An administrative law judge (ALJ) has upheld some of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) allegations that POM Wonderful violated federal law by making deceptive claims in some advertisements that the company’s pomegranate juice and related products treat, prevent, or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction. In re: POM Wonderful LLC, No. 9344 (FTC, decided May 17, 2012). The ALJ’s initial decision is deemed the decision of the FTC 30 days after it is served on the parties, unless appealed or placed on FTC’s docket on its own motion. According to the ALJ, some, but not all, of POM’s ads could be interpreted as containing an “implied claim” that the company’s products treat, prevent or reduce the risk of some diseases and that “these effects were clinically proven.” The ALJ also determined that (i) “the appropriate level of substantiation for claims that a product treats, prevents,…
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has fined a Kensington, South Australia, olive oil manufacturer a total of A$13,200 for marketing its products as “extra virgin” even though they purportedly did not meet international grade standards. According to a May 18, 2012, ACCC press release, The Big Olive Company Pty Ltd over a four-month period “supplied nearly three thousand 500ml bottles of ‘Oz Olio’ oil with a representation of extra virgin olive oil on the front label.” The commission has since alleged that some of these oils contained “more free fatty acids than permitted by olive oil trade standards,” indicating that the “olives used to make the oil were old, damaged or otherwise of poor quality and the oil was not extra virgin olive oil at the time of bottling.” ACCC apparently decided to test four imported oils and three domestic labels after receiving complaints from the Australian Olive…
The European Food Safety Authority’s Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (EFSA GMO Panel) has issued an opinion on the French government’s move to prohibit the planting of a certain GM maize variety, concluding that “there is no specific scientific evidence, in terms of risk to human and animal health or the environment, that would support the notification of an emergency measure under Article 34 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003.” According to EFSA, which noted that most of the studies cited by French authorities were recycled from a 2008 submission on the same topic, the agency was unable to identify “any new science-based evidence” to support the country’s ongoing ban. Citing risks to environmental health, French Agricultural Minister Bruno Le Maire in March 2012 reinstated a ban against this particular variety of GM maize after French courts overturned a previous emergency measure. As one spokesperson explained to media sources, however, EU…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a public meeting titled “International Capacity Building with Respect to Food Safety.” Scheduled for June 19, 2012, in Washington, D.C., the meeting will highlight “FDA’s comprehensive plan to expand the technical, scientific, and regulatory capacity of foreign governments and their respective food industries in countries that export foods to the United States.” Under the auspices of the Food Safety Modernization Act, the capacity-building plan seeks input from food industry representatives, federal and foreign government officials, consumer organizations, and other stakeholders. The plan seeks (i) “[r]ecommendations for bilateral and multilateral arrangements and agreements, including providing for responsibilities of exporting countries to ensure food safety”; (ii) “[p]rovisions for secure electronic data sharing”; (iii) “[p]rovisions for mutual recognition of inspection reports”; (iv) “[t]raining of foreign governments and food producers on U.S. requirements for safe food”; (v) “[r]ecommendations on whether and how to harmonize requirements under…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a notice requiring inspectors to make establishments aware of how to comply with a May 8, 2012, final rule on misbranded meat and poultry. The rule requires establishments to prepare and maintain recall procedures, notify FSIS within 24 hours when adulterated or misbranded meat and poultry products that could harm consumers have entered the marketplace and document their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system food safety plans. The final rule was discussed in Issue 439 of this Update.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a June 5, 2012, public meeting in Washington, D.C., to provide information and receive comments on draft U.S positions to be discussed at the 35th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission on July 2-7 in Rome, Italy. Agenda items include revocation of existing Codex standards, proposals for the elaboration of new standards and for the discontinuation of work, general implementation status, and a draft Codex strategic plan for 2014-2019. See Federal Register, May 24, 2012.
The Alabama State Legislature has reportedly passed a bill (HB 242) that would prohibit lawsuits “based on claims arising out of weight gain, obesity, a health condition associated with weight gain or obesity, or other generally known condition allegedly caused by or allegedly likely to result from long-term consumption of food.” Sponsored by Representative Mike Jones (R-Andalusia), the Commonsense Consumption Act would evidently bar civil actions on these grounds against “packers, distributors, carriers, holders, sellers, marketers, or advertisers of food products that comply with applicable statutory or regulatory requirements.” According to the May 18, 2012, issue of Capitol Retail Report, the Alabama Senate voted 29-0-2 in favor of the bill on the final day of the legislative session, delivering it to Governor Robert Bentley (R) for signature.
A recent analysis of scientific literature has argued in favor of reclassifying obesity as an addictive disorder based on criteria described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association, version IV, in part because such a reclassification would help initiate policy changes aimed at curbing “the obesity epidemic.” Patricia Allen, et al., “Rationale and Consequences of Reclassifying Obesity as an Addictive Disorder: Neurobiology, Food Environment and Social Policy Perspectives,” Physiology & Behavior, May 2012. Concluding that previous research supports its contention that “common dietary obesity satisfy [sic] all DSM criteria for an addictive disorder,” the article draws parallels between “Big Tobacco” and “Big Food” to suggest that strategies used to reduce smoking rates, such as increased taxation and limits on advertising, could be valid policy models for addressing “food addiction/food dependence.” In particular, the study urges lawmakers and other policy makers to view obesity…
A study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and AARP has reportedly found that older adults who drank either caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee “had a lower risk of death overall than others who did not drink coffee,” according to a May 16, 2012, NIH press release. Neal Freedman, et al., “Association of Coffee Drinking with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality,” New England Journal of Medicine, May 2012. After analyzing data from 400,000 men and women ages 50 to 71 who participated in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, researchers evidently concluded that coffee drinkers “were less likely to die from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections, although the association was not seen for cancer.” In particular, the study’s authors noted that the “association between coffee and reduction in risk of death increased with the amount of coffee consumed,” as subjects who reported consuming three or…
A study published in Marine Policy has claimed that many fish stocks certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Friends of the Sea (FOS) are nevertheless overfished or subject to overfishing as defined by the international standards accepted by both certifying organizations. Rainer Froese and Alexander Proelss, “Evaluation and legal assessment of certified seafood,” Marine Policy, May 2012. The two researchers apparently examined data from 71 MSC-certified stocks and 76 FOS-certified stocks to determine how many fish were present in each stock and how many were being removed. They ultimately found that, of the fishing stocks with available status information, 19 percent of those certified by FOS and 31 percent certified by MSC were overfished or subject to ongoing overfishing. According to the study, a stock is deemed “overfished” if its biomass falls below “the level that can produce the maximum sustainable yield” or “subject to overfishing”…
