A California court has reportedly ordered Dole Food Co. to pay about $200,000 in legal fees and costs to Swedish filmmakers whom the company sued for defamation, alleging that their documentary about the lawyer who sued Dole on behalf of Nicaraguan banana plantation workers exposed to the pesticide DBCP implied that the company caused their deaths. Dole Food Co. v. Gertten, No. __ (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., decided November 17, 2010). The filmmakers filed a motion to strike the lawsuit after it was filed in July 2009 on the ground that it constituted a “strategic lawsuit against public participation,” or SLAPP, which is prohibited by state law. Although Dole apparently dismissed its lawsuit voluntarily thereafter, “[t]he potential distributors were concerned because Dole had only dismissed without prejudice. They had the right to re-file the action,” according to the filmmakers’ counsel. While the film has been distributed in 15…
According to a news source, a district court in the District of Columbia has denied a request seeking an order that the Justice Department submit a proposal for settling claims of loan program discrimination filed by female farmers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Instead, the court apparently urged the lawyers representing the litigants to work together to reach an agreement and to report back during a January 14, 2011, status hearing. Unlike recent cases addressing charges that USDA discriminated against African-American (Pigford I and Pigford II) and Native American (Keepseagle v. Vilsack) farmers, Love v. Vilsack reportedly involves putative class claims that have not been certified. Counsel for the women farmers and those representing Hispanic farmers with similar claims (Garcia v. Vilsack) contend that the government’s settlement proposals thus far pale in comparison to the sums agreed to in Pigford ($2.25 billion) and Keepseagle ($680 million). See National Journal Daily, December…
A federal court in Ohio has determined that, for the most part, an “all-risk” insurance policy excludes from coverage the losses sustained by a meat processor whose products were contaminated with Listeria during processing. HoneyBaked Foods, Inc. v. Affiliated FM Ins. Co., No. 08-01686 (N.D. Ohio, W. Div., decided December 2, 2010). Still, the court ordered the parties to prepare a question for certification to the Ohio Supreme Court as to whether, “notwithstanding the failure of the policy to cover the plaintiff’s loss, such loss might be covered” under a reasonable-expectations theory. According to the court, the meat processor was required to destroy about 1 million pounds of fully cooked ham and turkey products after it was discovered that the Listeria found in product samples matched sludge in a hollow roller that was part of the processing plant’s conveyor system. The company sought coverage for the disposed food products and additional losses…
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has reportedly issued a temporary stay of a district court order mandating the destruction of 256 acres of genetically engineered (GE) sugar beet seedlings that were, according to the lower court, planted illegally in September 2010. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Vilsack, No. 10-04038 (N.D. Cal., decided November 30, 2010). Press sources indicate that the Ninth Circuit’s postponement is scheduled to expire December 23, when the court will either allow the crop destruction to proceed or extend the stay until it can thoroughly review an appeal from the lower court order granting the plaintiffs’ motion to remedy violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by pulling the seedlings out of the ground. The seedlings were being grown to produce seed for future Roundup Ready® sugar beet crops, which are resistant to glyphosate, an ingredient in a popular herbicide. GE sugar beet critics contend…
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has overruled Mayor Gavin Newsom’s (D) veto of a bill prohibiting restaurants from offering toy giveaways in children’s meals deemed too high in calories, salt or fat. Under the law, which takes effect in December 2011, restaurants can only provide toys with meals containing fewer than 600 calories and 640 milligrams of sodium, and if fat makes up less than 35 percent of the total calories. In vetoing the measure, Newsom called the legislation an “intrusive and ineffective approach” to combat the problem and “unprecedented governmental intrusion into parental responsibilities and private choices.” But Supervisor Eric Mar (D) told a news source after the November 23, 2010, veto override that parents and health advocates support the measure to help curb childhood obesity. “From the Institutes of Medicine to the World Health Organization, we know that reducing the consumption of junk food by kids could spare…
The United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) board has reportedly changed its position to agree with the European Commission (EC) that food from the offspring of cloned cattle and pigs does not require authorization as “novel foods.” Meeting December 7, 2010, to discuss animal cloning for food production, the FSA board also agreed that “for food safety purposes, mandatory labeling of meat and milk obtained from the descendants of cloned cattle and pigs would be unnecessary and disproportionate, providing no significant food safety benefit to consumers.” According to an FSA press release, the food safety watchdog agreed to advise European Union ministers that “the marketing of products obtained from cloned animals should be subject to authorization as novel foods,” but that it was prepared to adopt EC’s position that offspring of cloned cattle and pigs does not require such authorization. FSA announced that it will seek views from interested parties…
The European Commission (EC) has announced a ban on bisphenol A (BPA) in plastic baby bottles. According to a November 26, 2010, press release, the decision was reached at a meeting of European Union member states that followed “months of discussion and exchange of views between the Commission’s services, the European Food Safety Agency, member states and the industry.” The measure prohibits member states from manufacturing the bottles with BPA starting on March 1, 2011, and selling and importing them as of June 1. John Dalli, commissioner in charge of health and consumer policy, reportedly raised concerns after recent studies claimed to show BPA could be harmful to infants. “The decision is good news for European parents who can be sure that as of mid-2011 plastic infant feeding bottles will not include BPA,” he was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, a UK expert has criticized the move, telling a news source…
The European Commission’s (EC’s) Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks has approved a definition for “nanomaterial” as a basis for future regulatory safety evaluations and risk assessments. The committee concluded that size is the most relevant consideration in defining the term, and that no scientific justification exists to prefer any specific size limit other than the range from 1 to 100 nanometers. According to the committee, “size influences bio-distribution (and distribution kinetics) in an organism or in an ecosystem which should be taken into consideration in the risk assessment of nanomaterials.” The committee decided not to distinguish between natural and manufactured nanomaterials in its definition.
Saying the European Union’s (EU’s) citizen initiative procedure, created under the Lisbon Treaty, is “not yet valid,” EU Health Commissioner John Dalli has reportedly dismissed on procedural grounds the submission of 1.03 million citizens taking part in a campaign to compel the European Commission (EC) to prohibit genetically modified (GM) crops until an “independent ethical, scientific body” assesses their impact. This first effort to activate the Lisbon pact’s rules allowing one million citizens to propose legislation was apparently initiated in May 2010 after the EC decided to grant the first EU GM cultivation approval. According to one of the organizations responsible for the anti-GM campaign, “European citizens have given the Commission more than a million reasons to listen to the public and act with precaution rather than cave to the private interests of a handful of GM companies who are influencing Europe’s agricultural future.” Dalli indicated that he would take…
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has issued a report revising the dietary reference intakes (DRIs) for vitamin D and calcium, while warning that “too much of these nutrients may be harmful.” At the request of the U.S. and Canadian governments, the IOM Food and Nutrition Board assessed more than 1,000 vitamin D and calcium studies related to a range of health outcomes, “including but not limited to cancer, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, falls, immune response, neuropsychological functioning, physical performance, preeclampsia, and reproductive outcomes.” Although evidence apparently substantiated “the importance of vitamin D and calcium in promoting bone growth and maintenance,” it did not confirm any “benefits beyond bone health—benefits often reported in the media.” The new DRIs provide nutrient guidelines based on estimated average requirements, recommended dietary allowances and upper level intakes for different age groups. According to IOM, “Most Americans and Canadians up to age…
