The American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics will sponsor a conference in Atlanta, Georgia, October 10-12, 2012, that will focus in part on food-related issues. The “Public Health law Conference 2012: Practical Approaches to Critical Challenges,” event will include concurrent sessions titled (i) “If Sugar Is Addictive, What Does It Mean for the Law?,” including panelist Ashley Gearhardt, who has written on this topic with the Rudd Center’s Kelly Brownell in Biological Psychiatry; (ii) “Hot Topics in Preemption—From Fast Food to Fire Sprinklers to Safety Nets,” including panelist Mark Pertschuk, who actively promoted nonsmokers’ rights from 1987-2007; and (iii) “Enhancing the Safety of What We Eat: FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act,” including panelist Bruce Clark, an attorney with the Marler Clark firm which focuses its practice on food-contamination lawsuits.
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The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has posted its fall 2012 speakers schedule, noting that the center “welcomes speakers from different disciplines to present and discuss their work and its implications for the study of obesity and food policy.” Among those on the roster are Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Jason Riis, “Field Studies of Consumer Behavior in Food Retail Settings,” September 12; University of Washington Clinical Professor James Krieger, “Using Policy and Systems Changes to Create Healthy Environments at the Local Level,” October 10; Northwestern University Psychology Professor Ellen Wartella, “Media Characters: The Unhidden Persuaders in Food Marketing to Children,” October 17; Mathematica Policy Research Senior Fellow Ronette Briefel, “National Data to Inform Childhood Obesity Prevention Strategies: Beverage, Dietary, and Activity Practices at Home and School,” November 7; and University of Pennsylvania Media & the Developing Child Director Amy Jordan, “Testing the Effectiveness of Public Service…
Yale University Psychology Professor Kelly Brownell has published a collection of essays with co-editor Mark Gold, Food and Addiction: A Comprehensive Handbook, that, according to Amazon.com “brings scientific order to the issue of food and addiction, spanning multiple disciplines to create the foundation for what is a rapidly advancing field and to highlight needed advances in science and public policy. The book assembles leading scientists and policy makers from fields such as nutrition, addiction, psychology, epidemiology, and public health to explore and analyze the scientific evidence for the addictive properties of food.” New York University Nutrition Professor Marion Nestle calls the work “an instant classic.” She notes that the edited pieces included in the book range from “the seriously scientific to the thoroughly anecdotal.” Asking whether food is “addictive in ways similar to alcohol or cocaine,” Nestle states, “In some ways yes, maybe, and no. Read it and decide for…
The Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) has released a new documentary, Genetic Roulette: The Game of Our Lives, that accuses the U.S. government of permitting “untested genetically modified (GM) crops into our environment and food supply.” Based on IRT founder Jeffrey Smith’s book of the same title, the film alleges that “the same serious health problems found in lab animals, livestock, and pets that have been fed GM foods are now on the rise in the U.S. population.” “Gastrointestinal disorders, allergies, inflammatory disease, and infertility are just some of the problems implicated in humans, pets, livestock, and lab animals that eat [GM] soybeans and corn,” opines IRT, which ultimately urges consumers to refrain from eating GM ingredients in an effort to ward off “the deteriorating health of Americans, especially among children.”
In the wake of an Australian High Court ruling validating regulations requiring cigarettes to be sold in plain packages, some commentators are speculating whether other products, such as alcoholic beverages and fast food, will be subject to the same types of restrictions. The opinion, penned by Patrick Carlyton, suggests that because alcoholism and obesity also purportedly have deleterious effects, government may consider imposing taxing and packaging rules on the other industries. While he questions whether these types of restrictions actually affect consumption—“will plain packaging work in reducing smoking rates? No one knows. It hasn’t been tried before”—he concludes, “One thing is certain. Plain packaging for unhealthy foods in supermarket aisles would certainly constitute a relief for every parent, and this would have nothing to do with the health benefits.” See News Limited Network, August 16, 2012.
