A recent study has purportedly found that “a very large amount of BPA [bisphenol A] is transferred from thermal paper to a hand as a result of holding a thermal receipt for only a few seconds immediately after using a product with dermal penetration chemicals.” Annette Hormann, et al., “Holding Thermal Receipt Paper and Eating Food After Using Hand Sanitizer Results in High Serum Bioactive and Urine Total Levels of Bisphenol A (BPA),” PLOS One, October 2014. Designed to mimic scenarios common in fast-food restaurants, the study measured dermal, serum and urine BPA levels in subjects asked to use hand sanitizer, handle a receipt and then consume 10 french fries. The data evidently showed that holding a thermal receipt for 45 seconds after using a hand sanitizer “resulted in the maximum amount of BPA that was swiped from the palm and fingers,” though this measurement “likely underestimates the amount of free…
Category Archives Issue 542
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) has issued a report challenging the proposed organic aquaculture production regulations under consideration by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Titled Like Water and Oil: Ocean-Based Fish Farming and Organic Don’t Mix, the report argues that USDA should reject proposed standards that would allegedly dilute the value of organic certification by allowing the agency’s seal to appear on fish products sourced from ocean-based farms. In addition to citing the high number of fish escapes reported in the previous two decades, CFS claims that “open-ocean fish farms can never be organic,” partly because synthetic chemicals prohibited under the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) are ubiquitous in the marine environment. The group also alleges that open-ocean farming not only alters the natural behavior of migratory fish in violation of OFPA, but harms wild fisheries by using wild-caught fish as a feed source. “It’s mind-boggling to think that…
The James Beard Foundation has organized its fifth annual food conference around the theme of “Health & Food: Is Better Food the Prescription for a Healthier America?” The October 27-28, 2014, event in New York City will reportedly provide attendees a “better sense of actual health trends … and what solution-oriented food-system leaders and the medical community can do to make a difference.” An October 27 conference segment will include a conversation titled “Sugar and Health: What Is the Connection?” between Robert Lustig, M.D., and sustainability consultant Jonathan Halperin. Lustig, a neuroendocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, has garnered media attention in recent years for comparing sugar to a poison and linking it to metabolic dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, liver cancer, and other noncommunicable diseases. A second conversation titled “The Sweet Truth” will feature New York University Professor Marion Nestle and food journalist Corby Kummer, author of…
The Pew Charitable Trusts and Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) have released an October 2014 report urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reevaluate its current meat and poultry inspection system. Seeking to identify innovations that could better protect consumers, Meat and Poultry Inspection 2.0 compares U.S. regulations to those used in Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden. It also examines scientific assessments undertaken by the U.K. Food Standards Agency and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as part of their efforts to modernize food safety regulations. “Modernizing government inspection of meat and poultry plants would focus resources on the food safety risks posed by bacteria and other microbiological and chemical hazards, and away from some human and animal diseases, such as tuberculosis and brucellosis, that have been successfully controlled in most developed countries,” argues the report. “However, out of a concern that modernizing government…
A Texas federal court has rejected the argument that the founders of Gina’s Italian Kitchen infringed New York Pizzeria, Inc.’s (NYPI’s) trademark flavor in its Italian dishes. New York Pizzeria, Inc. v. Syal, No. 13-335 (U.S. Dist. Ct., S.D. Tex., order entered October 20, 2014). NYPI alleged that its former vice president and his business partner stole trade secrets, including recipes, and used them to infringe NYPI’s distinctive flavors and plating methods at their new restaurant, Gina’s Italian Kitchen. They allegedly obtained a franchisee’s username and password and used it to log onto NYPI’s franchisee website, which held, among other things, recipes for NYPI’s menu items. The court refused to dismiss the claims for violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Stored Communications Act stemming from alleged access to the franchisee website. The court then addressed NYPI’s Lanham Act claims. Asserting that “no special legal rule” prevents the…
