Claiming that lead levels in candies imported from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong exceed Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) limits, the Center for Environmental Health has reportedly initiated legal proceedings against eight retailers and distributors in San Francisco’s Bay Area. The organization has apparently urged the companies to remove the products from store shelves after testing showed that typical serving sizes would expose consumers to 10 times or more lead than state and federal standards. One candy allegedly contained nearly 100 times more lead than the Prop. 65 limit. According to Center Executive Director Michael Green, “It is especially worrisome when we find lead in candy, since consumers are ingesting the lead with every bite. This candy may be very dangerous, particularly for children or pregnant women.” See Center for Environmental Health News Release, August 7, 2012.
A California court has reportedly dismissed claims filed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) against fast-food chains, finding that the group failed to investigate its allegations before suing under Proposition 65 (Prop. 65). PCRM v. McDonald’s Corp., No. BC383722; PCRM v. KFC Corp., No. BC457193 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., decided August 15, 2012). Filed in 2008 and 2011, the suits alleged that the restaurants failed to warn consumers that their grilled chicken menu items contain PhIP, a chemical known to the state to cause cancer. Yet, PCRM did not apparently visit the restaurants until February 2012 to take pictures of the posted warnings. The restaurants reportedly post notices that some of their products contain cancer-causing chemicals and refer customers to nutritional brochures for additional details. They contend that their warnings comply with Prop. 65. Information about similar litigation filed in San Francisco County appears in Issue…
According to the quarterly Securities and Exchange filing of Monster Beverage Corp., an unnamed state attorney general (AG) subpoenaed company records in July 2012 regarding its energy beverages. The subpoena apparently concerns “the Company’s advertising, marketing, promotion, ingredients, usage and sale of its Monster Energy® brand of energy drinks.” The company further notes, “As the investigation is in an early stage, it is unknown what, if any, action the state attorney general may take against the Company, the relief which may be sought in the event of any such proceeding or whether such proceeding could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition or results of operations.” News sources indicate that Monster had a 35 percent share of the energy drink market in 2011, and at least one financial analyst understands that others in the industry may also be targeted in the probe. While the caffeine in…
A nonprofit family farming organization, the Center for Food Safety and several seed companies have sued the Oregon Department of Agriculture seeking court review and a stay of a temporary rule that would open 1.7 million acres to genetically modified (GM) canola plants. Friends of Family Farmers v. Or. Dep’t of Agric., No. ___ (Or. Ct. App., filed August 15, 2012). The plaintiffs claim that opening formerly protected acreage to GM crops in the Willamette Valley without imposing appropriate buffers would harm them through cross pollination, seed crop contamination, increased pests and disease, and escaped canola weeds. They claim that the rule was adopted under the agency’s temporary rulemaking authority which does not include opportunity for public notice, review and comment. “The critical prerequisite for adopting a temporary rule is the requirement to demonstrate that an agency’s failure to act promptly will result in ‘serious prejudice’ to the public interest or the…
Dole Food Co. has filed a motion to dismiss or strike claims in a putative class action alleging that its food product labels mislead consumers. Brazil v. Dole Food Co., Inc., No. 12-1831 (N.D. Cal., motion filed August 13, 2012). Identifying the plaintiff as a “repeat class representative” who recently received an incentive award in another lawsuit, Dole argues that his claims are preempted under federal law, he lacks standing because he has not been injured, the claims are not plausible, and he has failed to state a claim under California law. The company also notes that the case is “one of 24 (and counting) nearly identical ‘misbranding’ class action cases filed during a 15-week blitz by nine law firms from six different states,” thus making it an “assembly-line” complaint that follows “a common recipe.” In summary, Dole contends, “By this lawsuit, Plaintiff seeks colossal damages, punitive damages, and a nationwide injunction…
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has issued a draft food inspection model as part of its Inspection Modernization: Optimizing Confidence in Food Safety plan. According to CFIA, the modernized approach to food inspection will apply to both imported and domestic commodities and, in addition to the inspection model, rely on modern science, improved data collection and better training and tools for CFIA inspectors. The new draft model apparently favors a risk-based approach to regulatory oversight and covers the following components: (i) licensing and registration, (ii) CFIA oversight, (iii) inspection, (iv) compliance and enforcement, and (v) system performance. In particular, food and beverage manufacturers would need to develop “preventative control plans scalable to the size and complexity of their operation” that “mitigate all sources of food safety risk and demonstrate that the measures effectively meet regulatory requirements.” CFIA would in turn determine the level of required oversight—enhanced, normal or reduced—based…
A recent study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has reportedly registered a significant decrease in the availability of soft drinks in secondary schools but “widespread access to other sugary beverages, such as fruit drinks and sport drinks.” Yvonne Terry McElrath, et al., “Trends in Competitive Venue Beverage Availability: Findings From US Secondary School,” Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, August 2012. After surveying the availability of competitive beverages in 1,900 public middle and high schools from 2006-07 to 2010-11, researchers with the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research reported that the percentage of high school students with access to regular soda fell to 25 percent in 2010-11 from 54 percent in 2006-07, while the percentage of middle schoolers with access to regular soda declined to 13 percent in 2010-11, down from 27 percent in 2006-07. At the same time, however, the survey purportedly revealed that 63 percent of…
A University of Minnesota study has reported that diacetyl (DA), a food additive used to mimic butter flavors, allegedly “intensifies the damaging effects of an abnormal brain protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease,” according to a recent American Chemical Society press release. Swati More, et al., “The Butter Flavorant, Diacetyl, Exacerbates β-Amyloid Cytotoxicity,” Chemical Research in Toxicology, August 2012. After noticing that the structure of DA resembles a substance “that makes beta-amyloid proteins clump together in the brain,” researchers apparently sought to determine whether the food ingredient could also cause the clumping described as “a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.” Their results evidently showed that DA at occupational exposure levels not only increased levels of beta-amyloid clumping but “enhanced beta-amyloid’s toxic effects on nerve cells growing in the laboratory.” Further experiments also suggested that DA “easily penetrated the so-called ‘blood-brain barrier,’ which keeps many harmful substances from entering the brain” and “stopped a…
“In an era of political polarization, Michael Bloomberg has the rare ability to come up with policies that enrage everyone,” opines New Yorker staff writer James Surowiecki in this August 13, 2012, article analyzing the mayor’s plan to prohibit all New York City food vendors from selling sodas in sizes larger than 16 ounces. Surowiecki argues that despite bipartisan disdain for the proposal, Bloomberg’s scheme “makes clever use of what economists call ‘default bias,’” the tendency for consumers to choose certain options not because they reflect actual needs or desires but because they are presented as the default selection within the context of other choices. As Surowiecki recounts, researchers have allegedly shown that people calibrate their consumption habits by outside cues “like the size of a package or a cup” as opposed to feelings of satiety. “And since the nineteen-seventies the portion sizes offered by food companies and restaurants have…
According to Nestlé Australia, some consumers feeding their babies NAN H.A. [hypoallergenic] 1 Gold® infant formula have complained about alleged adverse health effects. A news source indicates that purchasers have reported in online reviews that their children have experienced rashes, dark green stools, dehydration, and vomiting, among other symptoms. Calling product safety and quality a “non-negotiable priority for the company” Nestlé, which has been testing the product, further states on its website that results “to date confirm there is no food safety issue.” The company apparently reformulated the product in 2011, replacing calcium chloride with potassium chloride to produce “a better taste and a smoother texture to the powder,” and otherwise improving its “nutritional profile.” See Nestlé News Release, August 8, 2012; FoodProductionDaily.com, August 9, 2012.
