Wall Street Journal reporters Ashby Jones and Shirley Wang consider in “Obesity Fuels Custody Fights” how family courts have increasingly been asked to determine whether nutrition or obesity should be controlling factors in child-custody lawsuits. According to the article, the issue arises in several guises: sometimes the child is obese; other times a junk food diet is at issue; and in other cases, the parent who seeks custody alleges that the other parent is too overweight to properly care for the child. Noting that in most states the legal standard is the “best interest of the child,” the authors report that some states have recently adopted as criteria the child’s physical and emotional well-being. Family court practitioners reportedly suggest that the obesity issue is typically part of a larger picture and would have to be extreme to overcome rights to maintain close parent-child relationships and to raise a child as…
The Denver Post has published an October 30, 2011, investigative report that examines the record of private auditors hired by manufacturers to ensure food safety. According to the article, “Many of the most notorious food-illness outbreaks in the recent years were preceded by glowing private safety audits of the producers, prompting calls for oversight of auditors and forcing grocery store chains to tighten screening of cantaloupes and other foods.” Highlighting several high-profile food contamination cases that allegedly slipped past third-party audits, the article claims that the latest incident involving Listeria-tainted cantaloupe resulted in 28 fatalities even though the supplier received a “superior” safety rating from its private inspector. “I cannot think of one private audit that I’ve ever seen in 20 years that said, ‘These are bad things, fix them,’” confirmed plaintiffs’ attorney Bill Marler. “A private auditor is not going to list a farm’s flaws, tell it to shut…
A recent article published in Nature Nanotechnology examines how governments, scientists and food companies can better anticipate the public reaction to nanofoods based on lessons learned from the commercialization of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Timothy V. Duncan, “The communication challenges presented by nanofoods,” Nature Nanotechnology, October 2011. Authored by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) research chemist Timothy Duncan, the article argues that individual receptiveness to nanotechnology applications depend, not just on scientific evidence, but on myriad factors such as “cultural worldview, religiosity, governance philosophy, knowledge and familiarity level, trust (in government, scientists or industry), emotion, age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, general knowledge of/attitude towards science, and awareness of previous technology-based controversies.” In particular, Duncan warns that the failure of governments and industry to account for these factors in the past has left consumers even more wary of processes like genetic engineering which are seen, however erroneously, as “tampering with nature.” “Attitudes…
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has issued an October 2011 report claiming that “young people are exposed to a massive amount of marketing for sugar drinks.” Titled Sugary Drink F.A.C.T.S.: Food Advertising to Children and Teens Score, the report apparently analyzes “600 products from 14 companies that contain added sugar,” including full-calorie soda, energy drinks and diet energy drinks, flavored water, sports drinks, iced tea, and diet children’s fruit juices. Researchers also reviewed traditional, digital and in-store marketing, as well as collected data on media exposure and spending from syndicated sources such as Nielsen, comScore Inc. and Arbitron Inc. In particular, the Rudd Center alleges that industry pledges to market fewer sweetened beverages to children have not curbed advertising for these products. Among its key findings, the report concludes that (i) “More than half of sugary drinks and energy drinks market positive ingredients on their packages, and…
Without disclosing any settlement details, Hormel Foods Corp. and a Netherlands-based company have secured a court order dismissing trademark infringement claims involving the labels for canned meat products SPAM® and Prem®. Hormel Foods, LLC v. Zwanenberg Food Group (USA), Inc., No. 11-00774 (D. Minn., order entered November 1, 2011). Additional information about the case appears in Issue 388 of this Update. Hormel brought the action, contending that the defendant had violated the Lanham Act by selling Prem canned meat with a copycat label using Hormel’s distinctive label colors. According to a news source, Prem filed a counterclaim, alleging that the two color label is not distinctive or protectable and that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office improperly registered the trademark in May 2011. See Law360, November 1, 2011.
Contending that the genetically modified (GM) corn in General Mills’ Kix Crispy Corn Puffs® and Honey Kix Crispy Corn Puffs® cereals renders their “All Natural Corn” representations false and misleading, a California resident has filed a putative class action against the company in state court. Lewis v. General Mills, Inc., No. BC472451 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed October 28, 2011). Citing the Cornucopia Institute’s “Cereal Crimes” report, and testing purportedly showing that Kix contains GM corn, the plaintiff seeks to certify a nationwide class of consumers who allegedly relied on the “All Natural” representations, as well as other company indicia of wholesomeness, to purchase products at a premium price and were denied the benefit of their bargain. According to the plaintiff, companies that produce GM crops note that that their genetic makeup has been “altered to exhibit traits that are not naturally theirs,” and the World Health Organization…
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) and other public interest organizations have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), seeking a declaration that the agency’s decision to allow the cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) corn and soybean crops on wildlife refuge lands in the Midwest violated federal environmental laws. Ctr. for Food Safety v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Serv., No. 11-01934 (D.D.C., filed November 2, 2011). The lawsuit involves 66 refuges and wetland management districts encompassing more than 1.2 million acres across eight states. According to the center, the action “marks the latest in a series of successful lawsuits by public interest organizations to stop the planting of GE crops on national wildlife refuges.” The complaint alleges that FWS has entered into cooperative farming agreements with private parties allowing them to farm national wildlife refuge land with GE crops without preparing an environmental impact statement under the…
According to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), Ohio has decided not to pursue regulations that would prohibit dairy producers from including on their labels statements that organic dairy products are made without antibiotics, pesticides or synthetic hormones. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals determined in September 2010 that those parts of the rule involving hormone-free statements violated the First Amendment and remanded the action to the federal district court for further development of the record as to the rule’s ban on composition claims related to antibiotics and pesticides. More details about the court’s ruling appear in Issue 366 of this Update. The trade group stated, “Ohio has now agreed to abandon the rule rather than trying to revive it, recognizing that the First Amendment allows organic dairy products to proudly state that they are produced in accordance with organic standards without the use of synthetic growth hormones, pesticides, or antibiotics.”…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a final rule amending the definitions and standards of classes of poultry ready for market. Effective January 1, 2014, the measure aims to “ensure that the labeling of poultry products is truthful and not misleading.” According to FSIS, poultry classes have been defined mostly by the bird’s age and sex, but improvements in poultry feeding and management have reduced the “grow-out” period for some classes, allowing producers to have the birds ready for sale much quicker. The new classifications, which have been in the rulemaking process since 2003, reflect “more accurately and clearly describe the characteristics of poultry in the market today,” FSIS noted. The new classifications lower the age of poultry ready for market in five classes—roaster or roasting chickens, broiler or fryer chickens, Rock Cornish game hens, capons, and fryer-roaster turkeys. Roaster chickens, for example,…
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) has issued an October 24, 2011, memorandum calling for nationwide testing of pet food “to determine the prevalence of Salmonella” and remove contaminated samples from commerce. According to CVM, regulators are concerned about the transmission of “pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant bacteria to humans and other animals,” as well as the risk that Salmonella-tainted pet food, pet treats and supplements for pets could infect consumers in their homes, where products “are likely to be directly handled or ingested by humans.” CVM has directed investigators to collect and submit non-canned pet food, treats and supplements for analysis, which aims to identify “the serotype, genetic fingerprint, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of each Salmonella found in samples.” The agency will also use these samples for “research purposes” and “providing surveillance information on microbes other than Salmonella.” “Salmonella-contaminated pet foods, pet treats and supplements for pets…