Under a settlement agreement approved by a New Jersey federal court, Dakota Growers Pasta Co. will pay $7.9 million to resolve claims that it deceptively markets, advertises and sells Dreamfields Pasta as having a low glycemic index and only five grams of digestible carbohydrates per serving, making it a “healthy alternative to traditional pasta.” Mirakay v. Dakota Growers Pasta Co., Inc., No. 13-4429 (D.N.J., order entered October 20, 2014). The agreement stipulates that for one year, Dakota will remove from its packaging (i) the claims of a low glycemic index and low carbohydrates and (ii) the claim that the product can reduce spikes in blood glucose levels. Dakota will also pay $2.9 million in attorney’s fees and $5 million into a settlement fund for distribution to class members, who will receive $1.99 for every box of pasta ordered online without limit as well as for each box purchased in a store,…
An Arizona federal court has preliminarily approved a settlement in a lawsuit alleging that Bashas’ Inc. paid Hispanic workers less than comparable non-Hispanic workers from 1998 to 2007 in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Parra v. Bashas’ Inc., No. 2-591 (D. Ariz., order entered October 21, 2014). The plaintiffs were employees at Bashas’ Inc.’s Food City stores, which cater mostly to Hispanic customers and whose staff was about 75 percent Hispanic. They alleged that they were paid on a lower pay scale than the mostly white employees at Bashas’ Inc.’s A.J. Fine Foods and Bashas’ stores. According to the plaintiffs, Bashas’ Inc.’s president personally set the pay scale each year, and an experienced Food City store clerk was allegedly paid $0.82 per hour less than a comparable Bashas’ store clerk in 1999—amounting to a loss of about $1,640 per year for a full-time employee. Under…
According to a proposed consent decree filed in a D.C. district court, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will “submit a final rule regarding ‘Substances Generally Recognized as Safe’ [GRAS] to the Federal Register for publication no later than August 31, 2016.” Ctr. for Food Safety v. Burwell, No. 14-0267 (U.S. Dist. Ct., D.D.C., consent decree filed October 20, 2014). The Center for Food Safety apparently brought the action over concerns that food makers have been able to use an interim GRAS process and secure agency approval for allegedly unsafe ingredients, such as volatile oil of mustard, “olestra” and “quorn,” based on self-assessments. According to the Center’s complaint against the agency, FDA has unlawfully exempted GRAS substances from regulation as food additives under a rule proposed, but never finalized, some 15 years ago. That proposed rule purportedly eliminated a petition process requiring food companies to demonstrate that a substance satisfies…
The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has denied a petition seeking review of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholding a California law prohibiting the sale of commodities, such as foie gras, produced by “force feeding a bird for the purpose of enlarging the bird’s liver beyond normal size.” Association des Éleveurs de Canards et d’Oies du Québec v. Harris, No. 13-1313 (U.S., certiorari denied October 14, 2014). Details about the Ninth Circuit decision appear in Issue 497 of this Update. Among other matters, the Ninth Circuit had found that a number of the issues presented by the plaintiffs were premature because they had appealed the denial of a motion for preliminary injunction. The question that out-of-state fois gras producers presented to SCOTUS was “[w]hether the Commerce Clause allows California to impose a complete ban on the sale of wholesome, USDA-approved poultry products from other States and countries—in this case, foie…
The Belarussian Chamber of Representatives has reportedly approved draft legislation that would stop the practice of advertising products and events other than alcohol beverages with names and logos that are confusingly similar to alcohol brands. Some bottled waters, for example, are apparently promoted with names, fonts and images that are associated with vodka brands with just a slight change in the nam —a practice referred to as “umbrella” advertising. Existing advertising law would be tightened to help reduce the use of alcohol, combat alcoholism and reduce tobacco consumption—the latter by applying the same standards to ad campaigns bearing a resemblance to tobacco product brands. The bill will become law unless rejected by the National Assembly’s Council of the Republic or the president. See Minskby.com, October 23, 2014. Issue 542
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