A study claiming that low doses of bisphenol A (BPA) and bisphenol S (BPS) increased brain-cell growth in embryonic zebrafish—which later exhibited hyperactive behaviors as larvae—has urged health authorities to reconsider the use of linear dose-response relationships to set tolerable daily intake levels. Cassandra Kinch, et al., “Low-dose exposure to bisphenol A and replacement bisphenol S induces precocious hypothalamic neurogenesis in embryonic zebrafish,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 2015. After exposing embryonic zebrafish to the two substances at levels (0.0068 µM) similar to those found in rivers that supply two major urban centers, University of Calgary researchers reported that BPA and BPS caused “180% and 240% increases, respectively, in neuronal birth (neurogenesis) within the hypothalamus, a highly conserved brain region involved in hyperactivity.” This increased neurogenesis apparently relied not on estrogen receptors as predicted, but on “androgen receptor-mediated up-regulation of aromatase.” Based on these results, the study’s authors…
Category Archives Issue 551
Researchers with the University of California, San Diego, have reportedly linked a sugar molecule found in red meat to the development of spontaneous cancers. Annie N. Samraj, et al., “A red meat-derived glycan promotes inflammation and cancer progression,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 2015. According to a December 29, 2014, press release, N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) is present in most mammals but not humans, who consume bio-available forms of the molecule from beef, pork and lamb. Building on previous work hypothesizing that Neu5Gc can cause chronic inflammation when absorbed by the human body, the study authors fed the sugar molecule to mice genetically engineered to suppress Neu5Gc. The results not only showed that these mice developed antibodies to Neu5Gc that contributed to systemic inflammation, but that the incidence of spontaneous tumor formation increased fivefold, with Neu5Gc accumulating in the tumors. “Until now, all of our evidence linking Neu5Gc to…
A consortium of prosecco manufacturers has reportedly contacted the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency and Intellectual Property Office to threaten legal action under EU trading regulations against British wine bars and pubs that refuse to stop serving the sparkling wine from a keg. Prosecco sales apparently surpassed those of its rival, champagne, for the first time in 2014, and in the same year the United Kingdom replaced Germany as the top export market for prosecco. “If prosecco is sold on tap then it is no longer prosecco—it needs to be served directly from the bottle,” Luca Giavi, director of the consortium, told The Telegraph. The winemakers cite a 2009 European law which states that “prosecco wine shall be marketed exclusively in traditional glass bottles,” and the president of the consortium, Stefano Zanettin, asserted that violations can merit fines ranging from €2,000 to €20,000. Michele Anzaldi, a member of the Italian…
Two days after filing a lawsuit alleging that Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. infringed its stylized label trademark featuring the letters “IPA,” Lagunitas Brewing Co. filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice in the case and its owner, Tony Magee, publicly commented that he had been “seriously schooled” by the “Court of Public Opinion” following a wave of social media backlash. The Lagunitas Brewing Co. v. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., No 15-153 (N.D. Cal., notice of voluntary dismissal filed January 14, 2015). The complaint alleged that Sierra Nevada’s label for its new Hop Hunter IPA, in a “radical departure” from its typical label designs, infringed the Lagunitas trademark on “large, all-capital, bold, black and centralized ‘IPA’ lettering.” The complaint further argued that “[w]hen Lagunitas began selling its now iconic IPA beer in 1995, there existed only a handful of other brewers who produced an India Pale Ale, and, on information and…
The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court’s ruling that unauthorized public use of the Scarlet Royal and Autumn King varieties of table grapes does not invalidate the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) patents on them. Delano Farms Co. v. Cal. Table Grape Comm’n., No. 2014-1030 (Fed. Cir., order entered January 9, 2015). The appellants, three farming companies, had challenged the patents on the grounds that they were in public use for more than a year before the date of the patent applications. According to the facts determined by a lower court’s bench trial, the mature fruit of grape varieties were exhibited at an experimental variety open house in 2001 at California State University, Fresno. Without authorization, a USDA employee gave a grape grower the plant materials for the unreleased varieties, and that grower in turn gave the materials to his brother and cousin in addition to…
Confirming a December 2014 “hand-shake” agreement, the European Parliament has reportedly approved a law giving member states the authority to regulate the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) within their borders. Until the new rules take effect in spring 2015, EU member states can limit cultivation of approved GMOs only if they present new evidence to the European Food Safety Authority that demonstrates the crop is not safe for consumption. The new rules allow member states to prohibit GMO growth and cultivation on several grounds, including “town and country planning requirements, socio-economic impact, avoiding the unintended presence of GMOs in other products and farm policy objectives.” The legislation also creates a procedure allowing a GMO crop company to consent to proposed restrictions to avoid a unilateral ban on its product. Additional information about the 2014 political agreement appears in Issue 548 of this Update. See European Parliament Press Release, January 13,…
The World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) Appellate Body has affirmed its August 2013 decision condemning Argentina’s broad trade-related restrictions affecting a variety of goods and food products. In one case that the WTO considered, Argentine government officials approved an agreement with a firm that imported Porsche vehicles that would require the company to offset the imports by exporting the same value of wine and olive products each year; in another, Pirelli was required to export $100 million worth of honey to import its tires. The Argentine Secretary of Domestic Trade also apparently limited the 2012 importation of finished ham products, especially those from Spain and Italy, to 80 percent of the amount imported the previous year. Affected goods also included clothing, medicine, technology products, and Bibles. “The United States welcomes the WTO’s findings in this dispute,” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Frohman said in a statement. “Argentina’s protectionist measures impact a broad…
The European Food Safety Authority (ESFA) has opened a public consultation on a draft scientific opinion finding that “single doses of caffeine up to 200 mg and daily intakes of up to 400 mg do not raise safety concerns for adults.” Authored by EFSA’s Nutrition Unit, the draft opinion also concludes that (i) “it is unlikely that caffeine interacts adversely with other constituents of ‘energy drinks’—such as taurine and D-glucurono-γ-lactone—or alcohol”; (ii) “for pregnant women, caffeine intakes of up to 200mg a day do not raise safety concerns for the fetus”; (iii) “for children (3-10 years) and adolescents (10-18 years), daily intakes of 3mg per kg of body weight are considered safe”; and (iv) “single doses of 100mg may increase sleep latency (the amount of time it takes to fall asleep) and shorten sleeping time in some adults.” EFSA has requested comments by March 15, 2015. See EFSA News Release,…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety and the Food and Drug Administration have announced a February 17, 2015, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to discuss draft U.S. positions for consideration during the 47th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives slated for March 23-27 in Xi’an, China. Agenda items at the February meeting include (i) provisions of food category 14.2.3 “grape wines” and its sub-categories; (ii) potentially replacing Note 161 with an alternative regarding provisions for sweeteners; (iii) the commercial use of potassium diacetate; and (iv) a proposal revising food category 01.1 “milk and dairy based drinks” and its sub-categories. See Federal Register, January 14, 2015. Issue 551
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Marketing Service has extended until February 17, 2015, the comment period for a proposed rule that would expand assessment exemptions for commodity promotion activities “to cover all ‘organic’ and ‘100 percent organic’ products certified under the National Organic Program regardless of whether the person requesting the exemption also produces, handles, or imports conventional or nonorganic products.” Under the current rule, the exemption applies only to those who exclusively produce and market products certified as 100 percent organic. Additional details about the original notice appear in Issue 549 of this Update. See Federal Register, January 15, 2015. Issue 551
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