A University of Oxford study has apparently found that a salad with its ingredients arranged to resemble Wassily Kandinsky’s abstract Painting Number 201 tasted better to subjects than salads with the ingredients tossed together in the middle of or laid out neatly on their plates. Charles Michel et al., “A taste of Kandinsky: assessing the influence of the artistic visual presentation of food on the dining experience,” Flavour 3:7 (June 20, 2014). Researchers prepared ingredients for salads, arranging them in three different ways—“regular,” “neat” and “art-inspired”—and then asked 60 participants to eat and rate the salads. Each salad was prepared with the same 30 ingredients in the same manner except that the sauce was distributed throughout the salad for the “regular,” in an orderly pile for the “neat,” and in artistic flourishes to match Kandinsky’s Painting Number 201 in the “art-inspired.” Researchers compared questionnaires that the subjects completed before and after…
Category Archives Issue 528
A recent viewpoint article published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) discusses an alternative theory of chronic overeating as “a manifestation rather than the primary cause of obesity.” David Ludwig and Mark Friedman, “Increasing Adiposity: Consequence or Cause of Overeating?,” JAMA, June 2014. Authored by New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center Boston Children’s Hospital Director David Ludwig and Nutrition Science Initiative Vice President of Research Mark Friedman, the article discusses the physiological and genetic mechanisms that may contribute to obesity, arguing that “a focus on diet composition, not total calories, may best facilitate weight loss.” In particular, Ludwig and Friedman not only point to previous studies claiming that the body adapts its metabolic responses “to defend baseline body weight,” but argue that insulin disorders “highlight the potential influence of metabolic fuel concentration on body weight regulation.” They also note that, contrary to a calorie-centric view of obesity,…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has submitted a letter to U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg requesting that FDA require that “all beverages consumed in a soda-like manner, including energy drinks, comply with the same regulations that limit caffeine in ‘cola-type beverages’” and that energy drinks carry warning labels that alert consumers of possible adverse reactions like convulsions or heart attacks. The letter details information obtained from FDA about adverse events related to energy drinks from 2004 to 2014, including heart failure, disability and miscarriage. CSPI also warns that energy drinks are heavily marketed to children and teens, and rates of usage among those groups are high—the letter cites a study finding that approximately 30 to 50 percent of children, adolescents and young adults reported consuming more than one energy drink per month. The consumer group further presses FDA to issue a public…
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released a June 2014 report claiming that the fortification of foods with large amounts of vitamins and minerals could pose a health risk to children. Citing a study by the National Institutes of Health and California Polytechnic State University, EWG alleges that children younger than age 8 “are at risk of consuming vitamin A, zinc and niacin at levels above the Institute of Medicine’s Upper Intake Level.” According to the report, excessive intake of these nutrients could lead to liver and skeletal issues and immune system dysfunction, as well as short-term effects such as rash, nausea and vomiting. Targeting “two food categories that are frequently fortified and heavily marketed to children,” EWG’s analysis of 1,556 cereals and 1,025 snack bars allegedly identifies (i) “114 cereals fortified with 30 percent or more of the adult Daily Value for vitamin A, zinc and/or niacin,” and (ii)…
Following a year-long investigation of Whole Foods Markets in California, state and county weights and measures inspectors found that it was charging more than advertised for a wide variety of food items; the company has reportedly agreed to pay nearly $800,000 in penalties and to conduct its business for the next five years under strict oversight. According to the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office, Whole Foods (i) failed to account for the weight of containers when charging for self-serve foods at the salad and hot bars, (ii) labeled foods sold by pound with higher weights than actually contained in the package, and (iii) sold items by the piece that should have been sold by the pound. Retailers bound by the judgment include those operated by Whole Foods Market California, Inc. and Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Foods Markets, Inc. The company has also agreed to appoint two “state coordinators” who will oversee…
