A recent study has allegedly backed previous research suggesting that higher exposures to bisphenol A (BPA) may elevate the risk for coronary artery disease (CAD). David Melzer, et al., “Urinary Bisphenol A: A Concentration and Risk of Future Coronary Artery Disease in Apparently healthy Men and Women,” Circulation, February 2012. Relying on data from the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer—Norfolk, .K., researchers evidently compared the urinary BPA concentrations of 758 “initially healthy” participants who later developed CAD, with the BPA measures of 851 participants who did not develop cardiovascular disease. Their findings apparently suggested that respondents with the highest urinary BPA concentrations at the outset were more likely to develop CAD over a 10-year follow-up period, with each 4.56 nanogram per milliliter (ng/Ml) increase in urinary BPA concentration associated with a 13 percent rise in CAD risk. According to the study, these results parallel the “cross-sectional findings in the more…
A recent study has claimed that frequent ice cream consumption parallels “the tolerance observed in drug addiction” by reducing “activation in reward-related brain regions (e.g., striatum).” Kyle Burger and Eric Stice, “Frequency ice cream consumption is associated with reduced striatal response to receipt of an ice cream-based milkshake,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 2012. Researchers apparently used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on 151 healthy-weight adolescents to assess their neural responses upon receipt of a milkshake or a tasteless solution. The results evidently indicated that “milkshake receipt robustly activated the striatal regions,” although the fMRIs of youths who indulged in frequent ice cream consumption showed “a reduced response to milkshake receipt in these reward-centered brain regions.” “These findings suggest that intake of energy-dense foods may contribute to down-regulation of reward circuitry, echoing the effects of frequent drug use,” concluded the study authors, who noted “reduced striatal activation” in subjects…
Based on documents obtained from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Freedom of Information Act, Food & Water Watch has urged the agency not to expand its pilot HACCP-based inspection project, contending that inspections conducted by poultry processing plant employees miss many defects. While USDA hopes to expand the program, claiming it will save the federal government $90 million and eliminate more than 800 inspector positions over three years, Food & Water Watch asserts that consumer health would be compromised by any such expansion. According to the consumer watchdog, USDA’s pilot project, launched in 1998 and involving two dozen slaughter facilities, relies on untrained plant employees to inspect carcasses for food safety and other consumer protection issues. Many of the pilot plants have apparently been granted line speed waivers and have sped up their lines to 200 birds per minute. In plants where USDA inspectors still conduct conventional…
After the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) informed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg that laboratory analyses of soft drinks revealed high levels of 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) in certain caramel colored beverages, the major soft drink manufacturers reported that they were changing the way they manufacture the caramel coloring to address the issue. California added 4-MEI to its list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer (Prop. 65), and the companies had already apparently reformulated products sold there to avoid the need for a Prop. 65 cancer exposure warning. The changes will be expanded throughout the national market even though an FDA spokesperson reportedly indicated in response to CSPI’s claims that a person would have drink in excess of 1,000 cans of soda a day to achieve the levels to which rats were exposed in studies purportedly showing an association with cancer. The American…
A recent Food Policy article titled “Implications of nanotechnology growth in food and agriculture in OECD countries” describes how nanomaterials and ingredients are currently being used in foods, food packaging and agriculture in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and outlines potential challenges that could affect the industry’s growth, health and safety issues and public acceptance. In Canada, commercially available nano products include diet and nutritional supplements, energy drinks and food storage containers. Israeli companies are using nanotechnology to produce canola oil and calcium- and vitamin D- fortified milk. South Korean consumers can purchase their food in nano-silver food containers and can also find nanomaterials used in baby bottles, cutting boards, frying pans, salad bowls, water purifiers, and produce cleaners. In the United States, nanoparticles can be found in fortified fruit juice, diet beverages, food storage, health supplements, bottles, and water purifiers. Nano-herbicides, nano-pesticides and “nonporous zeolites to slow…
Part II of the American Bar Association’s (ABA’s) Nanotechnology Project, this recently released book comprehensively considers, by product category, how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviews nanotechnology-based products. Shook, Hardy & Bacon Agribusiness & Food Safety Attorney James Andreasen was among those practitioners contributing to the work. Among the chapters are “Color Additives,” “Food Additives and Related Substances,” “Dietary Supplements,” “Food and Animal Feed Products,” and “Biological Products.” They address “how FDA can, and to some extent, has, regulated nanomaterials in products falling under its multiple areas of responsibility,” and (i) identify “products that already feature nanomaterials”; (ii) review “FDA’s regulatory program for the specific product category (such as particular pre-market and post-market controls)”; and (iii) discuss “how that program might apply to nanomaterials.”
Restaurateurs Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich have apparently agreed to settle for $5.25 million wage-related claims in a class action filed by waitstaff at their New York City restaurants including Babbo, Bar Jamon, Casa Mono, Del Posto, Esca, Lupa, Otto, and Tarry Lodge. Capsolas v. Pasta Resources Inc., No. 10-5595 (S.D.N.Y., motion for preliminary approval of settlement filed March 5, 2012). Additional information about the suit appears in Issue 361 of this Update. If approved, the settlement would cover attorney’s fees (one-third of the total) and costs, class members’ awards, service payments to the named plaintiffs, and the claim administrator’s fees. The class, consisting of captains, servers, waiters, bussers, runners, back waiters, bartenders, and/or barbacks, will receive a proportional share of the settlement fund “based on the number of hours they worked, the Restaurant at which they worked, the percentage of total tips received during their employment, and whether they opted…
A federal court in South Carolina has dismissed three of four claims in a lawsuit filed by a family farming operation that claims the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) 2008 tomato recall, which later proved unnecessary as the agency conceded that tomatoes were not the source of the Salmonella contamination, caused the farm substantial economic harm. Seaside Farm, Inc. v. United States, No. 11-1199 (D.S.C., decided March 6, 2012). Further details about the litigation appear in Issue 395 of this Update. The court dismissed the plaintiff’s Takings Clause claim, the claim that FDA violated the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act and the defamation claim. The plaintiff’s negligence claim will, however, proceed. While the court suggested that this may actually be a claim for defamation and thus may also be subject to dismissal under the Federal Tort Claims Act, because the defendant did not seek to dismiss on this ground, the court declined…
A federal court in Arkansas has reportedly certified a class of poultry-processing plant workers who allege that the company has violated federal and state employment laws by failing to compensate them for the time they spend donning, doffing and sanitizing required gear and equipment, as well as walking to and from the production floor and performing other job-related duties. Garner v. Butterball, LLC, No. 10 01025 (E.D. Ark., decided February 22, 2012). The plaintiffs apparently demonstrated that their claims met all of the class certification requirements, although the court modified the class definition to account for statutes of limitations applicable to claims filed under the Federal Labor Standards Act and Arkansas Minimum Wage Act. Thus, the class has been defined as hourly production employees who worked at two Butterball plants “at any time since October 1, 2006, through the date of final judgment in this action.” Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court…
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has extended until April 6, 2012, the public comment period for several chemicals, including benzophenone, a substance used in plastic packaging as a UV blocker, that the agency is considering adding to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer (Prop. 65) under the Labor Code mechanism. An interested party apparently requested the extension. Because these are “ministerial listings,” OEHHA has indicated that comments should be limited “to whether the International Agency for Research on Cancer has identified the specific chemical or substance as a known or potential human or animal carcinogen.”
