The National Advertising Division (NAD®) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has reportedly determined that while Gerber Products Co. can justify certain of its baby food advertising claims, others should be modified or discontinued. Competitor Beech-Nut apparently challenged claims pertaining to Gerber’s “Graduates” product line before the industry self-regulatory body. Among other matters, NAD® found that “unique and innovative” claims were substantiated, and that Gerber could continue to make two exclusivity claims: “Only Graduates Lil’ Entrees is designed just for toddlers, with protein, grains, and a side of veggies . . . [o]f items in the Baby Aisle” and Gerber Graduates Healthy Meals are “The only meals designed for preschoolers with protein and a full serving of veggies.” NAD® took issue, however, with “the message conveyed by Gerber’s TV commercials for its Fruit & Veggie Melts. This commercial features a voiceover that claims, ‘the Gerber generation is making their fruit…
University of Turin Law Professor Margherita Poto explores the food safety laws in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong to set the stage for discussing how their regulatory systems may be sufficiently advanced to address the potential challenges posed by the use of nanotechnology in the food sciences. Her article appears in a special edition of the European Journal of Law & Technology devoted to nanotechnology issues. According to Poto, existing risk analysis rules, registration and traceability requirements and premarket approval should adequately ensure the safety of “nano-foods.” She contends, “Mainland China and Hong Kong are seriously committed to strengthen their regulatory framework in order to protect consumers from unsafe food and this commitment can involve the field of nano-foods, as an integrant part of the novel foods regulation. The regulatory framework may allow PRC, as well as Western countries, to reach…
A federal court in Illinois has determined that insurers providing coverage to Phusion Projects, Inc., which makes Four Loko, an alcoholic beverage with large amounts of caffeine and other stimulants, do not have a duty to defend the company in lawsuits alleging injury from intoxication. Netherlands Ins. Co. v. Phusion Projects, Inc., No. 11-1253 (N.D. Ill., decided January 17, 2012). The insurers filed a declaratory judgment action against Phusion claiming that they had no duty to defend or indemnify it in five lawsuits because of an unambiguous exclusion from coverage in the applicable insurance policies. Phusion brought a counterclaim, arguing that they did have a duty to defend it. According to the court, the exclusion applies to any case alleging injury arising from intoxication. Because four of the five cases filed against Phusion involve injury attributable to intoxication, the court found that the insurers have no duty to defend the beverage…
A group of environmentalists is reportedly seeking to qualify a voter initiative in California that would require special labels on foods containing genetically engineered (GE) ingredients. With 504,760 signatures needed by June 4, 2012, to be eligible for the November 6 ballot, the environmentalists claim that the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies have not adequately regulated GE material. “After 20 years of biotech bullying and force-feeding unlabeled and hazardous genetically modified foods to animals and humans—aided and abetted by the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations—a critical mass of food and health activists have decided it’s time to move beyond small skirmishes and losing battles and go on the offensive,” asserted Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Association, one of the organizations supporting the petition. Cummins evidently hopes the initiative will mimic California’s Proposition 65, a 1986 voter initiative that requires consumer warnings about exposures to chemicals known…
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official has declared seafood from the Gulf of Mexico safe for human consumption after 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In December 2011, eight U.S. Senators urged the agency to “publicly and vigorously” defend the safety of Gulf seafood. In a January 11, 2012, FDA blog post, Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael Taylor said that more than 10,000 seafood specimens were tested for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) after the spill and that PAH levels were “100 to 1,000 times below the levels which would raise a health concern.” Taylor added that FDA feels “confident that the levels that were set are safe and protect the health of anyone who eats seafood, including children and pregnant women.”
A recent study has reportedly suggested a link between red and cooked meat consumption and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Carrie Daniel, et al., “Large prospective investigation of meat intake, related mutagens, and risk of renal cell carcinoma,” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 2011. Researchers apparently monitored approximately 492,000 participants over nine years using a “detailed dietary assessment linked to a database of heme iron, heterocyclic amines (HCA), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), nitrate, and nitrite concentrations in cooked and processed meats.” According to the study abstract, the results revealed that participants who consumed approximately 2.2 ounces of cooked red or processed meat per 1,000 calories were 19 percent more likely to be diagnosed with RCC than those consuming less than 0.3 ounces per 1,000 calories. “Red meat intake may increase the risk of RCC through mechanisms related to the cooking compounds BaP and PhIP,” speculated the study’s authors, who…
Researchers have reportedly identified a new threat to North American honeybees after discovering evidence of a parasitic “zombie” fly infestation in some bee populations. Andrew Core, et al., “A New Threat to Honey Bees, the Parasitic Phorid Fly Apocephalus borealis,” PLOS One, January 2012. According to the study, scientists detected a known paper-wasp and bumblebee parasite, the phorid fly Apocephalus borealis, in 77 percent of honeybee hives sampled in the San Francisco area, as well as in commercial hives located in South Dakota and California’s Central Valley. Known to manipulate behavior in other arthropods such as fire ants, phorid flies apparently cause their honeybee hosts to abandon the hive and die, at which point “up to 13 phorid larvae emerge from each dead bee and pupate away from the bee.” The parasite could thus be one of the multiple factors contributing to colony collapse disorder (CCD), suggested the researchers, who also noted…
A recent report issued by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Children’s Food Campaign (CFC) has described online food marketing to children as “pervasive,” with more than 75 percent of websites targeting children with high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) products “linked to a corresponding product or brand page on a social networking site” such as Facebook or Twitter. Titled “The 21st century gingerbread house: How companies are marketing junk food to children online,” the report concluded that 80 percent of 100 food brand websites analyzed between April and July 2011 did not meet the Food Standard Agency’s nutrient profiling standards for advertising during children’s TV programming. In particular, the report highlighted the use of (i) “bespoke websites which appeal to children through the use of language intended for, spoken by or directly to children”; (ii) “brand characters, cartoons and animations which are enormously popular with children”; (iii) “free gifts including…
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity recently published a study claiming that “children are disproportionately targeted by food company Websites using branded computer games, known as advergames,” which allegedly promote “calorie-dense nutrient-poor foods.” Jennifer Harris, et al., “US Food Company Branded Advergames on the Internet: Children’s exposure and effects on snack consumption,” Journal of Children and Media, November 2011. According to the study’s abstract, Rudd Center researchers found that 1.2 million children visit food company advergame sites every month and that “playing these games increases children’s consumption of junk food.”
Putative class actions have been filed in New Jersey and California federal courts against Tropicana Products, Inc., alleging that the company misleads consumers by labeling and marketing its orange juice as “100% pure and natural,” when it actually “undergoes extensive processing which includes the addition of aromas and flavors.” Lynch v. Tropicana Prods., Inc., No. 11-07382 (D.N.J., filed December 19, 2011); Lewis v. Tropicana Prods., Inc., No. 12-00049 (E.D. Cal., filed January 6, 2012). Both plaintiffs seek to certify nationwide classes. The New Jersey plaintiff alleges unjust enrichment, breach of express warranty, violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, and injunctive and declaratory relief. He requests compensatory, treble and punitive damages; prejudgment interest; restitution; injunctive relief; attorney’s fees; and expenses and costs of suit. The California plaintiff, who also seeks to certify a subclass of California consumers, alleges unjust enrichment; breach of express warranty; violation of the state Consumers…
