Chinese authorities have reportedly seized more than 25 tons of melamine-tainted milk powder from Chongqing-based Jixida Food Co. Ltd., detaining three suspects on allegations that the company planned to use the adulterated ingredient in its ice cream. Found in a warehouse, the contaminated stock evidently included some powder purchased approximately one year ago, although officials claimed that none had been used in ice cream production. According to media sources, investigators have traced the milk powder to a trading company in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and a dairy in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The arrests were apparently part of a 100-day food safety campaign organized by the Chongqing police. In 2008, China faced a widespread scandal involving melamine-tainted milk and infant formula that affected an estimated 300,000 people. See The Associated Press and Global Times, April 27, 2011.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the availability of updated safety standard guidelines for the seafood industry. The 476-page document “supports and complements FDA’s regulations for the safe and sanitary processing and importing of fish and fishery products using hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) methods” required of commercial seafood processors. The revised guidance provides current information on (i) “potential hazards associated with the known commercial species of vertebrate and invertebrate seafood,” (ii) “potential hazards associated with certain processing operations,” (iii) “HACCP strategies that may be used to control the potential hazards,” and (iv) “other information related to food safety.” See Federal Register, April 28, 2011.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released its proposed voluntary principles for marketing food to children in an effort to encourage “stronger and more meaningful self-regulation by the food industry.” Designed by an FTC-led interagency working group with input from the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Department of Agriculture, the guidelines seek “to improve the nutritional profiles of foods marketed directly to children ages 2-17 and to tap into the power of advertising and marketing to support healthful choices.” To this end, the preliminary standards would require that, by 2016, all products marketed to this age group (i) “make a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet” and (ii) “contain limited amounts of nutrients that have a negative impact on health or weight (saturated fats, trans fat, added sugars, and sodium).” To meet the first principle, marketed foods must feature “at least one of…
A recent study by the Arizona-based Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGRI) has reportedly identified Staphylococcus aureus in 47 percent of meat and poultry samples obtained from retail stores, with 52 percent of the contaminated samples testing positive for multidrug-resistant S. aureus. Andrew Waters, et al., “Multidrug-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in U.S. Meat and Poultry,” Clinical Infectious Diseases, April 2011. According to a summary of the study, which received funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts, researchers collected 136 samples of ground beef, chicken breasts and thighs, ground pork and pork chops, and ground turkey and turkey cutlets from 26 retail stores in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, and Flagstaff. The results purportedly indicated that S. aureus contaminated “a substantial portion of samples from all meat and poultry types (37-77%), with a notable 52% of isolates being multidrug resistant” to antimicrobials such as tetracycline, ampicillin, penicillin, and erythromycin, among others. “The…
The University of California, Davis, Olive Center and Australian Oils Research Laboratory have issued an April 2011 report on olive oils sold in California, concluding that 73 percent of sampled oils allegedly fell short of International Olive Council (IOC) standards for extra-virgin oil. Building on a July 2010 report, the latest results were based on two IOC-accredited sensory panels, which analyzed 134 samples from eight brands sold in three different California regions. According to the report, the two panels concluded that: (i) “Of the five top-selling imported ‘extra virgin’ olive oil brands in the United States, 73 percent of the samples failed the IOC sensory standards”; (ii) “All of the oil samples passed the IOC chemistry standards for free fatty acids (FFA), fatty acid profile (FAP) and peroxide value (PV), but several of the imported samples failed the IOC’s ultraviolet absorption (UV) tests”; (iii) “70 percent of the samples from…
“Forty years before it was removed from paint, pediatricians had enough evidence of lead’s ability to maim children’s brains—catastrophically and irreversibly—to warrant discussion in a medical textbook,” opines Sandra Steingraber in the March/April 2011 edition of Orion Magazine, where she posits that not only is the developing brain more vulnerable than the adult brain to social and nutritional environments, but “that neurotoxins can act in concert with each other” and “that the chemicals designed to act as neurobiological poisons—the organophosphate pesticides—truly do so.” In addition to summarizing studies on the effect of lead, arsenic, mercury, and other substances on developmental health, Steingraber highlights the latest research suggesting that organophosphate pesticides created to attack “the nervous systems of insect pests…have the same effect in humans,” interfering with “the recycling of the neurotransmitter acetycholine, one of the messaging signals that flow between neurons.” In particular, she cites studies purportedly showing that “organophosphate…
An April 21, 2011, New York Times article targets the online marketing techniques allegedly used by food companies “to build deep ties with young consumers,” claiming that “multimedia games, online quizzes and cellphone apps” have become “part of children’s daily digital journeys, often flying under the radar of parents and policy makers.” The Times highlights the efforts of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) and Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Childhood Obesity, which have backed strict regulation in lieu of the current voluntary measures. “Food marketers have tried to reach children since the age of the carnival barker, but they’ve never had so much access to them and never been able to bypass parents so successfully,” said CCFC Director Susan Linn. According to the article, the groups have called for rules similar to those governing children’s TV that require “a buffer between ads and programs so that…
The company that makes gourmet cookies sold as “One Smart Cookie™” has filed a trademark infringement and unfair competition lawsuit against a company that makes organic cookies sold as the “Original Smart Cookie.” Jimmy’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, LLC v. Nature’s Select Food Group, LLC, No. 11-01 (D.N.J., filed April 15, 2011). According to the plaintiff, the defendant sought to register its mark, which the plaintiff opposed, and registration was refused. Still, the defendant allegedly continues to use the name “Original Smart Cookie.” The plaintiff alleges infringement of federal trademark registration, false designation of origin and unfair competition under state and federal statutes, and common-law unfair competition. Jimmy’s Chocolate Chip Cookies seeks injunctive relief, an accounting of profits, compensatory and punitive damages, and attorney’s fees and costs.
Clos LaChance Wines has filed a complaint in a California federal court seeking a declaration that “Mommy” is not a protected trademark when used on a wine label and that the company’s domestic wine products, “MommyJuice White Wine” and “MommyJuice Red Wine,” do not infringe defendant’s “Mommy’s Time Out®” imported wines. Clos LaChance Wines, LLC v. Selective Wine Estates, Inc., No. 11-1848 (N.D. Cal., filed April 18, 2011). Clos LaChance apparently began using its label in August 2010; it includes an image of a woman with four arms juggling a computer, house, cell phone, and teddy bear. Selective Wines, whose label contains an image of an empty chair facing a corner alongside a small table with a bottle and wine glass, purportedly sent a demand letter to Clos LaChance accusing it of infringing Selective’s trademark and demanding that Clos LaChance cease and desist from using the name “MommyJuice” in connection with…
A Florida resident has alleged in a putative class action that Kraft Foods and Hormel Foods deceive the public by selling their prepackaged retail sandwich meat products in a way that suggests they contain far less fat than they actually do. Kuenzig v. Kraft Foods, Inc., No. 11-00838 (M.D. Fla., filed April 18, 2011). The companies allegedly state on their product labels that the sliced ham, turkey and other deli-style meats are 95, 96, 97, or 98 percent fat-free and juxtapose this information with a calorie count per serving. According to the plaintiff, this leads consumers to believe that of the 50 calories in a serving, for example, less than 5 percent comes from fat. Because the products could actually derive one-half of their calories from fat, the plaintiff contends that health-conscious consumers “will continue to be surprised to learn that Products they’ve purchased—and perhaps have repurchased for years—are about ten…
