According to a news source, the families of those who died or became ill from consuming Salmonella-tainted peanut products scheduled a February 11, 2011, press conference to call for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to bring criminal charges against the man who headed the bankrupt Peanut Corp. of America, to which the contamination was allegedly traced. More than 700 people were said to have experienced ill effects during the 2008-2009 outbreak and at least nine died. Former Peanut Corp. CEO Stewart Parnell invoked the Fifth Amendment when called to testify before Congress, and, despite a two-year investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office, no charges have yet been filed. The press conference coincided with a food safety seminar at the American University Washington College of Law at which some of the family members were scheduled to speak along with plaintiffs’ lawyer William Marler, who has represented a number of those allegedly…
According to an advocate general opinion, which is not binding on the European Union (EU) Court of Justice, honey that contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs) due to the proximity of the hives to experimental GMO maize fields is considered a food produced from a GMO and therefore cannot be marketed unless authorized. Heinz Bablock v. Freistaat Bayern, No. C-442/09 (Advocate General’s Opinion, issued February 9, 2011). The case was referred from a German administrative court considering the claim of a beekeeper who alleged that the state of Bavaria had rendered his apicultural products unfit for marketing or consumption by growing the experimental GMO maize near his hives. The maize DNA was apparently detected in samples of his honey. While the advocate general determined that pollen from GMO maize is “no longer viable and is thus infertile” and as such “cannot be regarded as a GMO,” still its presence renders the…
A diabetic man has reportedly filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, seeking at least $4,000 in mental anguish damages from a Studio City sushi restaurant that requires those patrons paying an all-you-can-eat price to eat all of the food served and not just the fish. Martin v. A Ca-Shi Sushi, No. __ (Cal. Super. Ct.). David Martin alleges that restaurant owner Jay Oh is discriminating against diabetics by requiring them to eat the rice along with the sashimi, which Martin picked out and consumed, leaving the rice behind. According to a news source, Oh offered to prepare two orders of sashimi alone for Martin at a cost of $3 less than the all-you-can-eat sushi deal, but Martin refused. Instead, he filed a lawsuit and said he would be willing to settle for $6,000. Oh is reportedly going to fight the litigation even if his legal costs exceed…
Galeos, LLC has been sued in a federal court in California for misrepresenting the nutritional content of its miso-based salad dressings, purportedly advertised on the weight-loss TV show “The Biggest Loser” and promoted as beneficial to health. Healey v. Galeos, LLC, No. 11-00240 (C.D. Cal., filed February 11, 2011). Details about a previous suit with similar allegations filed in the same court appear in Issue 376 of this Update. The plaintiff contends that independent laboratory testing has shown that the label for the company’s Miso Caesar Dressing® understates the calories by 430 percent, the fat by 550 percent and the sodium content by 350 percent. Seeking to certify a nationwide class of consumers, the plaintiff alleges violations of California’s unfair competition and false advertising laws, breach of express warranty and negligent misrepresentation. She also seeks an injunction requiring the publication of corrective nutritional values, compensatory and punitive damages, as well…
A recent study has claimed that, “among formula-fed infants or infants weaned before the age of 4 months, introduction of solid foods before the age of 4 months was associated with increased odds of obesity at age 3 years.” Susanna Huh, et al., “Timing of Solid Food Introduction and Risk of Obesity in Preschool-Aged Children,” Pediatrics, February 2011. Harvard researchers apparently followed 847 children enrolled in a pre-birth cohort study known as Project Vida, using “separate logistic regression models for infants who were breastfed for at least 4 months (‘breastfed’) and infants who were never breastfed or stopped breastfeeding before the age of four months (‘formula-fed’), adjusting for child and maternal characteristics.” The study findings apparently indicated that, among the formula-fed infants only, “introduction of solid foods before 4 months was associated with a six-fold increase in odds of obesity at age 3 years.” “One possible reason why we saw…
A study presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2011 has reportedly linked daily diet soda consumption “to a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and vascular-related deaths.” Led by University of Miami scientist Hannah Gardener, researchers analyzed soft drink consumption for 2,564 people enrolled in the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS), grouping participants into seven categories ranging from those who drank less than one soda of any kind per month, to those who reported daily regular or diet soda consumption. The study results evidently showed that, after an average follow-up of 9.3 years, participants who drank one diet soda every day “had a 61 percent higher risk of vascular events than those who reported no soda drinking.” “This study suggests that diet soda is not an optimal substitute to sugar-sweetened beverages, and may be associated with a greater risk of stroke,” Gardener was quoted as saying. She added,…
Based on a small sample of butter purchased in Texas grocery stores, researchers have concluded that high levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) found in one sample “were likely transferred from contaminated wrapping paper to butter.” Arnold Schecter, et al., “Contamination of U.S. Butter with Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers from Wrapping Paper,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 2011. While they were unable to pinpoint the contamination’s source, the study’s authors suggest that their research can “serve to alert the public, scientists, food processors, and regulatory agencies that relatively high levels of food contamination with emerging POPs [persistent organic pollutants] sometimes occurs.” They call for additional research and spot checks by regulatory agencies “to determine when and where screening for POPs contamination of food is most appropriate and would also help reduce incidence of contaminated food sold to the public.” Meanwhile, in commentary on recent scientific literature involving food contact materials, an assistant University…
New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman tackles the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) latest dietary guidelines in this opinion piece claiming that “the agency’s nutrition experts are at odds with its other mission: to promote our bounty in whatever form its processors make it.” According to Bittman, the guidelines are clearest when promoting “good” foods like fresh produce, but become “vague” when describing what not to eat, often resorting to scientific language and acronyms like SOFAS—Solid Fats and Added Sugars—“to avoid offending meat and sugar lobbies.” “The [USDA] can succeed at its conflicting goals only by convincing us that eating manufactured food lower in SOFAS is ‘healthy,’ thus implicitly endorsing hyper-engineered junk food with added fiber, reduced and solid fats and so on, ‘food’ that is often unimaginably far from its origins,” opines Bittman. “The advice people need is to cook and eat more real food, at the expense…
The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) recently released an updated expert policy report estimating that 340,000 cancer cases in the United States could be prevented each year through “eating a varied and healthy diet, undertaking regular physical activity, being at a healthy weight and limiting alcohol intake.” According to a February 3, 2011, joint press release, positive changes in these lifestyle factors could achieve “significant reductions in particularly common cancers . . . including breast (38 percent of cases), stomach (47 percent of cases) and colon (45 percent of cases).” Reflecting the most recent global incidence data from GLOBOSCAN 2008, these revised estimates evidently square with the World Health Organization’s 2010 Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health, which concluded that “regular physical activity can prevent many diseases such as breast and colon cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes.” In addition, AICR and WCRF have…
A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) economist, writing in the Journal of Consumer Affairs, has reportedly cited the lack of a suitable definition for nanotechnology as an obstacle to the potential labeling of foods and packaging incorporating nanoparticles or materials. According to Jean Buzby, while the National Nanotechnology Initiative defines nanotechnology in terms of size, i.e., “dimensions between approximately 1 and 100nm,” this range “is an arbitrary measure and was not set on any real meaning or relationship between particle size and toxicological effects or kinetics, such as chemical reaction rates.” Buzby apparently opines that the technology’s potential benefits need to be communicated to the public and calls for increased funding for safety research. In a related development, the Carolina Academic Press is reportedly poised to release a law school treatise on nanotechnology titled Nanotechnology Law and Policy Cases and Materials. Authored by Texas Tech University School of Law Professor…
