The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a modified final order in proceedings against Phusion Projects, LLC, which markets the malt beverage Four Loko, to account for the Department of Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s (TTB’s) denial of proposed changes to the company’s product labels. In re Phusion Projects, LLC, No. C-4382 (FTC, order entered July 24, 2014). Additional information about FTC’s January 2014 order and agreement with the company appears in Issue 471 of this Update. FTC alleged that Phusion and its principals “falsely claimed that a 23.5-ounce, 11 or 12 percent alcohol by volume can of Four Loko contains alcohol equivalent to one or two regular 12-ounce beers, and that a consumer could drink one can safely in its entirety on a single occasion.” The modified final order acknowledges the company’s attempt to comply with the January agreement by seeking TTB’s approval to display an…
Category Archives Issue 532
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Richard Griffin has reportedly determined that McDonald’s, USA, LLC will be named as a “joint employer respondent” if meritorious complaints alleging unfair labor practices against the company and its franchisees do not settle. According to the NLRB, 181 cases involving McDonald’s have been filed since November 2012. Press reports indicate that they involve claims that workers have been wrongfully fired, threatened or suspended because they have engaged in labor protests, campaigning for a $15 hourly wage and to unionize. Sixty-eight of the cases have apparently been found to have no merit, and 64 are currently under investigation. While Griffin’s advice memorandum to the NLRB’s regional offices authorizing 43 complaints brought by McDonald’s workers does not have the force of a full board ruling, it has sparked a firestorm of controversy among business interests. Noting that McDonald’s will contest the joint-employer allegation “in the…
The Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists has submitted a comment backed by more than 280 health experts asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to include a percent daily value for the proposed “added sugars” declaration on food and beverage labeling. Responding to the agency’s request for comments on proposed changes to the nutrition and supplement facts labels, the letter signed by Robert Lustig, Marion Nestle and members of the Healthy Food Action network urges FDA to set a maximum daily value for added sugars at 50 grams—approximately 10 percent of recommended daily calorie intake—and to list a percent daily value on the Nutrition Facts label. “Many food and beverage manufacturers add excessive amounts of sugar to their products, including those that they market as healthy options. In our current food environment, many people are unknowingly and unavoidably consuming excess sugar,” opines the…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has denied the May 2011 petition filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) seeking an interpretive rule declaring certain antibiotic-resistant (ABR) strains of Salmonella to be adulterants when found in raw ground meat and raw ground poultry. Additional information about the petition appears in Issue 396 of this Update. CSPI also asked the agency “to ensure adequate sampling and testing for these pathogens and to remove contaminated ground meat and ground poultry products from the human food supply.” FSIS essentially found insufficient data to distinguish ABR Salmonella strains from other Salmonella strains that are susceptible to antibiotics and thus stated that additional data on the characteristics of ABR Salmonella are needed to determine whether the strains identified in the petition “could qualify as adulterants under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced a final rule amending poultry slaughter regulations and establishing a new poultry inspection system (NPIS) for young chicken and turkey slaughter establishments. Part of USDA’s response to a presidential executive order (E.O. 13563) asking agencies to review and improve existing regulations, the final rule aims to “facilitate pathogen reduction in poultry products, improve the effectiveness of poultry slaughter inspection, make better use of the Agency’s resources, and remove unnecessary regulatory obstacles to innovation.” Optional for young chicken and turkey establishments, which can choose to retain their current inspection system, NPIS will not replace the Streamlined Inspection System (SIS), the New Line Speed Inspection System (NELS) or the New Turkey Inspection System (NTIS), as was originally proposed. FSIS has emphasized, however, that NPIS will allow inspectors “to perform more offline inspection activities that are more effective in ensuring…
A group of 17 U.S. senators has submitted a letter to the Commerce Department warning that a proposed suspension agreement imposing quotas on Mexican sugar imports would violate the North American Free Trade Agreement, “threaten the viability of American food manufacturers and raise food prices for American families.” Led by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), the group includes Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Following petitions by members of the American Sugar Alliance, the Commerce Department launched an April 2014 investigation into allegations that Mexico’s mills are dumping subsidized sweetener in the United States, and the department is reportedly due to decide whether to impose duties on Mexican imports soon. “This mutual market access is beneficial to the United States: U.S. growers and refiners do not produce enough sugar to meet the demands of U.S. consumers, and imports are necessary to keep America’s food manufacturers…
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have written a July 28, 2014, letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, requesting additional information about how the agency plans to implement and evaluate new policies designed to combat the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Noting that “four times as many antibiotics are used in food animal production as are used in human medicine,” the senators praise recent guidance intended to curtail the routine use of these drugs to promote animal growth, but question whether these measures go far enough. “We remain concerned, however, that many of the remaining approved uses of antibiotics to contain and prevent diseases are not strictly defined, and still allow for the continuous administration of low doses of antibiotics,” they write, pointing to loosely-worded guidelines that approve antibiotics to prevent or contain disease “in times of stress.” In particular, the…
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has reportedly introduced legislation (H.R. 5279) seeking to implement a nationwide sugar-sweetened beverage tax. Dubbed the SWEET Act, the measure “would institute a tax of 1 cent per teaspoon of caloric sweetener such as sugar or high-fructose corn syrup,” according to a July 30, 2014, press release. Revenue raised by the proposed tax would be used to fund prevention and treatment programs, nutrition education and other initiatives designed to reduce obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and tooth decay. “There is a clear relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and a host of other health conditions,” said DeLauro. “We are at a crucial tipping point and the SWEET Act will help correct the path we are currently on.” Meanwhile, Mark Bittman has already penned a New York Times opinion piece in support of the bill, arguing that a national soda tax might not pass congressional muster right now but…
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