The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has issued a final rule amending the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) regulations to comply with a World Trade Organization (WTO) appellate ruling that certain provisions relating to muscle cut meat commodities were inconsistent the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement), which includes an obligation “to accord imported products treatment no less favorable than that accorded to domestic products.” Effective May 23, 2013, the final rule requires origin designations for muscle cut covered commodities “to specify the production steps of birth, raising, and slaughter of the animal from which the meat is derived that took place in each country listed on the origin designation.” It also eliminates “the allowance for commingling of muscle cut covered commodities of different origins” and expands the definition for “retailer” “to include any person subject to be licensed as a retailer under…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a modified 10-year review schedule that includes Fair Packaging and Labeling Act regulations among those for which the agency plans to request public input in 2013 as to their need, costs, benefits, and burdens. Specifically at issue are the regulations under sections 4 and 5(c), exemptions from requirements under 16 C.F.R. Part 500, and statements of general policy or interpretation (16 C.F.R. Part 503). FTC also intends to review and solicit public comments on its telemarketing sales rule. See Federal Register, May 23, 2013.
The U.S. Senate has reportedly rejected by a vote of 71 to 27 a Farm Bill amendment that would have clarified the right of states to enact laws requiring special labeling for food and beverages manufactured with genetically modified (GM) ingredients. Co-sponsored by Sens. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the amendment apparently aimed to protect states against lawsuits filed by food and beverage industry interests opposed to GMO labeling. “An overwhelming majority of Americans favor GMO labeling but virtually all of the major biotech and food corporations in the country oppose it,” said Sanders in a May 23, 2013, press release. “Today’s vote is a step forward on an important issue that we are going to continue to work on. The people of Vermont and the people of America have a right to know what’s in the food that…
A recent study purportedly concluded that consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a higher risk of kidney stone formation while consumption of other beverages such as coffee, tea, beer, and wine, is associated with a lower risk. Pietro Manuel Ferraro, et al., “Soda and Other Beverages and the Risk of Kidney Stones,” Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, May 2013. Conducted by a team of researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the study analyzed the data of 194,095 participants from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS) and the Nurses’ Health Studies I and II. Those who consumed one or more sugar-sweetened cola servings per day reportedly had a 23 percent higher risk of developing kidney stones compared to those who consumed less than one serving per week. The researchers observed that this was also true for consumption of sugar-sweetened non-cola beverages, such as punch. A lower risk of…
Three recent studies published in JAMA Internal Medicine have analyzed the nutritional content of restaurant and processed foods, raising questions about consumer, industry and government efforts to curb calorie, sodium and fat consumption. Authored by Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) Executive Director Michael Jacobson and colleagues at George Washington University and Northwestern University, the first study examined changes in the sodium levels of identical processed and restaurant foods from 2005 to 2011. Michael Jacobson, et al., “Changes in Sodium Levels in Processed and Restaurant Foods, 2005 to 2011,” JAMA Internal Medicine, May 2013. Using data collected by CSPI, researchers reportedly found that “sodium content in 402 processed foods declined by approximately 3.5%, while the sodium content in 78 fast-food restaurant products increased by 2.6%.” Although the study also noted that salt content decreased by 30 percent in some products and increased by 30 percent in others, “the…
Public interest advocacy organization the Center for Food Safety has issued a report titled “Best Public Relations Money Can Buy: A Guide to Food Industry Front Groups,” authored by food activist and attorney Michele Simon. The report describes what front groups are and how they purportedly function, drawing parallels with a cigarette industry trade group, which, according to Simon, by distorting science “effectively delayed public policy on tobacco for decades. The food industry’s current effort to distort science is similar, but somewhat more subtle, operating through less obvious front groups.” Among the groups mentioned are (i) the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance— “[t]he group calls itself ‘farmers and ranchers’ because that sounds better than Monsanto and the Pork Board”; (ii) No on 37—a group fighting a ballot initiative in California that would have required labels on foods with genetically modified ingredients; it allegedly “claimed to be a ‘coalition of family…
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently issued a report assessing the scientific evidence behind government recommendations that adults in the general population reduce dietary sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams per day and that certain groups of people at a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) reduce their salt consumption to 1,500 mg per day. At the request of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the IOM committee responsible for the report focused on new studies examining sodium’s direct effect on health outcomes as opposed to previous research that used high blood pressure as “a widely accepted biological predictor of risk for CVD and stroke.” Based on this new research, the IOM report concludes that while the latest science still supports salt reduction recommendations for the general population, there is little or no new evidence to back the 1,500 mg/day recommendation for specific population subgroups, which include…
The plaintiffs in putative class litigation alleging inaccurate wage statements and denial of required meal breaks have filed a motion for preliminary approval of a class action settlement brought against Starbucks in 2008. York v. Starbucks Corp., No. 08-7919 (C.D. Cal., W. Div., motion filed May 10, 2013). Without admitting liability, the company has apparently agreed to pay $3 million to resolve the claims of California Starbucks employees who fall into one or two subclasses: (i) the “Meal Break Settlement Subclass,” including “all persons employed by Starbucks within the state of California in the job categories of café attendant, barista, or shift supervisor during the period from December 2, 2004, to January 31, 2013”; and (ii) the “Wage Statement Settlement Subclass,” including “all persons employed by Starbucks in the state of California in the job categories of café attendant, barista, shift supervisor, assistant store manager, or store manager during the period…
A federal court in California has granted in part and denied in part the motion to dismiss filed by General Mills in litigation alleging that certain of its Nature Valley® products are deceptively labeled and advertised as “natural” because they contain sweeteners, such as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), high-maltose corn syrup or maltodextrin and rice maltodextrin, which are purportedly “highly processed” and therefore not “natural.” Janney v. General Mills, No. 12-3919 (N.D. Cal., filed May 10, 2013). The plaintiffs are represented by Center for Science in the Public Interest attorney Stephen Gardner. The court disagreed with General Mills that the primary jurisdiction doctrine barred the claims, finding that the Food and Drug Administration “has signaled a relative lack of interest in devoting its limited resources to what it evidently considers a minor issue, or in establishing some ‘uniformity in administration’ with regard to the use of ‘natural’ in food…
A federal court in New York has dismissed putative class claims filed against Dannon Co., alleging that its Activia® yogurt products are not actually yogurt because they contain filler products including milk protein concentrate (MPC), an ingredient that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) purportedly prohibits from use in yogurt. Conroy v. The Dannon Co., Inc., 12-6901 (S.D.N.Y., decided May 9, 2013). The defendant challenged the claims on the ground that the “plaintiff’s allegations are premised on a misunderstanding of the FDA’s standard of identity for yogurt.” The court agreed with Dannon that while MPC is not included in the list of permissible ingredients for yogurt, it is a permitted “other optional ingredient” despite FDA’s failure to include MPC in its 1981 definition of the phrase. According to the court, the issue in the case was the proper interpretation of a stay FDA imposed in 1982 on certain provisions of…