A peer-reviewed article appearing in Preventing Chronic Disease explores how five alcohol-control policies could hold promise in addressing the obesity epidemic if used to regulate access to low-nutrient foods. Deborah Cohen & Lila Rabinovich, “Addressing the Proximal Causes of Obesity: The Relevance of Alcohol Control Policies,” Preventing Chronic Disease, May 2012. The policy interventions discussed include (i) limitations through zoning and licensing on the density of food outlets; (ii) displays and sales restrictions that focus on controlling impulse buying; (iii) regulations on portion sizes; (iv) pricing strategies, i.e., higher taxes on foods high in calories and low in nutritional value; and (v) strategic use of warning labels and ads that discourage people from overeating or consuming too many foods lacking nutritive value. According to lead author and RAND researcher Deborah Cohen, “Just as regulating alcohol accessibility has been effective in reducing problem drinking, regulating food accessibility is promising for controlling…
Researchers with the University of Michigan and Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity have authored commentary in Biological Psychiatry about the policy implications of an addiction model for food. Ashley Gearhardt & Kelly Brownell, “Can Food and Addiction Change the Game?,” Biological Psychiatry, August 2012. Gearhardt and Brownell argue that scientific efforts to establish whether certain foods or ingredients “have addictive potential” “will be more important to policy and social change than emphasizing the individual difference variables or investigating how obese and nonobese individuals differ.” In particular, they claim that such research will need to emphasize the effects of potentially addictive foods “on the many rather than just the few” to maximize the impact on public policy. “Scientific enquiries into how addictive substances are capable of hijacking the brain has reduced stigmatization of addicted individuals and led to more substance-focused policy approaches (e.g., taxation of cigarettes, restrictions…
Welch Foods, Inc. is the most recent recipient of a letter from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) warning the company that, if not otherwise resolved, the watchdog’s claims that Welch is making deceptive health-benefit representations about its fruit snacks, spreads and juices will be taken to court for injunctive relief. According to the August 14, 2012, letter, the types of matters about which CSPI is most concerned are (i) “Welch Foods claims that its 100% Fruit Juice product line is heart-healthy and may promote overall health”; (ii) “Welch Foods claims that its Fruit Snacks, Fruit Juice Cocktails, Spreads, and 100% Fruit drinks ‘Reward Your Heart’ and are heart-healthy products”; and (ii) “Welch Foods claims that its Fruit Snacks products are nutritious and healthful to consume.” CSPI contends that, to the contrary, the products contribute to “insulin resistance and obesity, and may thus promote heart disease and…
According to Nestlé Australia, some consumers feeding their babies NAN H.A. [hypoallergenic] 1 Gold® infant formula have complained about alleged adverse health effects. A news source indicates that purchasers have reported in online reviews that their children have experienced rashes, dark green stools, dehydration, and vomiting, among other symptoms. Calling product safety and quality a “non-negotiable priority for the company” Nestlé, which has been testing the product, further states on its website that results “to date confirm there is no food safety issue.” The company apparently reformulated the product in 2011, replacing calcium chloride with potassium chloride to produce “a better taste and a smoother texture to the powder,” and otherwise improving its “nutritional profile.” See Nestlé News Release, August 8, 2012; FoodProductionDaily.com, August 9, 2012.
A nutritionist who published a study about the health effects of omega-3 fatty acids in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has objected to Dean Foods Co.’s decision to cite her work in marketing the health benefits of its Horizon organic milk fortified with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Penn State University Professor Penny Kris-Etherton apparently took issue with Horizon milk labels that used her paper to support a claim that “many Americans don’t get the recommended DHA from their everyday diet.” According to Kris-Etherton, however, her research did not establish an optimum level of DHA consumption for the average consumer. “It’s not right—it’s inaccurate,” she was quoted as saying. “It’s a marketing strategy to sell more of their milk.” Kris-Etherton’s concerns have evidently led Whole Foods Market Inc. to review its policy on DHA health claims and Dean Foods to consider voluntarily withdrawing the citation. “It’s appropriate to use published scientific studies…
