The Hispanic Institute has published a report advocating regulation of sugary drinks and processed foods to “help reduce alarmingly high rates of obesity among Hispanics.” Titled “Obesity: Hispanic America’s Big Challenge,” the report claims that 40.4 percent of Mexican Americans and 39.1 percent of Hispanics overall are obese, raising concerns about the rising health care costs associated with diabetes, heart and kidney disease, stroke, and other obesity-related conditions. In particular, The Hispanic Institute blames rising obesity rates on the “intentional actions” of food and beverage manufacturers, citing Michael Moss’s Salt Sugar Fat (2013) to support its argument that industry seeks “to ‘optimize’ the flavors and textures of foods and beverages in order to make them irresistible to consumers.” Comparing the current opposition to food and beverage regulation to that which initially stymied anti-smoking efforts, the report also faults marketing efforts that allegedly target “young people, Hispanics and African Americans especially,” as…
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The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released the results of its preliminary investigation into a new strain of avian influenza A (H7N9), which WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Security Keiji Fukuda reportedly described as “one of the most lethal influenza viruses we have seen so far.” First identified in China and linked to live poultry markets, the disease has sickened more than 100 people to date and caused at least 20 deaths, according to the latest WHO reports. Additional details about the global response to H7N9 appear in Issue 479 of this Update. Speaking on behalf of the research team assessing the outbreak, Fukuda told reporters that WHO experts will continue to work closely with Chinese health officials to monitor the virus’s spread and to determine whether human-to-human transmission has occurred. To this end, the assistant director-general has urged continued surveillance in both human and animal populations throughout China as…
A recent Pediatrics “Perspectives” article warns physicians and parents about the increasing number of children and adolescents who have attempted the “Cinnamon Challenge,” an impossible prank made popular on the Internet that apparently entails “swallowing a tablespoon of ground cinnamon in 60 seconds without drinking fluids.” Amelia Grant-Alfieri, et al., “Ingesting and Aspirating Dry Cinnamon by Children and Adolescents: The ‘Cinnamon Challenge,’” Pediatrics, April 2013. According to the authors, the challenge has already led “to dozens of calls to poison centers, emergency department visits, and even hospitalizations for adolescents requiring ventilator support for collapsed lungs.” In particular, the article reports that the American Association of Poison Control Centers fielded 178 calls related to the “Cinnamon Challenge” during the first six months of 2012 and that “[a]t least 30 participants nationwide have required medical attention.” Based on these incidents as well as animal studies involving pulmonary exposure to cinnamon, the authors caution…
Arguing that bisphenol A (BPA) exposure is particularly harmful for young children, infants and fetuses “because they lack mature systems of bodily detoxification,” a public health law and policy fellow at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law has called for governmental entities at every level to prohibit the chemical in any product “meant to be consumed or used by a young child, infant, or pregnant woman.” Leila Barraza, “A New Approach for Regulating Bisphenol A for the Protection of the Public’s Health,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Spring 2013. Part of a public health law conference symposium, this article discusses the mixed results of litigation against companies that use BPA in food and beverage contact materials and the failure of legislative initiatives that would restrict its use to take hold at the federal and state levels. The author calls on the Food and Drug Administration…
In a recently published article, psychology and law professors discuss research tending to show that the low-cost, highly refined, widely available sugars consumed by Americans may fit the developing definition of an addictive substance and consider whether such a finding would justify a range of legal and regulatory responses. Ashley Gearhardt, et al., “If Sugar Is Addictive … What Does It Mean for the Law?,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Spring 2013. Noting that the understanding of addiction and public perceptions shifted when nicotine was declared an addictive substance despite its lack of mind-altering properties and relatively weak withdrawal symptoms, the authors report that the new addiction criteria include an inability to successfully cut down or abstain from a substance, “continued use despite negative consequences,” and diminished control over consumption. The authors compare the concentration of the coca leaf, with minimal addictive potential, into crack cocaine, which “‘hijacks’ the reward…
According to news sources, several U.S. beekeeping companies have filed lawsuits under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), alleging that the defendant companies illegally imported honey from China thus evading millions of dollars in anti-dumping duties and depressing the price for domestic honey. Moore v. Groeb, No. 13-2905 (N.D. Ill., filed April 17, 2013); Adee Honey Farms v. Groeb Farms, Inc., No. 13-2922 (N.D. Ill., filed April 18, 2013). Among other things, the complaint alleges that some of the imported honey contained adulterated antibiotics, was not actually honey and was falsely represented to government authorities as honey from countries other than China. The plaintiffs reportedly cite a February 2013 agreement between defendant Groeb Farms and the federal government indicating that the company’s “unlawful actions ‘caused losses to the United States of no less than $78,866,216’ in the form of unpaid antidumping duties” during a four-year period. As part…
A federal court in California has determined that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has violated the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by failing to promulgate, within FSMA deadlines, food-safety rules that implement the law. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Hamburg, No. 12-4529 (N.D. Cal., decided April 22, 2013). According to the court, Congress “intended that the implementing regulations be promulgated and finalized by a date certain. The dates set for completion of the regulations in the seven areas identified in the complaint have passed. However, that does not mean that the FSMA now should be interpreted as granting the FDA total discretion in deciding when to finalize the regulations. . . . Thus, the court finds that the imposition of an injunction imposing deadlines for finalization of the regulations would be consistent with the underlying purposes of the FSMA.” Still, agreeing with FDA “that the purpose…
After a state court in California granted the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC’s) request for preliminary injunction and ordered Cal/EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to remove bisphenol A (BPA) from the list of chemicals known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity, OEHHA did so. OEHHA had argued that ACC’s request to enjoin OEHHA from “listing, or taking any further action in listing” BPA was moot because the Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) listing action took effect April 11, but the court said it had the authority to order OEHHA to remove the chemical from the list. According to the court, ACC demonstrated that it had a reasonable probability of prevailing on the merits of its claim that the National Toxicology Program report on which OEHHA relied for its listing did not identify BPA as causing reproductive toxicity. “[T]here was no definitive statement that BPA is a developmental toxicant…
Citing the loss of millions of euros, the Danish government is reportedly abandoning its 80-year tax on soft drinks because consumers are crossing the border to shop in Germany instead. “This decision is the result of concerted efforts to highlight the negative impact of the tax,” said Niels Hald, secretary general of the Danish soft drinks association, Bryggeriforeningen. “In taking this step the Danish government acknowledged the regressive nature of the tax, its negative impact on regional jobs close to the borders and the adverse environmental consequences of border trade.” Removal of the tax will reportedly take place in two stages, with a 50-percent reduction as of July 1, 2013, and full elimination as of January 1, 2014. The decision comes months after the Danish government repealed a similar tax on foods with high concentrations of saturated fat and stopped a proposed sugar tax last year. See UNESDA News Release, April…
The consumer regulatory agency of Sao Paulo, Brazil, has reportedly fined McDonald’s US $1.6 million for allegedly marketing to children. Procon SP has claimed that franchisee Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. violated the state’s consumer code by using children’s characters and toys to promote Happy Meals®. “This is not an isolated case,” a Procon SP lawyer was quoting as saying. “There’s no need to appeal as they do to children without the maturity or the rationality to enter the market as consumers.” In 2011, the Brazilian Consumer Defense Foundation fined the fast-food corporation US$1.8 million after a nonprofit organization complained that Happy Meal® incentives encouraged “unhealthy eating habits” among children. A McDonald’s spokesperson has since told media sources that the company plans to appeal the latest ruling. Additional details about the Consumer Defense Foundation matter appear in Issue 420 of this Update. See Law360 and Reuters, April 23, 2013.
