The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has launched what it describes as “the first easily, searchable database of nearly 16,000 processed food and drinks packaged in materials that may contain the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol A, or BPA.” According to EWG, the new database organizes information obtained from a food industry website into a list of products that users can search from EWG’s Food Scores application. “The industry website’s apparent main purpose is to help food companies supply warning signs to retailers,” states EWG in a June 17, 2016, press release. “It reveals that Americans are far more widely exposed than previously known to a hormone-disrupting industrial chemical that poses greatest risk to pregnant women, infants and children. But the website is a chaotic jumble––incomplete, inconsistent, poorly organized and hard to use.” EWG claims that its BPA database features 926 brands linked to 16,000 products, “including more than 8,000 soup, vegetable, sauce…
Category Archives Other Developments
The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) has published a report finding “no substantiated evidence of a difference in risks to human health between currently commercialized genetically engineered (GE) crops and conventionally bred crops, nor did it find conclusive cause-and-effect evidence of environmental problems from the GE crops.” Authored by the NAS Committee on GE Crops: Past Experience and Future Prospects, the report considers more than 900 research publications and 700 public comments, as well as feedback from 80 diverse speakers at three public meetings and 15 webinars. Concentrating on widely available GE crops such as insect-resistant Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops and glyphosate-resistant crops, the report also notes that there is no evidence from U.S. Department of Agriculture data to suggest that GE crops have not yet increased yields for cotton, maize or soybeans. As a result of these findings, the committee recommends that federal agencies focus on product-based…
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…
Government agency leaders, industry representatives, academics and public health advocates will gather in Washington, D.C., on June 3 for “Vote Food 2016: Better Food, Better Health.” Organized by the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, event sessions will target the next president’s food agenda, antibiotic resistance in livestock, sugar and obesity, and food insecurity, with the overarching goal of generating a “clear articulation of the range of legal and regulatory solutions [to health issues] available to whoever is elected in 2016.” The O’Neill Institute will later publish the conference proceedings and a related white paper. Issue 603
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. …
The fourth edition of a Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) survey has reported a 4-percent reduction in sodium across 451 packaged and restaurant foods over a 10-year period. Titled “Salt Assault: Brand-name Comparisons of Processed Foods,” the report claims that, on average, surveyed items reduced their sodium content by 41 milligrams per 100 grams of product. The consumer watchdog notes, however, that many products still have room to make additional reductions. Citing “dramatic variations in sodium content across different brands of a given food,” the report singles out products in the canned diced tomato, whole wheat bread and ketchup categories—among others—for further improvement. In particular, CSPI urges the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Agriculture to not only set mandatory sodium limits for processed and restaurant foods, but require warning labels on those that are high in sodium. “For 40 years, the food industry has…
The Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) and the National Confectioners Association have announced the Children’s Confection Advertising Initiative (CCAI), “a new self-regulatory initiative that promotes responsible advertising to children.” Modeled after the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), which includes six major confectioners, CCAI asks participating companies not to advertise to children younger than age 12 or in schools from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Six candy companies have already pledged to abide by CCAI advertising rules. As Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Edith Ramirez remarked, “This new initiative is a welcome addition to the CBBB’s existing Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative and represents the type of self-regulatory solution the FTC has long advocated. The commitment by six confectionery companies to refrain from advertising in elementary schools and in media targeted at children is a positive step. I also hope that this new partnership with the National Confectioners…
“Conflicts between individual choice and collective action underlie many of the most contested and challenging debates relating to health and health care, from the very existence of Obamacare to government responses to the obesity and tobacco epidemics,” according to promotional materials for an April 15, 2016, conference on the campus of Northeastern University in Boston. The event will include sessions titled “The Politics of Public Health”; “Commercial Speech, Individual Responsibility & Health”; and “Addiction.” The “Obesity and Chronic Diseases” roundtable will be moderated by Northeastern Law Professor Richard Daynard, founder of the Public Health Advocacy Institute’s Center for Public Health Litigation, which “uses the civil justice system to improve public health by focusing on litigation targeting tobacco industry products, unhealthy foods, deceptive health marketing, and deceptive gambling practices.” Issue 596
Citing environmental concerns, the German city of Hamburg has reportedly banned the use of coffee pods in government buildings. Hamburg’s Guide to Green Procurement reportedly states that coffee pods cause “unnecessary resource consumption and waste generation, and often contain polluting aluminum.” “It’s 6 grams of coffee in 3 grams of packaging,” a Hamburg Department of the Environment and Energy official said. “We in Hamburg thought that these shouldn’t be bought with taxpayers’ money.” See VICE.com, February 24, 2016; The Telegraph, February 25, 2016. Issue 595
An online campaign launched by Consumers Union asks, “Have you ever quickly selected one box of crackers over another because the box said it was ‘natural’? Food companies know you probably have. They also know they can slap the word ‘natural’ on just about anything.” The advocacy group urges consumers to sign its petition urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prohibit use of the term “natural” or take action to define it. Findings of a December 2015 Consumer Reports survey reportedly indicate respondents want stricter standards for natural and organic labeling on meat, poultry and packaged and processed foods. Issue 592
