Citing internal cane and beet sugar documents dating back to 1959, an article published in PLOS Medicine claims that the sugar industry made a concerted effort to alter the priorities of the National Institute of Dental Research’s (NIDR’s) 1971 National Caries Program (NCP). Cristin Kearns, Stanton A. Glantz, et al., “Sugar Industry Influence on the Scientific Agenda of the National Institute of Dental Research’s 1971 National Caries Program: A Historical Analysis of Internal Documents,” PLOS Medicine, March 2015. University of California, San Francisco, researchers apparently relied on World Sugar Research Organization documents obtained from the University of Illinois Archives, which housed the correspondence of a university professor who also served on the Sugar Research Foundation and International Sugar Research Foundation Advisory Board. They also acquired documents related to NPC via PubMed and WorldCat, as well as by contacting NIDR directly. “The sugar industry could not deny the role of sucrose in…
Category Archives Issue 558
Whole Oats Enterprises, a partnership of musicians Daryl Hall and John Oates, has filed a lawsuit against Early Bird Foods & Co. alleging that the name of the company’s “Haulin’ Oats” granola product infringes on their trademarks. Whole Oats Enters. v. Early Bird Foods & Co., No. 15-1124 (E.D.N.Y., filed March 4, 2015). The musicians own the registered trademark in “Daryl Hall and John Oates” and assert common law trademark rights to “Hall & Oates,” which the group often calls itself. Early Bird’s “Haulin’ Oats,” a granola product containing rolled oats and maple syrup, is an “obvious” “phonetic play” on the band name, the complaint alleges. The complaint also details a 2014 attempt at the use of “Haulin’ Oats” by a Tennessee company selling oatmeal and food-delivery services. The company assigned its rights to “Haulin’ Oats” to Whole Oats, which then licensed the name back to the company in exchange for royalties.…
The estate of Logan Stiner, an Ohio teenager who died in May 2014 after ingesting pure caffeine powder purchased from Amazon, has filed a lawsuit against the online retailer and the companies that manufacture and market the powder. Stiner v. Amazon.com Inc., No. 15CV185837 (C.P. Lorain Cty., filed March 6, 2015). According to the complaint, “pure caffeine is a drug” under Ohio law, but the powder manufacturers have “successfully avoided meaningful regulation of [the] product by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by classifying their product as a ‘dietary supplement,’” which leaves them “responsible for determining that pure caffeine powder is safe.” The companies “failed to alert users of the known risks and side effects of ingesting caffeine powder, including the risk of cardiac arrhythmia and cardiac arrest,” the reaction that killed Stiner, the complaint says. The estate also alleges that the companies did not conduct adequate testing of…
A Colorado state court has approved the settlements of several wrongful death and personal injury suits against 14 defendants—including Jensen Farms—stemming from the sale of cantaloupe tainted with Listeria that killed 33 people in 2011. Exley v. Jensen Farms, No. 2011-1891 (Colo. D.C., Arapahoe Cty., order entered March 5, 2015). The court dismissed 24 of 26 cases pursuant to the settlement agreement reached in February 2015, remanded one case to a Texas court and left the dismissal of the last case to a probate court because it regards a minor. The settlement terms are confidential, but according to plaintiffs’ attorney Bill Marler, the medical expenses total more than $12 million. Details about the criminal charges against the brothers who own Jensen Farms appear in Issue 500 of this Update. See Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 11, 2015. Issue 558
A California appeals court has rejected a Napa restaurant’s attempt to circumvent the state’s foie gras ban by describing it as a gift for ordering another dish then arguing that a resulting suit brought by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) seeking an injunction was merely a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) in violation of the state anti-SLAPP statute. Animal Legal Def. Fund v. LT Napa Partners LLC, No. A139615 (Cal. Ct. App., order entered March 5, 2015). Additional information on the foie gras ban, which a California federal court struck down in January 2015, appears in Issue 550 of this Update. Kenneth Frank, the head chef at Napa’s La Toque restaurant, was a vocal opponent of California’s foie gras ban; he testified at state senate hearings, participated in public debates and authored a newspaper opinion piece on the subject. On three occasions, ALDF sent an investigator to La Toque…
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that adults and children reduce their daily intake of added sugars to less than 10 percent of their total daily energy intake. In addition, WHO calls for consumers to limit their consumption of added sugars to less than 25 grams (6 teaspoons) for further health benefits. The new advice follows the release of the U.S. Department of Health and Department of Agriculture’s proposed Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which would set similar limits for glucose, fructose and sucrose added to food and drink by manufacturers, retailers or consumers. “We have solid evidence that keeping intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake reduces the risk of overweight, obesity and tooth decay,” said Francesco Branca, director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, in a March 4, 2015, press release. “Making policy changes to support this will be key…
The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has extended the deadline for public comments on hazard identification materials on BPA and female reproductive toxicity from April 6 to April 20, 2015, in response to a request from the American Chemistry Council. OEHHA has also announced that the May 7 meeting of its Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DARTIC) to consider the addition of bisphenol A (BPA) to its list of chemicals known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity will be continued on May 21 in the same location if the committee is unable to finish its deliberations on May 7. Citing the availability of new epidemiological and toxicological data, DARTIC will assess “whether BPA has been clearly shown by scientifically valid testing according to generally accepted principles to cause female reproductive toxicity.” After adding BPA to the list of reproductive toxicants under the Safe…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service is hosting an April 27-30, 2015, public meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) in La Jolla, California. The event will serve as NOSB’s final review of substances with sunset dates in 2016, and sessions will include those covering reports from the Materials, Livestock, Crops and Handling subcommittees. The tentative agenda, relevant proposals and information about the comment submission and meeting registration process are available here; the deadline for submitting written comments or registering to make oral comments at the meeting is April 7. See Federal Register, March 12, 2015. Issue 558
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has introduced legislation that would ban the production, sale, distribution or possession of powdered alcohol. Schumer sponsored a similar initiative in 2014, and introduction of the new bill comes on the heels of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s March 10, 2015, approval of four labels for flavored Palcohol® products manufactured by Lipsmark LLC. “I am in total disbelief that our federal government has approved such an obviously dangerous product, and so Congress must take matters into its own hands and make powdered alcohol illegal,” Schumer said. “Underage alcohol abuse is a growing epidemic with tragic consequences and powdered alcohol could exacerbate this. We simply can’t sit back and wait for powdered alcohol to hit store shelves across the country, potentially causing more alcohol-related hospitalizations and God forbid, deaths.” See Press Release of Sen. Charles Schumer, March 12, 2015; The Hill, March 13,…
