The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has published a study that criticizes cereal companies for allegedly promoting high-sugar products to children and portraying “unhealthy eating behaviors” in TV advertisements. Megan LoDolce, et al., “Sugar as Part of a Balanced Breakfast? What Cereal Advertisements Teach Children About Healthy Eating,” Journal of Health Communication, August 2013. According to the study’s authors, who reportedly analyzed 158 cereal advertisements that aired between 2008 and 2009 for messaging type, creative techniques and the eating behaviors modeled, 87 percent of ads viewed by children promoted high-sugar products and “were significantly more likely to convey unrealistic and contradictory messages about cereal attributes and healthy eating.” In particular, the analysis suggested that 91 percent of high-sugar cereal ads directed at children “ascribed extraordinary powers to these products,” while 67 percent “portrayed healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors.” “These findings also raise ethical and public health concerns about…
Category Archives Issue 496
A recent study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has claimed that fast food TV advertisements directed at children have allegedly failed to abide by Children’s Advertising Review Unit and Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative recommendations that food products—as opposed to toys, movie tie-ins and brands—should be the focus of youth marketing messages. Amy Bernhardt, et al., “How Television Fast Food Marketing Aimed at Children Compares with Adult Advertisements,” PLoS One, August 2013. After reviewing all nationally televised advertisements for the top 25 quick service restaurants (QSRs) in the United States, researchers with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and Public Health Advocacy Institute reported that 99 percent of the 92 QSR children’s meal advertisements that aired between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010, were attributable to either McDonald’s or Burger King. They also purportedly found that—compared with adult advertisements over the same period—visual branding, food…
Boston University School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers have identified the alcohol brands most frequently mentioned in popular music, raising questions about whether public health efforts should focus on reducing youth exposure “to these positive messages about alcohol use.” Michael Siegel, et al., “Alcohol Brand References in U.S. Popular Music, 2009 2011,” Substance Use & Misuse, August 2013. Relying on Billboard Magazine’s most popular song lists in the urban, pop, country, and rock categories for 2009, 2010 and 2011, the study’s authors found that 23 percent of the 720 surveyed songs mentioned alcohol and 6.4 percent included a mention of a specific alcohol brand, with four brands alone—Patron tequila, Hennessy Cognac, Grey Goose vodka, and Jack Daniel’s whiskey—accounting for more than half of all alcohol brand mentions. “Even in cases where alcohol companies are not directly promoting the mention of their brands in music…
A recent article in The New York Times reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is set to release a three-year-long study concluding that imported spices, particularly those from India and Mexico, are contaminated with Salmonella—reportedly the most common source of foodborne illness—at twice the rate of all other imported foods. “In a study of more than 20,000 food shipments,” the article states, “[USDA] found that nearly 7 percent of spice lots were contaminated with salmonella, twice the average of all other imported foods. Some 15 percent of coriander and 12 percent of oregano and basil shipments were contaminated, with high contamination levels also found in sesame seeds, curry powder and cumin. Four percent of black pepper shipments were contaminated.” “Salmonella is a widespread problem with respect to imported spices,” Deputy U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Michael Taylor was quoted as saying. “We have decided that spices are…
In response to evidence that British children appear to be getting fatter, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in London has reportedly recommended imposing a 20 percent tax on sugary soft drinks for one year as an experiment to see whether it reduces consumption by kids. The group has also called for a ban on TV ads for foods high in saturated fats, sugar and salt until 9 p.m., and has suggested that the government develop “formal recommendations on reducing the proximity of fast food outlets to schools, colleges, leisure centers and other places where children gather.” Meanwhile, the British Soft Drinks Association and other industry groups have publicly opposed such steps, claiming that most soda sold in Britain does not contain added sugar and that a new tax would hurt consumers who can “ill afford it.” The country’s Food and Drink Federation has also contended that existing restrictions on TV ads…
The University of San Francisco Law Review has published a student comment titled “Snake Oil in Your Pomegranate Juice: Food Health Claims and the FTC,” that examines existing statutes and regulatory authorities enabling the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the burgeoning “functional food” market. 47 U.S.F.L. Rev. 783. The author focuses on litigation involving health claims made by the manufacturers of POM Wonderful® pomegranate juice products, noting that the industry has been watching it closely to learn what standards will be applied to the science supporting health-related claims thus allowing companies to make such claims. According to the author, the case illustrates why the current regulatory framework is inadequate. She concludes, “If case-by-case litigation continues to define the parameters of permissible claims, consumers will continue to be misled, and all brands will pay the price.”
According to a news source, the federal court that heard a challenge to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) revision to its country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules to comply with a World Trade Organization ruling stated during the hearing that it would issue a decision on the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction within 14 days. Am. Meat Inst. v. USDA, No. 13-1033 (D.D.C., oral argument held August 27, 2013). Additional information about a dispute that has split trade associations representing different parts of the meat production industry appears in issues 490 and 495 of this Update. The organizations seeking the injunction reportedly argued that “[t]his is a regulation the agency concedes is a de minimis benefit . . . for a de maximus cost.” They contend that the new rules violate their First Amendment rights and could put them out of business. A USDA attorney apparently argued that the new…
The Mexican brewer that makes Dos Equis® beer and has advertised it with a distinctive campaign since 2007 has brought a trademark and copyright infringement lawsuit against a New Jersey-based company and its president for an advertising campaign that allegedly mimics the brewer’s “Most Interesting Man in the World®” ads. Cervezas Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, S.A. de C.V. v. KCI, Inc., No. 13-5044 (D.N.J., filed August 22, 2013). According to KCI’s LinkedIn page, the company offers storage area network (SAN) maintenance services. The complaint alleges that defendants have filed trademark applications for and use in a YouTube video the marks “The Most Interesting SAN Architect in the World” and “I Don’t Always Use Third Party Companies When I Buy and Maintain SAN Equipment But When I Do It’s Always Team KCI . . . Stay Convergent My Friend.” This compares with the brewer’s registered marks “The Most Interesting Man in the World” and…
A federal court in Illinois has refused to certify a multistate class of consumers who were allegedly deceived under the consumer protection statutes and unjust enrichment laws of eight named states by a company that, at one time, either misrepresented or failed to indicate that its single serving coffee product contained “instant” or “soluble” coffee rather than fresh ground coffee and a filter. McManus v. Sturm Foods, Inc., No. 11-565 (S.D. Ill., order entered August 26, 2013). According to the court, the class, defined as all consumers in the eight states who purchased the product from September 2010 until the present, included many who had no injury or had not relied on any product representations. Among the putative class members were individuals who (i) knew that the product was instant coffee and bought it anyway because it made no difference to their purchasing decision, (ii) purchased the product after the…
A federal court in California has denied the motion to dismiss filed by J.M Smucker Co. in a putative class action alleging that it misleads consumers by labeling four of its Crisco® oil products as “All Natural” because they are purportedly made with genetically modified (GM) corn, canola and soy crops and because they are highly processed. Parker v. J.M. Smucker Co., No. 13-690 (N.D. Cal., order entered August 23, 2013). Finding that the amended complaint met the plausibility pleading standard, the court ruled that the plaintiff had standing to pursue claims as to products she had not purchased because they were sufficiently similar. In the court’s view, “They are all the same kind of product. They all have highly similar labels. Plaintiff alleges the same actionable conduct as to each of them.” The court also rejected the defendant’s contention that the claims were preempted in light of the Food…
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