The North Carolina State Health Plan (SHPNC) has reportedly approved fee increases for state employees who use tobacco or whose body mass index (BMI) qualifies them as obese. Under the new arrangement, private contractors hired by SHPNC will monitor workers’ weight and take saliva samples to test for cotinine, a nicotine derivative. The plan requires tobacco users to enroll in a more expensive insurance plan by July 2010, while members with a BMI exceeding 40 have until July 2011 to improve their overall health before seeing a cost increase. According to SHPNC, these fees will help alleviate budget shortfalls that last year necessitated an emergency infusion of $250 million to cover claims. “Tobacco use and poor nutrition and inactivity are the leading causes of preventable deaths in our state,” an SHPNC spokesperson told reporters. “We need a healthy workforce in this state. We’re trying to encourage individuals to adopt healthy…
California and Michigan have adopted laws that animal welfare groups have reportedly heralded as landmark legislation. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.) signed a bill (S.B. 135) prohibiting tail docking of dairy cows, a “ common and cruel mutilation,” according to the Humane Society of the United States. The California bill takes effect January 1, 2010. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) signed a bill (H.B. 5127) requiring that certain farm animals be provided enough room to stand up, turn around and extend their limbs rather than being confined in cages that impede their movement. “All animals deserve humane treatment, including those raised for food,” said the head of the humane society about the Michigan bill, which phases out veal crates for calves within three years, and battery cages for laying hens and gestation crates for breeding sows within 10 years. See Humane Society of the United States Press Releases, October 12, 2009.
Connecticut Attorney General (AG) Richard Blumenthal has announced that his office will be investigating “a potentially misleading national food label program that deems mayonnaise, sugar-laden cereals and other nutritionally suspect foods ‘Smart Choices.’” Targeting Hellman’s Real mayonnaise (light and non-light), Breyer’s ice cream, processed cereals, and Lipton beverages bearing the symbol, Blumenthal is seeking information from the organizations administering the program and major food companies that make the products. According to his press release, information sought includes “the consumer research and selection criteria driving the Smart Choice program; the process and fees involved in administering the program; and any payments or developmental role that major food manufacturers might have provided for the program.” Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale, is quoted as saying, “It is very important that consumers have truthful and non-deceptive nutrition information if they are to make informed choices.”…
Led by a University of Massachusetts biology professor, more than 30 scientists have reportedly written to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to express concern about the agency’s plans to further study the health effects of bisphenol A (BPA), a plasticizer ubiquitous to food packaging that has apparently been subject to more than 900 studies. According to the researchers, many of whom have participated on government BPA health-effects panels, “FDA’s plans to spend significant time and money on a very well researched chemical are disturbing.” The agency has indicated that it will issue a new opinion on the chemical’s safety by November 30, 2009, and the scientists note that FDA plans to spend $7 million on new BPA research in the interim. Not only are they concerned about the quality of the planned research, which calls for BPA to be tested on a rat strain insensitive to BPA at low levels,…
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report prepared in response to congressional inquiries about the current system for ensuring the safety of imported foods. Titled “Agencies Need to Address Gaps in Enforcement and Collaboration to Enhance Safety of Imported Food,” the report focuses on Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, and state regulators responsible for the safety of foods imported from more than 150 countries and territories. GAO discusses the contamination outbreaks recently associated with imported foods and notes that steps federal agencies have already taken are falling short because (i) their “computer systems do not share key information”; (ii) “FDA has limited authority to ensure importer compliance”; (iii) “CBP and FDA do not provide unique identification numbers to firms”; and (iv) “CBP faces challenges in managing in-bond shipments,” i.e., “those that move…
A new Rand Corporation study claims that South Los Angeles’ 2008 ban on new or expanded fast-food restaurants is unlikely to improve residents’ diets or reduce obesity because the area actually has a lower concentration of these establishments per capita than other areas of the city. Researchers apparently discovered that South Los Angeles has an abundance of small food stores and other food outlets where residents consumed significantly more “discretionary” calories from sugary or salty snacks and soft drinks compared to residents of wealthier neighborhoods. The ban, approved by the Los Angeles City Council in August 2008, “may have been an important first by being concerned with health outcomes, but it is not the most promising approach to lowering the high rate of obesity in South Los Angeles,” the study’s lead author was quoted as saying. “It does not address the main differences we see in the food environment between Los…
In the first of a series of reports, this article discusses the sugar beet growers from Oregon’s Willamette Valley involved in litigation that has, to date, successfully challenged U.S. Department of Agriculture decisions to deregulate genetically modified (GM) sugar beets without conducting appropriate environmental impact assessments. Organic farmers risk the loss of their EU markets if their crops become contaminated with GM strains, and GM farmers have apparently been unwilling to flag the location of their fields, fearing ecoterrorism and burned crops. The standoff reportedly led to the litigation which was brought by the Center for Food Safety, whose executive director is quoted as saying, “Every farmer should have the right to grow non-GMO crops and not fear contamination. Farmers shouldn’t be out there in constant fear that they’re going to be contaminated.” The article notes that while Europeans have been resistant to GM crops, U.S. consumers are largely unaware…
Shortly after Canada filed its challenge to U.S. country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements, Mexico apparently followed suit, asking the World Trade Organization (WTO) to establish a panel to undertake a dispute settlement process. Mexico’s agricultural authority reportedly contends that the rules may unfairly discriminate against the country’s meat industry by requiring U.S. meat processors to segregate imported meats. This has allegedly led some U.S. processors to stop buying meat from Mexico or Canada. The panel request is reportedly scheduled to be considered during an October 23, 2009, meeting of WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body. See Product Liability Law 360, October 12, 2009.
A coalition of dairy farmers from the northeastern United States has reportedly filed a putative class action against the Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and Dean Foods Co., alleging that they have monopolized the distribution of fluid milk in the Northeast, fixed prices and created an economic crisis in the industry. Allen v. DFA, No. ___ (D. Vt., filed October 8, 2009). Similar litigation is reportedly pending in a federal court in Tennessee. According to plaintiffs’ counsel, “Many dairy farmers have been forced to choose between joining DFA or DMS [Dairy Marketing Services] or going out of business. If they join, they have to pay a fee to continue to market to their own customers at prices fixed by DFA, DMS and other cooperatives. Meanwhile major milk processors Dean and HP Hood, which is part-owned by DFA, enjoy the economic benefits.” He also reportedly said that the anticompetitive milk distribution…
GMA will conduct a conference in Austin, Texas, February 23-25, 2010, titled “2010 Food Claims & Litigation Conference: Emerging Issues in Food-Related Litigation.” Among those scheduled to speak are Shook, Hardy & Bacon Partners Amy Crouch, Greg Fowler, Paul La Scala, and Frank Rothrock. Crouch and Fowler will discuss “Trends in Global Food Litigation: Class Actions and Collective Redress,” while La Scala and Rothrock will focus on “Mass Tort 911: The Company’s Been Sued! Now What.” Shook, Hardy & Bacon is among the firms sponsoring the conference, which is intended to give those in the food industry practical “how-to” product litigation management strategies.
