According to a news source, a prosecutor in Florida appears willing to accept an insanity defense in the case of a man who murdered his father while depressed, sleep-deprived and under the purported influence of an energy drink. A psychiatrist reportedly testified during a bond reduction hearing that defendant Stephen Coffeen, who allegedly smothered his father in 2009, suffered a “psychotic break” that was “accelerated by his use of Red Bull.” The defendant’s brother, Thomas Coffeen, is apparently skeptical about the defense, writing to the court, “since when is being tired, and high on an energy drink, an excuse for cold blooded murder, anyway?” The court has denied bond and set another hearing in the case for February 17, 2011. See St. Petersburg Times, February 7, 2011.
The parties litigating whether Welch Foods, Inc. falsely labeled its “100% Juice White Grape Pomegranate flavored 3 juice blend” beverage have filed a stipulation of settlement in a California federal court. Burcham v. Welch Foods, Inc., Nos. 09-05946 and 10-01427 (C.D. Cal., filed February 7, 2011). Under the agreement, a nationwide class of consumers would release their claims in return for refunds and coupons for replacement products, depending on whether they can prove that they purchased the product. The company would place coupons for free juice products in Sunday newspapers throughout the United States at a total value of $30 million. While Welch’s continues to maintain that the labeling claims are preempted by federal law and that the company has complied in all respects with federal law, it also claims that it lost money selling the white grape pomegranate juice. Acknowledging the difficulties in locating class members, Welch’s has also…
Adams Extract & Spice has sued Van de Vries Spice Corp. in a New Jersey federal court alleging damages in excess of $75,000 due to a 2009 spice recall involving ground red pepper allegedly contaminated with Salmonella. Adams Extract & Spice, LLC v. Van de Vries Spice Corp., No. 11-00720 (D.N.J., filed February 8, 2011). Apparently, Van de Vries sold 11,000 pounds of the spice to Adams Extract which then incorporated it into various products sold under its brand name. After learning about the contamination risk, Adams Extract issued a product recall that allegedly “resulted in significant damages to Adams Extract.” Alleging negligence by failure to comply with Food and Drug Administration standards, breach of contract, breach of warranty, and strict product liability, Adams Extract seeks compensatory damages, interest, costs, and delay damages.
Ruling on a request by a non-governmental organization (NGO), two supreme court justices in India have reportedly asked the government to remove food and soft drink company representatives from food-safety standards and enforcement panels. According to the justices, the industry representation clearly breaches the mandate of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Under the law, government panel members must be independent scientific experts who may consult with the food industry and consumers before adopting standards regulating the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import of food products. The NGO had reportedly sought a scientific investigation into the contents of soft drink beverages, claiming that their consumption is a major cause of adolescent obesity. An industry spokesperson apparently responded by calling obesity a rich man’s problem in a country where more than a third of the population lives below the poverty line. He cited the Indian Council for Medical Research, which…
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has denied a plaintiff’s motion to centralize several lawsuits involving recalled infant formula, purportedly contaminated with insects, before a multidistrict litigation (MDL) court for pretrial proceedings. In re: Abbott Labs., Inc., Similac Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 2211 (J.P.M.L., decided February 4, 2011). The panel noted that while it had centralized food-product contamination lawsuits in the past, it would not be appropriate to do so here because individual issues predominated over common ones. According to the panel, “discovery and motion practice may be expected to concern (1) the particular product each plaintiff purchased, (2) any injuries that consumption of the product caused, (3) whether the product contained beetles or beetle larvae, and/or (4) what advertising or other representations were made to each particular plaintiff (and, relatedly, whether the plaintiff relied upon those representations).” Still, the panel encouraged the parties to pursue a voluntary coordination strategy,…
Utah State Representative Bill Wright (R-Holden) has reportedly introduced legislation (H.B. 365) that would exempt from federal regulation all foods grown and consumed within the state’s borders. He was quoted as saying, “Within the state, it’s state’s rights. We already have regulations over those items. We function well now. We don’t think they have a right or authority to regulate those items that are not in interstate commerce, as long as they’re grown within the state, packaged in the state and remain in the state.” A Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) spokesperson apparently responded by claiming that the politician was “playing to people’s fears and misrepresenting the facts and doing it for political purposes.” According to CSPI, Utah merited a “D” grade for its ability to detect contaminated food outbreaks. Some produce and livestock farmers echoed Wright’s concerns, contending that regulations and inspections add costs to their…
Massachusetts public health regulators have reportedly approved proposed rules that would prohibit public schools from selling sweetened soft drinks, salty and calorie-laden packaged snacks, and white bread sandwiches as a way to combat childhood obesity. Effective in the 2012-13 school year, the proposed regulations need the approval of the state’s Public Health Council, which is expected to consider the issue in spring 2011. According to a news source, the proposed regulations would apply to a la carte lines, snack shops and vending machines, but not main cafeteria lines. “You don’t want to be feeding kids a bunch of sugar or low-nutrient foods and expect them to be well-prepared to learn,” said Jill Carter, executive director of the Health and Wellness Department in Boston’s public schools. See The Boston Globe, February 10, 2011.
The German Cabinet has reportedly approved an action plan proposed byFood, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner that incorporates “tighter rules for dioxin checks into the Food and Feed Code (LFGB)” and proposes several statutory changes to feed production regulations. A response to dioxin-tainted animal feed that temporarily disrupted the European Union’s (EU’s) egg, poultry and pork supply, this early warning system will “enable the supervisory authorities in Germany to respond in a quicker and more targeted manner,” said Aigner, who has vowed “to promote these rules at EU-level. “ The new rules require German food and feed manufacturers “to report all test results on dioxins and similar problem substances to the competent authorities,” who will verify the information and act “immediately” if necessary, and directs private laboratories to “automatically report alarming measurement results of undesired substances that are hazardous to health in foods and animal feed.” According to…
The European Committee for Standardization has approved a single-test method that can detect nine different sweeteners and their dosages in drinks, and canned and bottled fruits. Developed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Center’s (JRC’s) Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, the method sets national standards for European Union (EU) member states, Croatia, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland to evaluate sweetener levels in imported foodstuffs and those produced within the EU. Using a high-performance “liquid chromatographic with evaporative light scattering detection,” the method can simultaneously test for six EU authorized sweeteners: acesulfame-K (ACS-K), aspartame (ASP), cyclamic acid (CYC), saccharin (SAC), sucralose (SUC), and neohesperidine dihydrochalcone (NHDC). It can also test for three non-authorized sweeteners: neotame (NEO), alitame (ALI) and dulcin (DUL). According to JRC, the method “can provide several pieces of information which are needed to correctly label the food. It can provide whether or not the non-authorized or the authorized…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has requested comments on two petitions for rulemaking submitted by animal rights groups seeking reformed regulations concerning “the disposition of non-ambulatory disabled” livestock at slaughter. FSIS also plans to clarify its requirements for “condemned non-ambulatory disabled cattle at official slaughter establishments.” The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) apparently asked FSIS to “repeal a provision in its ante-mortem inspection regulations that permits veal calves that are unable to rise from a recumbent position and walk because they are tired or cold to be set apart and held for treatment.” Current provisions allow those calves, if found free of disease, “to proceed to slaughter if they are able to rise and walk after being warmed or rested” and ultimately processed for human food. HSUS has petitioned the agency to amend the regulations “to require that non-ambulatory disabled veal calves be…
