising for unhealthy foods.” They…
NBC’s Open Channel blog has reported “an inexplicable epidemic in Central America, where more than 16,000 people—mostly sugarcane workers— have died from incurable chronic kidney disease [CKD].” According to Open Channel, “hundreds, if not thousands” of people in the sugar-producing city of Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, have allegedly contracted CKD, which has apparently increased “five-fold in the last two decades” throughout the region and turned up in parts of India and Sri Lanka. Citing the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), NBC’s Kerry Sander and Lisa Riordan summarize the unique profile of CKD in sugarcane workers who do not exhibit the obesity, diabetes and hypertension often linked to the disease in developed countries like the United States. “It affects people who don’t have diabetes or hypertension, which are the usual risks factors for chronic kidney disease,” one CPI reporter told the blog. “No one can figure out what it is that’s making all…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has invited the submission of “videos of people pouring out soda on or about October 24” to celebrate the second annual Food Day. Videos will be accepted until November 7, 2012, with the winning entry receiving $1,000. According to CSPI executive director Michael Jacobson, “Food Day is about inspiring people to change diets for the better and by advocating for better food policies. Making a ‘Pour One Out’ video is the perfect way for a budding filmmaker—or anyone with a smartphone, frankly—to join the movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food.” Entries will apparently be judged for creativity, originality and message effectiveness. See CSPI News Release, October 16, 2012.
School districts in California, New Mexico and Illinois have reportedly publicized their intention to ban “Flamin’ Hot” Cheetos® snacks from campus vending machines and lunches over concerns about the product’s nutritional content. According to media reports, the schools in question have described the snack item as “hyperpalatable” with each bag containing 26 grams of fat and one-quarter of the recommended daily amount of sodium. As University of Michigan clinical psychologist Ashley Gearhardt further explained, “Our brain is really hardwired to find things like fat and salt really rewarding, and now we have foods that have them in such high levels that it can trigger an addictive process.” “It’s something that has been engineered so that it is fattier and saltier and more novel to the point where our body, brain and pleasure centers react to it more strongly than if we were eating, say, a handful of nuts,” Gearhardt said. “Going…
A New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) perspective essay titled “The Taxing Power and the Public’s Health” asserts that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in a case challenging the validity of the Affordable Care Act opens the door to government using its taxing authority to achieve a range of policy objectives including “interventions to promote public health.” According to the authors, assuming that federal, state and local governments can overcome adverse public sentiment or industry opposition, they could, for example, adopt taxing strategies that provide credits to those with a healthy body mass index (BMI) or proof of BMI improvement. The October 18, 2012, essay cites the argument made by health care law opponents who invoked the hypothetical of government taxing people who fail to buy broccoli. The authors state, “nothing in [Chief Justice John] Roberts’s opinion stops the government” from imposing such a tax. They conclude, “The Court…
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