Advocacy organization As You Sow, which recently issued a report on nanomaterials in food, is continuing to test products for nano-scale ingredients and has conducted a crowdfunding campaign to finance the initiative. Further details about the report appear in Issue 470 of this Update. The organization apparently succeeded in raising the $6,000 needed to test Betty Crocker Whipped Frosting®, which purportedly contains the same coloring additive found in Dunkin’ Donuts, a product highlighted in the report.
Category Archives Issue
The first edition of a global “Access to Nutrition Index,” evaluates the “nutrition-related commitments, performance and disclosure practices of 25 of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers.” Contending that food and beverage companies “must do more to increase access to nutritious products and positively exercise their influence on consumer choice and behavior,” the report ranked Danone and Nestlé among its top performers, but stated that even these companies “have significant room for improvement.” Housed at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the three-year initiative was funded by GAIN, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust. According to Access to Nutrition Index (ATNI) Executive Director Inge Kauer, the report “is not intended to name and shame companies, but instead to highlight strong practices and to provide a means for companies to benchmark their approach to nutrition against their peers and identify areas for improvement. The Index also…
The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI), with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Eating Research program, has released a legal issue brief titled “It’s Not Just for Teens: Viral Marketing to Young Children.” Intended as a guide for state attorneys general and claiming that “[f]ood marketers are in the forefront of using viral marketing online,” the paper contends that this use of “viral marketing techniques to young children warrants careful scrutiny under state consumer protection laws.” The paper describes how (i) this marketing works, (ii) companies make money from the practice and (iii) the practice is deceptive. According to PHAI, “Viral marketing turns children into unwitting viral marketers promoting a company’s brand image and products to their friends. . . . Despite the sophistication of the technology they use, children today remain uniquely ‘unqualified by age or experience’ to evaluate viral marketing and firms use deceptive tactics to hide…
The Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has published a study urging a broader definition of “child-directed” TV advertising than the one currently employed by the industry-backed Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI). Jennifer Harris, et al., “Redefining ‘Child-Direct Advertising’ to Reduce Unhealthy Television Food Advertising,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, March 2013. According to the study, CFBAI covers TV advertising only “during programs for which children make up 35% or more of the viewing audience.” By comparison, Rudd Center Director of Marketing Initiatives Jennifer Harris and her colleagues have suggested that broadening the definition of child-directed advertising “to include programs with a child-audience share of 20% or higher and/or 100,000 or more child viewers would cover 70%-71% of food advertising seen by children but just one third of ads seen by adults.” To support this recommendation, the study’s authors used Nielsen data from all national TV programs aired…
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF’s) Healthy Eating Research (HER) panel has released a set of age-based “Recommendations for Healthier Beverages” that urge government buildings, workplaces and other public venues to increase the availability of water and unflavored milk as replacements for high-calorie beverages. Billed as “an advisory panel of prominent researchers, nutritionists and policy experts,” HER evidently arrived at its findings after reviewing “current beverage standards, recommendations, and guidelines from scientific bodies, national organizations, public health organizations, and the beverage industry.” HER has generally recommended that “water should be available and promoted in all settings where beverages are offered” and endorsed unflavored, low-fat and nonfat milk in age-appropriate portions as a way for children to get adequate amounts of calcium, vitamin D, potassium, and other nutrients. The panel would also permit the consumption of small amounts of 100 percent fruit juice—ranging from 0 to-4-ounce portions for preschool children and 0-to-8-ounce…
Pennsylvania residents have filed a putative statewide class action in federal court against the company that makes 5-Hour ENERGY® drinks, claiming that they are promoted as a “healthy vitamin-filled energy drink” but are “nothing more than a shot of caffeine.” Thompson v. Innovation Ventures, LLC, No. 13-336 (W.D. Pa., filed March 7, 2013). The plaintiffs allege that label representations—“Hours of energy now—no crash later” and “Sugar free”—send a message to consumers that the product “will provide five hours of sustained energy within minutes without experiencing any negative ‘crash’ side effects later.” To the contrary, they claim, this “no crash later” representation is false “as admitted on the Defendant’s website and hidden in microscopic language on the back of the bottle which reads: ‘No crash means no sugar crash.’” According to the complaint, more than 25 percent of product users “suffer a caffeine crash.” Claiming purely economic losses and seeking class…
In a nonprecedential summary order, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling against Kosher Sports, Inc., a New Jersey-based provider of kosher food products, which had a 10-year contract with Queens Ballpark Co., the company that operates Citi Field, where the New York Mets play their home games. Kosher Sports, Inc. v. Queens Ballpark Co., LLC, No. 12-2162 (2d Cir., decided March 12, 2013). Kosher Sports claimed that the operating company breached the agreement by refusing to allow it to sell Glatt Kosher hot dogs and sausages and other products on Friday nights and Saturdays. It also claimed that Queens Ballpark failed to provide a suitable location for the company’s fourth cart to sell its products at the stadium. The court found that the unambiguous terms of the contract simply “set forth [Kosher Sports’] ‘rights’ to advertising space, tickets, and freedom from competition” but did…
According to a news source, a Michigan judge has lifted a gag order imposed on an attorney who posted information on his Facebook page critical of a proposed settlement of claims that a McDonald’s Corp. franchisee sold as halal certain chicken products without complying with Islamic standards; the court has also granted his request to reopen the class period thus extending the time for class members to object, intervene or opt out. Ahmed v. McDonald’s Corp., No. 11-014559 (Mich. Cir. Ct., Wayne Cty., order entered March 12, 2013). Additional information about the case and attorney Majed Moughni’s claims of unlawful prior restraint appears in issues 468, 471 and 473 of this Update. In her supplemental notice, Judge Kathleen Macdonald notes, “[a]s you probably know, there was a great deal of attention given to this proposed settlement from the news media (newspapers, television, radio and internet sources) and in social media. For…
The company that makes the Muscle Milk® line of nutrition products has agreed to settle putative class claims that it misrepresented the products’ nutritional value. Delacruz v. CytoSport, Inc., No. 11-3532 (N.D. Cal., motion to approve settlement filed March 7, 2013). Details about the complaint appear in Issue 403 of this Update. A court order leaving just one issue in the case—an allegation that labeling claims of “healthy fats” in a Muscle Milk® product could deceive because a reasonable consumer would expect the product to contain unsaturated and not saturated fats—is summarized in Issue 436 of this Update. Under the proposed agreement, the company would pay the equivalent of $5.275 million for awards to the named plaintiff and class members, a cy pres award, injunctive relief, class notice and settlement administration costs, attorney’s fees and expenses, and products in kind. Claimants with proof of purchase would receive up to $30 each;…
Immediately after a New York court determined that the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene lacked the authority and a rational basis to adopt a prohibition on the sale of sugary beverages in containers larger than 16 ounces, the city filed a notice of appeal, which will reportedly be heard during the first week of June 2013. N.Y. Statewide Coal. of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce v. NYC Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene, No. 653584/12 (N.Y. App. Div., filed March 12, 2013). Declaring the rule invalid, the state’s supreme court—New York’s trial court—enjoined and permanently restrained the city from implementing or enforcing it. The “Portion Cap Rule” was set to take effect on March 12, but New York Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling, after exploring at length the scope of the Department of Health’s authority as reflected in city charters dating back to the 1600s, found that it…
