New research claims that the daily consumption of artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) during pregnancy is associated with increased infant body mass index (BMI). Meghan Azad, et al., “Association Between Artificially Sweetened Beverage Consumption During Pregnancy and Infant Body Mass Index,” JAMA Pediatrics, May 2016. Using food-frequency questionnaire data from 3,033 mother-infant dyads enrolled in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study, researchers reportedly determined that, when compared to children whose mothers did not consume ASBs during pregnancy, those born to the 5.1 percent of mothers who imbibed ASBs daily were twice as likely to be overweight at age 1. “Infant birth weight was not affected, suggesting that maternal ASB consumption influenced postnatal weight gain rather than fetal growth,” explain the study authors. “These associations were independent of material BMI, diabetes, total energy intake, diet quality, and other known obesity risk factors. No comparable associations were identified for SSB [sugar-sweetened…
Category Archives Issue 604
The National Milk Producers Federation, International Dairy Foods Association and U.S. Dairy Export Council have authored a May 9, 2016, letter to President Barack Obama (D), asking the White House to reject proposed World Health Organization (WHO) guidance that “would discourage consumption of nutritious dairy products by young children.” Slated for presentation at the 69th World Health Assembly on May 23-28, 2016, the draft guidelines seek to end the promotion of breast-milk substitutes, including all milk and fortified soy milk, intended for consumption by children younger than age 3. Among other things, the proposal not only places restrictions on the marketing of foods for infants and young children, but also stipulates that “the messages used to promote foods for infants and young children should support optimal feeding and inappropriate messages should not be included.” The guidelines specifically preclude the indirect crosspromotion of breast-milk substitutes with other food products, as well…
Two strawberry breeders formerly of the University of California, Davis have filed a lawsuit against the university targeting its strawberry-breeding program, which they argue is denying them the opportunity to license the breeds they helped cultivate. Cal. Berry Cultivars LLC v. Regents of U. of Cal., No. 16-2477 (N. Cal., removed to federal court May 6, 2016). The scientists left the program in 2014 to start their own cultivation company with a former California secretary of food and agriculture. Their departure triggered a lawsuit from the California Strawberry Commission, which asserted the university was neglecting the program. The scientists now reportedly argue the university refuses to license—“on a non-exclusive basis at a reasonable royalty”—the plants to California Berry Cultivars to suppress competition, amounting to allegations of conversion, breach of contract, breach of faith, breach of fiduciary duty and unfair competition. Details about the settlement of the previous lawsuit appear in…
A consumer has filed a proposed class action against Caribou Coffee Co. Inc. arguing the company violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by sending her “numerous unsolicited SMS text messages.” Farnham v. Caribou Coffee Co. Inc., No. 16-0295 (W.D. Wis., filed May 5, 2016). The plaintiff asserts that Caribou sent her 50 text-message advertisements from March to May 2016 without her consent. For allegations of negligent and willful violations of TCPA, the plaintiff seeks statutory damages of $500 per negligent violation and $1,500 per willful violation as well as an injunction and class certification. Issue 604
Consumers have filed a putative class action against Albertson’s Inc. and Safeway Inc. alleging the companies raise prices on meat during “buy one get one free” (BOGO) deals, resulting in consumers “actually paying for the meat that is sold as ‘free’ in these special sales.” Stewart v. Albertson’s Inc., No. 16-15125 (Ore. Cir. Ct., Multnomah Cty., filed May 4, 2016). The complaint asserts the stores rotate BOGO offers on a number of meat products, including pork chops, chicken breast and beef sirloin, but offer the products at lower prices when they are not on special. Further, the stores “sell the same meat products at regular [loyalty card] prices that are lower than the BOGO prices. When they do this, Defendants sometimes sell the same product under different names.” The plaintiffs offer an example: “Safeway sold boneless, skinless chicken breasts to [loyalty card] members for $1.99 per pound. At the same…
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a dismissal of a consumer lawsuit against Costco Wholesale Corp. alleging mislabeling claims against VitaRain Tropical Mango Vitamin Enhanced Water Beverage. Maple v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 13-36089 (9th Cir., order entered May 9, 2016). The plaintiff had alleged the product was mislabeled because the product contains added caffeine, precluding the use of “natural” on the label. The district court dismissed the case because the plaintiff did not read the label before purchasing it; on appeal, the plaintiff asserted that he could amend the complaint to add “a subclass of plaintiffs who did read the relevant parts of the label.” Because he did not rely on the label, the plaintiff’s claim failed, and “the potential existence of other classes of which Plaintiff is not a member is irrelevant,” the court found. Further, the “district court abused its discretion by dismissing the action…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will reconsider how “healthy” may be used on food packaging following the evaluation of a citizen petition filed by Kind LLC. FDA previously challenged Kind’s use of “healthy” on its nut bars, which contain more fat than permitted due to the inclusion of nuts, and Kind changed its packaging accordingly but filed a petition for reconsideration of the issue. The existing guidelines were created during the 1990s and reflect accepted standards of that time, including a preference for foods low in fat without regard to the nature of the fat. FDA has now allowed Kind to use “healthy and tasty” on its packaging “only in text clearly presented as its corporate philosophy, where it isn’t represented as a nutrient content claim, and does not appear on the same display panel as nutrient content claims or nutrition information.” Further details about the dispute appear…
