Researchers with the University of Missouri-Kansas City and University of Kansas Medical Center have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map brain responses to food logos in obese and healthy-weight children. Amanda Bruce, et al., “Brain Responses to Food Logos in Obese and Health Weight Children,” Journal of Pediatrics, November 2012. According to the study, 10 healthy-weight children and 10 obese children completed “self-report measures of self-control” and then underwent fMRI while viewing 60 food and 60 nonfood logos. The results purportedly indicated that, when viewing food logos, “obese children showed significantly less brain activation than the healthy weight children in regions associated with cognitive control.” Obese children also apparently demonstrated “greater activation in reward regions when shown food logos compared with baseline blurred images,” although the researchers “did not find significantly greater brain activation in the OFC [orbitofrontal cortex] or ventral striatum, which have been identified in previous food…
The Danish Consumer Council and Danish Ecological Council, in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark, have reportedly developed a database intended to help consumers identify products that may contain nanomaterials. The database evidently includes a description of each nanotechnology involved; rates of purported exposure risks to professional end-users, consumers and the environment; and potential hazards to human health and the environment by means of color coding. Food packaging materials are said to have incorporated nanoparticles to prolong shelf life and control microbial agents in packaged foods. Danish Ecological Council chemical expert Lone Mikkelsen reportedly said, “We are concerned that . . . too many nanomaterials are introduced to the market, before we know the full effects on humans and the environment.” Consumers will apparently be able to search the database to see if a certain product contains nanomaterials or is marketed as a…
In the ongoing battle over whether the government should regulate food ads targeting children, the Food Marketing Workgroup (FMW), a coalition of more than 80 health groups and nutritionists, is putting pressure on Nickelodeon and its parent company, Viacom, to adopt nutrition guidelines for foods marketed to children, particularly foods that license Nickelodeon characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer. More than 55 health organizations and 30 prominent nutritionists, physicians and other experts signed a December 3, 2012, letter to Nickelodeon and Viacom urging them to implement stronger nutrition standards for the foods marketed to kids on Viacom’s various channels and that bear images of its characters. The group notes that although Viacom has taken some small steps in the right direction, it lags behind other children’s entertainment companies such as The Walt Disney Co. and ION Television, which have adopted comprehensive policies that apply nutrition standards to all…
A World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitrator has determined that the United States must conform its country-of-origin-labeling (COOL) rules in accordance with an earlier ruling by May 23, 2013, finding that 10 months was a reasonable time for implementation. Additional details about the dispute, which involved a challenge brought by Canada and Mexico over 2008 COOL provisions for beef and pork products, appear in Issue 446 of this Update. According to a news source, the labeling program has sharply reduced U.S. imports of Canadian pigs and cattle, because it purportedly raised U.S. packers’ costs by requiring them to segregate imported animals from U.S. livestock. COOL supporters contend that such labeling provides consumers with important information about food origins. Canada’s International Trade Minister Ed Fast and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz reportedly said, “We are particularly pleased that the arbitrator determined a reasonable period of time close to that proposed by Canada and…
Soft drink manufacturers and restaurateurs have reportedly requested that the court reschedule oral arguments in their challenge to a New York City prohibition on the sale of sweetened beverages in sizes that exceed 16 ounces. N.Y. Statewide Coal. of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce v. NYC Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene, No. 653584/2012 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., filed October 12, 2012). Additional details about the case appear in Issue 458 of this Update. According to a news source, the industry interests seek oral argument before January 2013, claiming it will take up to three months to “retool” their operations to comply with the new requirements, which will take effect in March 2013, if upheld by the court. City attorneys have apparently decided not to oppose the request, noting that everyone’s interest will be served if the matter is “resolved sooner rather than later.” See Reuters, December 5. 2012.
In an unpublished decision, a California appeals court has determined thatInnovation Ventures, LLC, the parent company which makes 5-Hour Energy®, may proceed with a malicious prosecution action against Howard Rubinstein and other consumer-fraud attorneys in connection with a putative class action filed against the company in 2010 on behalf of a woman, Vi Nguyen, whose claims about the product apparently changed during her deposition, leading to the suit’s voluntary dismissal with prejudice. Innovation Ventures, LLC v. Rubinstein, No. G046242 (Cal. Ct. App., 4th Dist., decided November 29, 2012) (unpublished). The court noted that the underlying consumer-fraud complaint referred in a number of places to the named plaintiff as “he” and that the named plaintiff did not believe she had ever seen the complaint or she would have corrected these references. She also apparently had never seen the attorneys of record “and had just met Rubinstein the day before her deposition.”…
A federal court in California has granted in part the summary judgment motion filed by a coconut water company facing allegations that it overstates the magnesium and sodium content of its “O.N.E.” product and falsely claims that it is a good source of electrolytes. Vital v. One World Co., LLC, No. 12-00314 (C.D. Cal., order entered November 30, 2012). The court dismissed all claims based on a study that allegedly found lower levels of magnesium and sodium than allowed by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations when a product is claimed to be a “good source” of such nutrients. According to the court, the plaintiffs failed to show that the study was conducted under FDA’s § 101.9(g) methodology and would thus impose more stringent requirements on the defendant than federal law. The court allowed the plaintiffs to pursue claims that the product is falsely marketed as a “good source of…
A federal court in California has determined that Diamond Foods’ investors adequately pleaded knowledge, or scienter, on the part of the company and individual senior officers to allow putative class claims against them for false and misleading statements in violation of federal securities laws to proceed. In re Diamond Foods, Inc., Securities Litig., No. 11-05386 (N.D. Cal., order entered November 30, 2012). The court also dismissed claims filed against the company’s auditor, finding insufficient allegations to raise a strong inference of scienter, but allowed the plaintiffs to amend their complaint to cure its deficiencies. The litigation arises from events occurring in 2010-2012, when Diamond was attempting to purchase the Pringles brand of snack chips from P&G. The company allegedly manipulated prices paid to walnut growers during those years and failed to properly account for the payments, resulting in what appeared to be an inflated value for its shares. When the irregularities…
The Government Accountability Project (GAP) has filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), alleging that the agency has wrongfully withheld information requested about the use of anti-microbial drugs in food-producing animals. GAP v. FDA, No. 12-1954 (D.D.C., filed December 5, 2012). GAP requests an order requiring FDA to make the requested information available within 10 working days and further seeks costs and attorney’s fees. According to the complaint, GAP sought information in February 2011 about anti-microbial drugs collected from animal-drug sponsors under 21 U.S.C. § 360b. While FDA produced, as requested, educational and outreach materials that assist drug sponsors in fulfilling their reported duties, it withheld (i) “FDA’s data for use of anti-microbial drugs in food-producing animals in 2009 as broken down by container size, strength, and dosage form”; and (ii) “FDA’s data for use of anti-microbial drugs in food-producing…
Indiana farmer Vernon Bowman claims in his U.S. Supreme Court merits brief that the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that he infringed patents by planting second-generation genetically modified (GM) seeds, has “significantly curtailed the patent-exhaustion defense” by refusing to “hold Monsanto’s patent rights exhausted with respect to the seeds Bowman purchased from [a] grain elevator.” Bowman v. Monsanto Co., No. 11-796 (U.S., petitioner’s brief filed December 3, 2012). The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review whether “the Federal Circuit erred by (1) refusing to find patent exhaustion in patented seeds even after an authorized sale, and by (2) creating an exception to the doctrine of patent exhaustion for self-replicating technologies.” Additional information about the dispute appears in Issue 434 of this Update. The allegedly infringing seeds that Bowman planted as a second crop were purchased in a commodity grain mix from a grain elevator. Such mixes can, according to…
