A study has allegedly linked fast-food consumption to higher urinary phthalate-metabolite levels but not to increased bisphenol A (BPA) levels. Ami Zota, et al., “Recent Fast Food Consumption and Bisphenol A and Phthalates Exposures among the U.S. Population in NHANES, 2003–2010,” Environmental Health Perspectives, April 2016. Using 24-hour dietary recall data obtained from 8,877 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2003- 2010), researchers with George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health apparently “observed evidence of a positive, dose-response relationship between fast food intake and exposure to phthalates.” The study authors report that, compared to participants who did not consume fast food, those who received more than 34 percent of their total energy intake from fast food had 23.8 percent and 39 percent higher levels of metabolites of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (ΣDEHPm) and diisononyl phthalate (DiNPm), respectively. In particular, the data suggested that (i) “fast food-derived…
Category Archives Issue 601
The Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) has released a white paper that allegedly identifies glyphosate residue in common breakfast foods, including “flour, corn flakes, bagels, yogurt, potatoes, organic eggs, and coffee creamers.” Part of a campaign seeking to prohibit the herbicide, the white paper purportedly relies on the results of ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) tests commissioned from an independent laboratory, which reported that 10 samples taken from instant oatmeal, eggs, bagels, and other breakfast products contained glyphosate in detectable amounts. In particular, ANH notes that organic cage-free eggs exceeded the U.S. Environment Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) tolerance level for glyphosate residue. The white paper reflects a new trend of consumer groups financing independent laboratory studies to support their campaigns. According to an April 21, 2016, Beyond Pesticides blog post, Moms Across America commissioned a report on glyphosate in California wine that allegedly found glyphosate residue in all samples tested. …
Public-interest group Cornucopia Institute has filed a lawsuit against Tom Vilsack in his capacity as Secretary of Agriculture alleging that he and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) violated the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 by appointing “unqualified individuals” to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which develops a list of synthetic substances allowed in the production of organic food, the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. Cornucopia Inst. v. Vilsack, No. 16-0246 (W.D. Wis., filed April 18, 2016). Federal law requires the composition of the NOSB to be “balanced and independent,” Cornucopia argues, but USDA “inappropriately influenced” the board in a number of ways, including (i) disbanding its Policy Development Subcommittee, (ii) allowing the self-appointment of the board’s co-chairperson, and (iii) removing the board’s ability to set its own work plan. “USDA’s unlawful meddling with the composition and rules governing the NOSB has created a NOSB hostile…
A Florida federal court has denied Chipotle’s motion to dismiss a putative class action alleging the company misrepresents its food as free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) despite selling meat produced from animals fed GMOs. Reilly v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. 15-23425 (S.D. Fla., order entered April 20, 2016). Chipotle argued that the plaintiff had no standing to sue because she did not specify which products she purchased; the court found she had sufficiently pleaded her claims to support standing for her consumer-protection claims, but not her request for an injunction. Chipotle also challenged the plaintiff’s understanding of “non-GMO” as “nonsensical,” but the “reasonableness of her definition, upon which her interpretation of Chipotle’s advertisements is based, is a question better decided upon examination of the evidence,” the court held. Accordingly, it granted Chipotle’s motion to dismiss the request for injunctive relief but denied it as to the rest of…
An Oregon federal court has dismissed a lawsuit alleging Gerber’s Graduates® Puffs is mislabeled because its packaging displays fruits and vegetables not contained in the product. Henry v. Gerber Prods. Co., No. 15-2201 (D. Ore., order entered April 18, 2016). The court first denied the plaintiff’s request to remand the case to state court, then turned to Gerber’s motion to dismiss the claims based on preemption by the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Gerber argued that U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations allow the company to provide visual depictions of the product’s “‛characterizing flavor,’ even if the product does not actually contain any of the depicted fruit, or indeed any fruit at all.” The court agreed, finding that the law is “clear,” even if the “wisdom of the FDA’s regulations on this topic is a different question for a different day.” The court dismissed the case but granted…
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has revived a data breach lawsuit against P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc., finding that the two plaintiffs have standing to sue despite eating at a restaurant apparently not linked to the breach. Lewert v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc., No. 14-3700 (7th Cir., order entered April 14, 2016). Additional details about the breach appear in Issue 526 of this Update. The plaintiffs ate at an Illinois location of P.F. Chang’s two months before the company announced its payment system had been hacked, revealing personal information and credit card numbers. One plaintiff noticed fraudulent charges on his card and purchased credit-monitoring services, while the other alleged that he spent time and effort monitoring his card statements and credit report. Each brought separate lawsuits, which were later consolidated then dismissed for lack of standing. Following its announcement about the data breach, P.F. Chang’s identified 33 restaurants…
France’s highest administrative court, the Conseil d’État, has reportedly invalidated a 2014 decree banning Monsanto’s MON810 maize, a genetically modified organism (GMO), because the decree did not demonstrate that the maize would cause serious health or environmental risks, a standard determined by EU rules. The ruling will not allow GMO maize to be cultivated in the country; in 2015, an EU directive allowed member nations to prohibit GMO crops, and France passed legislation complying with the directive’s standards. The later law bans cultivation of all GMO maize in France. The French maize seed federation sought to appeal the earlier rule despite the symbolic nature of the action to argue that the ban was not based on sound science. “It was more a matter of principle that we conduct this appeal to show there was no scientific basis to the ban,” the organization’s managing director told Reuters. “In concrete terms, it…
Healthy Boulder Kids has submitted to the city of Boulder, Colorado, a draft initiative that would impose on distributors a 2-cent per ounce excise tax on beverages that contain at least 5 grams of sweeteners per 12 fluid ounces. Pending review and approval by the city clerk, the public health coalition would then have until June 28, 2016, to collect the requisite number of signatures to get the measure on the November ballot. Revenue from the proposed tax would reportedly be directed to health and nutrition programs aimed especially at low-income residents of the Boulder community. See Boulder Daily Camera, April 21, 2016. Issue 601
