“In order to bolster its credibility, reflect objective science that has the public’s best interest in mind, and hold the food industry more accountable, it is paramount that ASN reconsider its financial ties to the junk food industry,” concludes public health lawyer and activist Michele Simon in an investigation that purports to expose conflicts of interest between the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) and various food and beverage companies. Among other things, Simon contends that “powerful junk food companies purchase ‘sustaining partnerships’ from ASN, gaining access to the nation’s leading nutrition researchers at their annual meetings, and in their policy positions.” Issue 569
Category Archives Other Developments
Public health advocates from around the United States will convene in San Diego, California, on June 29-July 2, 2015, for the 8th Biennial Childhood Obesity Conference. The “Marketing to Kids” track of the two-day event will include a mini-plenary session titled “Taxing Sugar-Sweetened Beverages for Public Health: What Have We Learned from the Mexico, Berkeley and San Francisco Initiatives”; “Effective Marketing to Build Public Support to Curb Unhealthy Food Marketing to Children”; and “Would You Eat 91 Cubes of Sugar: A Look at Several Strategies for Decreasing Consumption of Sugary Drinks.” Other sessions will include “Toward Healthier Diets: Where Non-Governmental Organizations and Industry Clash and Cooperate” and “Warning Labels on Sugary Drinks: Promoting Informed Choices.” Supporters of the event include the California Department of Public Health, California Endowment and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Issue 568
The British Medical Association in Scotland (BMA Scotland) has reportedly backed legislation under consideration by the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee that seeks to ban alcohol advertising at all events geared toward children younger than age 18. According to media reports, the proposed measure would also prohibit the marketing of alcoholic beverages near schools in addition to limiting ads on retail premises. “The alcohol industry’s sponsorship of entertainment or sporting events can see children become walking billboards for alcohol products, exposing them to alcohol brands while they are at an impressionable age,” BMA Scotland Peter Bennie told reporters. “It should not be acceptable for the alcohol industry to sponsor and brand events that are aimed at under-18s and MSPs should use this opportunity to take action on alcohol advertising.” See BBC News, June 4, 2015. Issue 567
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a “non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment,” has issued an analysis of more than 250 foods that identifies which of the products’ cans are lined with bisphenol A (BPA) as well as an online petition imploring consumers to encourage companies to stop using BPA-based epoxy resins in can linings. “The biggest problem is that people have no reliable way of knowing whether they are buying food that is laced with this toxic chemical,” an EWG representative was quoted as saying. “Federal regulations do not require manufacturers to label their products to identify cans with BPA-based linings. … We hope to arm people with the critical information they need to avoid BPA and make smarter shopping decisions.” EWG classifies the food companies mentioned in the survey into four categories of “players,” claiming that 78 brands (“worst” players) use BPA-lined cans for…
The shareholder advocacy group As You Sow has announced the success of a three-year campaign targeting baby formula purportedly made with ingredients derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). According to a May 27, 2015, press release, the group drafted a shareholder resolution asking Abbott Laboratories to remove GMOs from its Similac® Advance® baby formula. In response to the resolution, which apparently garnered support from $2.7 billion in Abbott shares (6 percent of voting shares) at the company’s annual meeting, Abbott has reportedly agreed to offer a GMO-free version of its popular formula. Among other things, As You Sow claims that GMO crops “are contributing to several environmental concerns in the United States,” including the allegedly excessive use of pesticides and herbicides. “Polls show that 93% of Americans want GMOs to be labeled or taken out of their foods. Concerned parents are driving the decisions to have safer food products—they are creating…
Two new reports from nonprofit advocacy organizations highlight global water risks and urge food and beverage companies to adopt more robust water stewardship practices at every point in the supply chain. Published by Ceres, Feeding Ourselves Thirsty: How the Food Sector Is Managing Global Water Risks “ranks the nation’s 37 largest food companies on how effectively they are managing precious freshwater supplies.” Finding that packaged food and beverage companies outperformed the agricultural sector in their responses to water risks, the report estimates that “only 30 percent of the companies considered water risks as part of major business planning and investment decision-making,” while only 16 percent “have sustainable agriculture policies that address water.” To help companies improve water efficiency, Ceres recommends, among other things, that global companies (i) analyze water risks for the entire supply chain, (ii) invest in projects that improve watershed health and (iii) disclose water risks and management plans…
The Center for Food Safety, Food & Water Watch and Friends of the Earth (FOE) have authored a May 28, 2015, letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), claiming that a draft risk assessment conducted by the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) questions the health and welfare of AquaBounty Technologies Inc.’s genetically modified (GM) salmon. According to FOE, the “never-before-seen” environmental review concludes that AquaBounty’s GM salmon are not only “more susceptible to Aeromonas salmonicida, a type of disease-causing bacteria,” but exhibit “diminished growth rates” and “widely varied performance.” The assessment also reportedly registers “uncertainty” about the function of the gene construct, in addition to faulting the management and operation of AquaBounty facilities for allegedly failing to supply “internal compliance documentation, such as a daily check-list to ensure that all relevant mechanical barriers are in place and functioning properly.” As a result of these findings, the…
The Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) has alleged that companies used “numerous tactics from the corporate lobbyist playbook” to persuade several European Commission departments to obstruct the Directorate-General of the Environment (DG Environment) in its attempts to regulate endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). In particular, the CEO report claims that groups representing the chemical and plastics sectors not only promoted their own studies “as the only ‘sound science,’” but used the threat of economic damage as well as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations “as a leverage to prevent any new ‘trade barrier.’” “By early Spring 2013, since DG Environment did not bend under the pressure, the corporate lobby focused on demanding an impact assessment as a delaying tactic,” opines the report. “In a culmination of fierce lobbying pressure, DG Environment’s proposal for scientific criteria to identify EDCs was finally rejected by the other DGs in the Commission. Moreover, in…
Food & Water Watch (FWW) has released an April 2015 report alleging that the scientific research used by federal agencies to evaluate animal drug safety “is very heavily influenced by corporate drug companies.” In particular, the report alleges that there were “virtually no independent, peer-reviewed” safety studies on one drug used as a growth promoter that was eventually withdrawn from the marketplace. “Most of the available research examined commercial dimensions of Zilmax, such as the drug’s impact on beef qualify, and more than three-quarters of the studies were authored and/or funded by industry groups, almost all of which were published in scientific journals sponsored and edited by industry groups,” opines FWW in an April 8 press release. “Many academic journals have failed to establish or enforce rules requiring scientists to publicly disclose financial conflicts of interest, which has allowed deeply conflicted research to distort the scientific discourse.” Citing these issues,…
An Environmental Working Group (EWG) investigation has reportedly concluded that 49 processed snack foods contain propylparaben, a preservative commonly found in cosmetic products. In light of its findings and various studies allegedly linking exposure to the chemical to decreased fertility and other hormone-related issues, EWG is urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reconsider the preservative’s current “Generally Recognized as Safe” status as a food additive. “It is of great concern to us that the use of an endocrine-disrupting chemical in our food is considered safe by our own government,” Johanna Congleton, an EWG senior scientist was quoted as saying. “European Union regulators do not permit propyl paraben in food. So why do we?” EWG is soliciting concerned consumers to sign an online petition to food companies that states: “Your company uses the endocrine-disrupting chemical propylparaben in your products! Parabens are being taken out of some cosmetics and food products,…
