A federal court in the District of Columbia has dismissed the declaratory judgment action that POM Wonderful filed against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shortly before the Commission brought an enforcement action against the pomegranate product producer. POM Wonderful LLC v. FTC, No. 10-1539 (D.D.C., decided September 30, 2012). More information about the complaint and FTC’s motion to dismiss appears in Issues 364 and 373 of this Update. According to the court, “[t]he balance of relevant factors counsels against exercising jurisdiction over this action.” Among other matters, the court found that (i) the declaratory judgment action would not fully resolve the parties’ claims because they would “still have to litigate whether POM’s health claims about its products were false, misleading, and unsubstantiated in violation of the FTC Act”; (ii) “other overlapping proceedings are pending” and POM can raise arguments in those proceedings that it has raised in the declaratory judgment…
The European Commission (EC) has concluded, in its second regulatory review on nanomaterials, that, while certain challenges continue to face those trying to assess their potential risks, the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH) “sets the best possible framework for the risk management of nanomaterials when they occur as substances or mixtures.” Still, the EC acknowledges that “more specific requirements for nanomaterials within the framework have proven necessary,” and thus it “envisages modification in some of the REACH Annexes and encourages ECHA [European Chemicals Agency] to further develop guidance for registrations after 2013.” REACH took effect in June 2007. Viewed as the strictest law regulating chemical substances to date, it requires all chemicals imported or produced in the European Union (EU) over a certain quantity to be registered and the manufacturers and importers to gather and report information about the chemicals’ properties. The law’s provisions will be…
The European Commission has published its list of flavoring substances authorized for use in foods. Effective October 22, 2012, Regulation EU 872/2012 provides a roster of more than 2,500 substances evaluated by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and deemed safe for human food uses, while Regulation EU 873/2012 establishes transitional measures for other flavorings, such as those made from non-food sources, that are still under review. Flavoring substances not found on the list “will be banned after an 18-months phasing-out period.” To prepare the new regulations, EFSA’s Scientific Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavorings and Processing Aids (the CEF Panel) initially considered approximately 2,800 substances already on the EU market as well as 197 additions. Although the majority of substances reportedly did not present safety concerns, the CEF Panel recommended removing seven substances from commerce and asked for further data on 400 others. Industry can submit data on…
While foreign and domestic food facilities, including farms, must renew their registrations with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) beginning October 1, 2012, under the Food Safety Modernization Act, the agency is not accepting registration renewals at this time. Facilities required to be registered under the law are asked to check FDA’s website to learn when the system becomes available,
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has revised its Green Guides to “help marketers avoid making misleading environmental claims.” According to FTC, the revisions reflect “hundreds of consumer and industry comments” and include changes to existing Guides “as well as new sections on the use of carbon offsets, ‘green’ certifications and seals, and renewable energy and renewable materials claims.” In particular, the updated guidance advises against “broad, unqualified claims that a product is ‘environmentally friendly’ or ‘eco-friendly’” because such claims are “nearly impossible to substantiate.” FTC has also warned marketers about the use of unqualified degradable claims for solid waste products and items destined for landfills, incinerators or recycling facilities, and clarified its guidelines for compostable, ozone, recyclable, recycled content, and source reduction claims. In addition, the Green Guides now offer new sections covering issues not anticipated in previous editions, such as (i) certifications and seals of approval, (ii) carbon offsets,…
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conducted a day-long workshop, October 2, 2012, “to examine competition and consumer protection issues in the pet medications industry.” Currently pending before the House Subcommittee on Health, a bill (H.R. 1406) introduced in April 2011 by Representative Jim Matheson (D-Utah) would require FTC to issue rules mandating pet medication prescription portability, which could fundamentally change the way such products are sold in the United States. FTC seeks stakeholder input on issues that would affect a $7 billion per year industry and has extended the public comment period to November 1. An early step in FTC’s investigation, the workshop provided a forum for widely divergent views as veterinary professional advocates and representatives of the animal health industry addressed current practices limiting the distribution of pet medications and the potential impact of a change that would allow consumers to purchase the drugs from a full range…
A recent animal study has reportedly identified a new mechanism by which the brain increases the desire to overconsume sweet and fatty treats like chocolate. Alexandra DiFeliceantonio, et al., “Enkephalin Surges in Dosal Neostriatum as a Signal to Eat,” Current Biology, October 2012. Relying on advanced opioid microdialysis techniques to detect extracellular levels of a neurotransmitter called enkephalin, University of Michigan researchers injected a drug into the neostriatum of rats to stimulate the mu opioid receptors before the animals were permitted to eat M&M candies. The results evidently showed that mu opioid stimulation “potently enhanced consumption of palatable M&M chocolates,” with injected rats “more than doubling total M&M intake.” In addition, the authors’ microdialysis study of the same brain region, which has primarily been linked to movement, purportedly revealed that naturally occurring enkephalin levels “rose to 150% of baseline when the rats were suddenly allowed to eat chocolates.” According to…
A recent study has allegedly linked low doses of bisphenol A (BPA) to reproductive abnormalities in rhesus monkeys. Patricia A. Hunt, et al., “Bisphenol A alters early oogenesis and follicle formation in the fetal ovary of the rhesus monkey,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, September 2012. Seeking to determine whether BPA exposure “could influence [] reproductive longevity and success,” researchers from University of California, Davis, and Washington State University (WSU) sought to approximate human exposure levels by administering BPA to gestating rhesus monkeys via one daily oral dose or a continuous subdermal implant. Their results evidently showed that the egg cell failed to divide properly in both groups of monkeys exposed to BPA, with those in the continuous-dosing group exhibiting further complications in the third trimester as fetal eggs “were not packaged appropriately in follicles, structures in which they develop,” according to a September 24, 2012, WSU press release.…
A recent commentary published in the International Journal of Obesity has dubbed high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) “one of the most misunderstood ingredients,” arguing that studies linking the sweetener’s use to increasing obesity rates tend to rely on temporal associations, “an ecologic fallacy in which group data are extrapolated to individuals.” D.M. Klurfeld et al., “Lack of evidence for high fructose corn syrup as the cause of the obesity epidemic,” International Journal of Obesity, September 2012. In particular, the article’s authors claim that not only did earlier hypotheses fuel misconceptions about “the metabolism and health effects of HFCS,” but more recent research has failed to identify a mechanism by which HFCS affects the body differently than sucrose, “the leading source of fructose in the American diet.” They also note that obesity and diabetes rates have not declined even as HFCS consumption has decreased and that these rates have persisted in areas…
Researchers with the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Kansas Medical Center have published a study claiming that children’s brain scans registered increased activation in the orbitofrontal precortex and inferior prefrontal cortex when the subjects were shown familiar food logos. Amanda Bruce, et al., “Branding and a child’s brain: an fMRI study of neural responses to logos,” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, September 2012. The study’s authors apparently used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with 17 healthy-weight children to gauge their neural reactions to 60 food and 60 non-food logos as opposed to a baseline image created to approximate the logos’ visual properties of color composition and brightness. “Food logos compared to baseline were associated with increased activation in orbitofrontal cortex and inferior prefrontal cortex,” concluded the report. “Compared to nonfood logos, food logos elicited increased activation in the posterior cingulate cortex. Results confirmed that food logos activate…
