The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) has issued a report showing that alcohol companies “have largely met the industry’s voluntary standards of not placing ads in magazines with 30 percent or more youth readership.” Nevertheless, the report singled out 16 brands allegedly responsible “for half of the advertising placed in publications more likely to be seen per capita by youth than adults.” Researchers apparently used gross rating points, as opposed to gross impressions alone, to measure “how much an audience segment is exposed to advertising per capita.” In addition to tracking youth exposure to alcohol advertising, the report focused on the prevalence of youth exposure coming from overexposure. According to CAMY, “Advertising in media in which youth ages 12 to 20 make up more than 15 percent of the audience generally results in these youth being ‘overexposed,’ that is, they are…
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The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has issued an August 12, 2010, statement and letter lambasting Ben & Jerry’s “All Natural” ice cream and frozen yogurt for allegedly containing “alkalized cocoa, corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, or other ingredients that either don’t exist in nature or that have been chemically modified.” The watchdog has threatened to take its concerns to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state attorneys general if Unilever fails to drop the products’ marketing claim. The group singles out cocoa processed with alkali as “the most frequently used unnatural ingredient,” followed by corn syrup, dextrose, invert sugar, brown rice syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and maltodextrin. Moreover, CSPI maintains that alkalizing cocoa changes its chemical structure and reduces acidity and flavonol content. “Indeed,” states the CSPI press release, “Unilever recently sponsored research to investigate an association between flavonol intake and incidence of…
Food activist, author and lawyer Michele Simon writes on AlterNet about how PepsiCo has placed a number of respected, and previously anti-industry, scientific experts on its payroll to the dismay of activists like Marion Nestle and others concerned about the purported influence of corporate resources on the public debate over health, obesity and nutrition. She reports that former “public health hero” Derek Yach established his reputation by working on the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control while working at the World Health Organization and later found himself “at odds with Big Food.” He worked for some time with Kelly Brownell’s team at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, but then joined PepsiCo in 2007. Nestle reportedly described on her “Food Politics” blog a conversation she had with Yach after learning he was working for the food industry after which she “remained unconvinced that his role at…
DTC Perspectives Inc. has announced the 2010 Marketing Disease Prevention in America (MDPA) Conference, which will discuss how health care marketing can effectively address obesity prevention. Slated for October 19-21 in Atlanta, Georgia, the conference is designed for advertisers, health and wellness marketers, media representatives, pharmaceutical marketers, public health advocates, and those in the food, beverage and weight loss industries. MDPA will provide participants with information on the increasing prevalence of obesity; the latest legislative, regulatory and voluntary efforts to limit food and beverage marketing; consumer behaviors and attitudes toward healthy living; the role of retailers and manufacturers in preventing obesity; and the impact of new technologies on public health. Speakers will include David Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, as well as representatives from the American Beverage Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Action Against Obesity, and Trust for America’s Health.
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFB) has issued a policy statement urging the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to “initiate a retaliation process” against the European Union over its de facto moratorium on genetically modified (GM) crops. Despite a 2006 World Trade Organization ruling that found fault with EU approval procedures for GM crops, the bloc has allegedly failed to implement “a timely and predictable regulatory process,” resulting in “substantial damage” to U.S. agriculture. Although AFB initially agreed to suspend formal action in favor of normalizing trade, the industry group has since reversed that decision. According to AFB, “If the EU does not immediately begin to make timely, science-based regulatory decisions on pending and future applications, soybean exports also are at serious risk.” See AFB Press Release, July 26, 2010. Meanwhile, the European Commission (EC) recently approved six GM corn varieties via “the usual and standard” authorization procedure,…
The European Snacks Association (ESA) has apparently vowed to standardize product portion sizes, citing dietary recommendations and consumption patterns. In conjunction with an EU trade group representing food and beverage manufacturers, ESA has set a reference serving size that does not exceed 8 percent of the overall Guideline Daily Amount (GDA), or approximately 160 kcal. Thus, according to ESA, (i) “30g of snacks would provide 120-170 kcal, depending on the nature of the ingredients/preparation of the product”; and (ii) “30g of nuts would provide 170-200 kcal, depending on the nutritional differences between nuts and their preparation.” ESA has also promised to declare the number of portions per package so that consumers can adjust their dietary habits as needed. The European Snacks Association (ESA) has apparently vowed to standardize product portion sizes, citing dietary recommendations and consumption patterns. In conjunction with an EU trade group representing food and beverage manufacturers, ESA…
The Catfish Farmers of America (CFA) has reportedly released a commissioned report that evaluates the human health risks associated with catfish consumption. Presented to lawmakers and backed by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), the report identifies several major hazards for aquaculture fish, including “pathogenic microorganisms, antimicrobial/drug residues, and environmental chemicals.” In particular, the findings cite regulatory surveillance testing that revealed illegal antibiotics, drugs and other chemicals in imported fish but not in the domestic aquaculture supply. “The use and resulting presence of these antibiotics can cause microorganisms to gradually become resistant to the antibiotics and their ability to treat human infections is thereby decreased,” states Exponent, Inc.’s Center for Chemical Regulation and Food Safety, which authored the report. The report thus recommends that freshwater aquaculture “should have an inspection system that differs from other seafood systems,” with an emphasis on “prevention of contamination across the entire catfish production,…
In a recent issue that celebrates the top diverse U.S. companies, including several food manufacturers and restaurant chains, Diversity Inc. calls out the food and beverage industry, in an investigative report, for marketing, public relations and lobbying tactics some believe have led to unhealthy eating habits and a national obesity epidemic. Titled How the Food Industry Profits While Society Pays, the report describes the effects of an overweight and obese society on the U.S. health care system, while noting that hundreds of hospitals have fast food restaurants on their premises. The report suggests that racial and social justice issues are implicated in the obesity epidemic, citing statistics showing that African-American, Latino and inner-city communities are saturated with fast-food restaurants. A report sidebar discusses the largest fast food chains, noting the tens of thousands of restaurants that bear their logos around the world and the ways they market to children. “On…
A new report has claimed that adult obesity in the United States has increased in 28 states in the past year and that 38 states have adult obesity rates above 25 percent. Titled “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010,” the report from Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation “highlights troubling racial, ethnic, regional and income disparities in the nation’s obesity epidemic.” “This report shows that the country has taken bold steps to address the obesity crisis in recent years, but the nation’s response has yet to fully match the magnitude of the problem,” TFAH Executive Director Jeffrey Levi was quoted as saying. “Millions of Americans still face barrier like the high cost of healthy foods and lack of access to safe places to be physically active—that make healthy choices challenging.” The report’s key policy recommendations include (i) support for obesity- and…
Following Kellogg Co.’s voluntary recall of some 28 million boxes of breakfast cereals for a “waxy” smell and flavor emitted from package liners, some have pointed to growing public concern over chemicals, such as bisphenol A, that are allegedly leaching into foods from packaging materials. The Kellogg recall involved an unknown substance added to the liners at the company’s Omaha, Nebraska, facility; it reportedly gave rise to complaints about nausea and vomiting, and the company warned parents that it could cause vomiting or diarrhea in sensitive children. Writing about the recall, The Daily Green discusses a 2009 study of legal food packaging substances that purportedly have endocrine disrupting properties. Among the food packaging chemicals with potential health effects are lead in glass, ortho-phenylphenol in beer and soda cans, perfluorinated compounds in paper packaging, and benzophenone in milk, juice and wine cartons. See The Associated Press, June 25, 2010; The Daily Green,…
