The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has launched a mobile application of its “Chemical Cuisine” glossary of food additives to bring safety ratings directly to consumers’ smart phones. The CSPI app provides a list of safe additives and flags those “that everybody should avoid, as well as a number of additives most people would do well to cut back on,” according to CSPI. “Shopping for groceries was a lot easier when more food came from farms, and not factories,” said CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson. “And the tens of thousands of packaged foods on supermarket shelves have a bewildering array of chemical food additives, designed to variously enhance the taste, texture, color, or shelf life of the product.” See CSPI Press Release, April 22, 2011.
Category Archives Other Developments
The London shop that sells ice cream made with donated breast milk has reportedly been cleared to continue selling the product after government tests determined it was fit for human consumption. Additional details about the investigation into Baby Gaga ice cream appear in Issue 384 of this Update. The owner of Icecreamists, the store that sells the product, is apparently considering legal action against the Westminster Council, which confiscated the product for quality-control tests. Owner Matt O’Connor was quoted as saying, “They should have waited until they got the tests back before saying our product could have been a risk to the public.” Meanwhile, attorneys for pop superstar Lady Gaga have sent a cease and desist letter to the ice cream store, accusing it of unfairly cashing in on her name and image and demanding that it stop using the Baby Gaga name. They reportedly called the ice cream “nausea-inducing,”…
The U.K. pork industry has reportedly staged a protest at Whitehall, claiming that retailer price cuts and increased feed costs have driven the sector “to the brink of collapse.” Backed by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s British Pig Executive (BPEX) and the National Pig Association (NPA), the “Pigs Are Still Worth It” campaign has criticized supermarkets for reaping “record profits” while domestic feed prices have soared 30 percent, cutting into producer margins. “We need retailers to remind their buyers of the importance of supporting British pigmeat production with its high welfare and quality assurance standards,” stated NPA Chair Stewart Houston in an open letter, which highlighted a similar crisis in 2007 and 2008. In addition to meeting with government representatives, the groups have circulated a petition asking retailers “to pay pig producers a fair price—before it’s too late.” They have also reportedly urged consumers to avoid some large grocery chains…
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation have selected Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar as literary fodder for their anti-obesity campaign, distributing copies of the best-selling children’s book to 17,500 pediatrician offices across the United States. The iconic story follows a caterpillar’s transformation from larva to butterfly while emphasizing the importance of good nutrition, with the insatiable protagonist experiencing a stomachache after binging on chocolate cake, ice cream and other treats. According to a March 8, 2011, press release, doctors will also receive “growth charts and parent handouts that encourage doctors and parents to have meaningful conversations about the importance of healthy eating.” “Parents and doctors both play an enormously important role in ensuring children develop healthy eating habits early on in life,” said President Bill Clinton on behalf of the William J. Clinton Foundation, which founded the Alliance for a Healthier Generation…
The National Consumers League (NCL) recently filed formal comments with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), opposing a petition to register “corn sugar” as an alternative name for high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Claiming that the change “would be inconsistent with longstanding FDA common or usual name regulations,” NCL argues that “permitting HFCS to be called ‘corn sugar’ would allow manufacturers to conceal this ingredient from consumers.” “HFCS has been the name of the ingredient since FDA’s original GRAS affirmation regulation in 1983,” writes NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg in a letter warning that the science is still evolving. “If it should turn out that HFCS does contribute to higher caloric intake, and therefore obesity, or other adverse health outcomes, a regulatory decision that would allow manufacturers to hide this ingredient from consumers could come back to haunt FDA.” See FoodNavigator-USA.com, March 8, 2011; NCL Press Release, February 10, 2011.
The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, who hold about $2,000 of common stock in McDonald’s Corp., joined by nuns from orders in other states, have reportedly submitted a shareholder proposal seeking a report “within six months of the 2011 annual meeting, assessing the company’s policy responses to public concerns regarding linkages of fast food to childhood obesity, diet-related diseases and other impacts on children’s health.” They also want to know how these public concerns potentially affect “the company’s finances and operations.” The “whereas” clause of the proposal contends that “the contribution of the fast food industry to the global epidemic of childhood obesity and to diet-related disease, such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease, have become a major public issue,” and cites a number of studies about the incidence and costs of obesity, as well as actions taken by policymakers involving fast food marketing to children and menu-labeling. The…
Friends of the Earth (FOE) International has published a February 2011 report claiming that “the biotech industry and its sponsors generate considerable hyperbole about the benefits that GMOs [genetically modified organisms] provide to farmers, consumers and the environment.” Titled Who Benefits from GM Crops?, the report criticizes data released by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), alleging that, contrary to ISAAA’s findings, “GM crops do not generate increased yields or help to solve hunger but are actually increasing pesticide use, contaminating seeds and food, and destroying poor farmers’ livelihoods because of high costs and monopolies.” In particular, FOE asserts that “public opposition to GMOs is rising and the area of agricultural land dedicated to GM crops is declining” in Europe, while regulatory and legal actions in the United States, India, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina purportedly reflect an increased willingness to curb the use of GMOs. The…
According to media sources, documentarian Morgan Spurlock recently screened his latest film about advertising and product placement at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, with plans for a general audience release in April 2011. Best known for “Super Size Me,” a film critical of the fast-food industry, Spurlock’s “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Made” apparently “unmasks the marketing process to bring audiences behind closed doors directly into the pitch meetings and marketing presentations which ultimately inform our everyday entertainment decisions,” according to a press release issued by film sponsor POM Wonderful®. Financed entirely by product placement, the film reportedly explores the world of co-promotion “with humor and insight,” although Advertising Age also noted a focus on “advertising’s wrongs,” such as “the marketers’ hooks in children,” and new techniques such as neuromarketing. “I felt the best way to examine the ever-growing debate of brand integration in film and television was…
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has reportedly requested information from China concerning the country’s use of steroids in raising cattle after some athletes blamed tainted beef for their positive drug tests. Noting that he is awaiting a response from the Chinese minister for a “full explanation of what happens in the industry,” WADA director general David Howman said, “there seems to be some evidence that some beef in China may have been stimulated in their growth by the use of steroids.” A WADA-accredited lab in Cologne, Germany, apparently discovered that 22 of 28 returning travelers from China tested positive for low levels of agency-banned clenbuterol, a livestock-bulking substance that builds muscle and burns fat. In related developments, the Spanish cycling federation recently cleared the Tour de France champion who had blamed his positive clenbuterol test on contaminated meat from Spain, and a German table tennis player was cleared after blaming…
The director of legal initiatives for Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has authored an article on front-of-package (FOP) food and beverage labeling that calls for “new directions for research and regulation.” Jennifer Pomeranz, “Front-of-Package Food and Beverage Labeling: New Directions for Research and Regulation,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, March 2011. Claiming that “food labels have become unwieldy from a consumer, health, and regulatory perspective,” Jennifer Pomeranz’s article explores the current state of “FOP schemes, health and nutrition claims, and enforcement activity,” and makes specific research recommendations for each context. In particular, it notes several areas—such as health and nutrition claims—that appear ripe for regulation and where additional scientific evidence could overrule First Amendment objections. “When the FDA and industry finalize their FOP schemes, research will be needed to assess their scientific validity, their efficacy for consumer use and comprehension, and whether a mandatory FOP scheme is necessary,”…