In a 4-2 ruling with one judge not participating, New York’s highest court has affirmed lower court rulings invalidating a New York City Board of Health rule that would have limited the size of the containers in which sugary drinks are sold in certain venues. In re N.Y. Statewide Coal. of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce v. NYC Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene, No. 134 (N.Y. June 26, 2014). Details about the intermediate appellate court ruling appear in Issue 492 of this Update. Finding that the board lacks legislative authority, the majority weighed the separation-of-powers factors that are analyzed to determine whether a particular action is legislative or regulatory and determined that the board had overstepped its authority by engaging in political compromise, choosing between ends and making difficult and complex policy choices. It contrasted agency action regulating the purity of drinking water, the use of interior lead paint or the use…
A pair of plaintiffs has filed putative class actions against Chobani LLC and Fage Dairy Processing SA in New York federal court claiming that the yogurt producers deceptively marketed yogurt as healthy despite its high sugar content. Stoltz v. Chobani LLC, No. 1:14-cv-3827 (E.D.N.Y., filed June 19, 2014); Stoltz v. Fage Dairy Processing SA, No. 1:14-cv-3826 (E.D.N.Y., filed June 19, 2014). The nearly identical suits allege that Chobani and Fage used a label intended “to create consumer confusion by causing purchasers to impute any meaning to the 0 percent that consumers wish, such as that the products lack sugar, carbohydrates, calories or any other content which a consumer may believe is unhealthy,” according to the complaint against Fage. The complaints include pictures of the defendants’ products and pictures of competitors’ products to illustrate the industry standard of including what nutrition levels the “0 percent” refers to, such as fat or…
Following a hearing on the admissibility of expert testimony proffered as to Stewart Parnell’s ability to form the intent to commit alleged crimes arising from a national Salmonella outbreak linked to the Peanut Corp. of America, the company he formerly owned, a federal court in Georgia has excluded the expert, finding his testimony unhelpful and lacking a link to the criminal allegations. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-12 (U.S. Dist. Ct., M.D. Ga., Albany Div., order entered June 24, 2014). Details about the criminal charges appear in Issue 472 of this Update. Clinical psychologist Joseph Conley would have testified that Parnell has an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder condition that was so severe he likely never read, nor understood the significance of, many of the emails on which the government’s case relies. According to the court, “Dr. Conley’s testimony is a ‘diminished capacity defense’ designed to show that Parnell did not…
In light of the large number of baby food products at issue and differing product labels used during the six-year class period in litigation alleging misbranding and deceptive labeling against Gerber Products Co., a federal court in California has determined that the class is not ascertainable, a flaw “fatal” to the plaintiff’s motion for class certification. Bruton v. Gerber Prods. Co., No. 12-2412 (N.D. Cal., decided June 23, 2014). Information about an earlier court ruling narrowing the claims in the case appears in Issue 511 of this Update. While the court rejected the company’s reliance on Third Circuit precedent that ruled a class is not ascertainable when purchaser records are unavailable, it did agree with uncontested evidence that consumers would be unable to reliably determine whether they are eligible to join the class. Sixty-nine products were at issue, and 66 of them were “labeled both with and without the challenged labels…
An Indiana federal court has upheld a state statute that limits the sale of cold beer to package liquor stores, barring other beer sellers like convenience stores from selling beer cooler than room temperature. Ind. Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Ass'n v. Huskey, No. 13-784 (S.D. Ind., order entered June 16, 2014). Indiana law divides beer sales permits into three categories: (i) a beer retailer permit for restaurants and bars; (ii) a dealer permit for package liquor stores; and (iii) a beer dealer permit for convenience stores, grocery stores and drug stores. The beer dealer permit places limits on retailers, prohibiting them from selling alcohol on Sunday, establishing a minimum age of clerks who can sell the beer, and barring them from selling beer cooled, chilled or iced. An association representing convenience stores challenged the constitutionality of the permit limitations in May 2013, arguing that the statute violated the association’s…
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