The Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, released reports at a July 8, 2009, congressional subcommittee hearing that called for bottled water to be labeled with the same level of information as municipal water products. The GAO report stated that federal safety protections are often less stringent for bottled water than tap water, recommending at a minimum that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) require bottlers to tell consumers ways of obtaining comprehensive information about the source of their products and compliance with applicable regulations. The EWG report included a survey claiming that all but a few bottled-water companies do not list the sources of their bottled water and how it was treated. EWG reportedly urged Americans to make bottled water “a distant second choice” to filtered tap water because of the lack of information about bottled water. “If the…
The Food Safety Working Group (FSWG) created by President Barack Obama (D) has unveiled a “new, public health-based approach to food safety based on three core principles: prioritizing prevention; strengthening surveillance and enforcement; and improving response and recovery,” according to a July 7, 2009, White House press release. Chaired by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, FSWG has set in motion several new strategies to advance these principles, including plans to (i) tighten standards governing the safety of eggs, poultry and turkey; (ii) increase inspections at beef facilities; (iii) issue new industry guidance for leafy greens, melons and tomatoes; (iv) build a trackback and response system incorporating “clearer industry guidance, a new unified command system and improved use of technology to deliver individual food safety alerts to consumers”; and (v) strengthen the organization of federal food safety functions. FSWG…
A recent study has reportedly claimed that exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) at levels currently considered safe for humans can allegedly cause “significant reproductive health effects” in rats. Heather B. Adewale, et al., “Neonatal bisphenol-A exposure alters rat reproductive development and ovarian morphology without impairing activation of gonadotropin releasing hormone neurons,” Biology of Reproduction, June 17, 2009. Researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and North Carolina State University reported that female rats experienced early onset puberty when given a BPA dose of 50 micrograms per kilogram of body weight (µg/kg) during the first four days of life, while those exposed to BPA levels of 50 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (mg/kg) “developed significant ovarian malformations and premature loss of their estrus cycle.” According to the lead researcher, “The 50 mg/kg level is important because it is equivalent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s [EPA’s] ‘Lowest…
“Over the years… I’ve become nostalgic for an occasional bug in my salad, for an apple that feels as if it were designed by God rather than by a committee,” writes New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof in this op-ed article promoting Food, Inc., “a terrific new documentary” that purportedly offers “a powerful and largely persuasive diagnosis of American agriculture.” Kristof rehashes several key arguments made in the film, focusing on genetically modified livestock, conditions at “huge confinement operations” and “the massive routine feeling of antibiotics to farm animals.” He also criticizes agribusiness companies for allegedly exerting “huge political influence” and sending industry leaders to fill regulatory posts at the Food and Drug Administration. “We even inflict unhealthy food on children in the school lunch program, and one in three Americans born after 2000 is expected to develop diabetes,” concludes Kristof, who urges consumers to vote with their wallets to change the…
The French National Institute for Agronomic Research has released the results of a market survey reportedly suggesting that European consumers cannot distinguish between wines with 9 to 11 percent alcohol content by volume and those with 12 to 14 percent. Twelve scientific teams have apparently “demonstrated that producers could reduce the alcohol content by up to three percentage points without an ordinary drinker noticing,” according to a June 22, 2009, article in The London Times. “In blind tastings, the French consumers like quality wines with a reduced alcohol content as much as standard wines,” stated the institute’s report. The results have challenged traditional wine mores in Europe, which previously prohibited a method used in the United States and Australia to remove excess alcohol from finished products via osmosis. Wine producers, however, have asked the European Union to approve this process, known as de-alcoholization, in light of slumping wine sales and…
European farmers recently staged a demonstration outside a meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Luxembourg City, where protesters blocked traffic with tractors, burned a bale of hay and spilled milk in opposition to softening commodity prices. Led by Copa-Cogeca and the European Milk Board, the protesters called on “the heads of state and government to set clear political guidelines for addressing the crisis in the dairy sector,” according to a June 18, 2009, press release. “We want to draw the public’s attention to how serious the situation is,” stated Copa-Cogeca Secretary General Pekka Pesonen. “Having sustainable food production in Europe is at least as vital as having a strong banking sector.” The European Commission has reportedly reinstated export subsidies and purchasing quotas in an emergency effort to shore up dairy markets, but EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has also urged retailers to explain why plummeting wholesale milk prices have…
In September 2008, a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction imposed by a district court on the sale of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® alfalfa until the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) completes an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act. Additional details about the court’s ruling appear in issue 274 of this Update. The appeals court has now issued an amended opinion indicating that the petition for panel rehearing and for rehearing en banc have been denied. Geertson Seed Farms v. Johanns, No. 07-16458 (9th Cir., decided June 24, 2009). Thus, unless the government or Monsanto Co. successfully appeals the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, the company will be unable to sell its genetically modified seeds until the USDA prepares a study on how the crop could affect neighboring crops. A spokesperson for the Center for Food Safety, one of the plaintiffs…
A putative class action has been filed in a federal court in California against the company that makes Redline® beverages and supplements, alleging that some of the ingredients cause “effects that go beyond the Product’s goal of energy enhancement and weight loss.” Aaronson v. Vital Pharms., Inc., No. 09-1333 (S.D. Cal., filed June 19, 2009). While the product labels apparently warn consumers about potential effects such as rapid heartbeat, dizziness, headache, and shortness of breath, the named plaintiff contends that the warnings are inadequate. According to the complaint, the defendant markets the product as a drug without having obtained Food and Drug Administration approval. Alleging violations of California consumer protection laws, fraudulent concealment, breach of express and implied warranties, negligence, and design and manufacturing defects, the plaintiff seeks to certify a nationwide class of product purchasers. The plaintiff also asks the court to enjoin the defendant’s deceptive marketing and award actual…
A New York appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit that sought a declaration from the state agricultural department that foie gras is an adulterated food product which poses a risk to human health. In re: Humane Soc’y of the U.S., Inc. v. Brennan, No. 506189 (N.Y. App. Div., decided June 18, 2009). According to the court, the plaintiff lacked standing to bring the suit. The Humane Society and other interested parties had unsuccessfully petitioned the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets to issue an adulterated food product declaration as to foie gras. A trial court dismissed the plaintiffs’ subsequent declaratory judgment action for lack of standing, and they appealed. According to the appeals court, to establish standing, “petitioners were required to demonstrate that the Commissioner’s declination to issue a declaratory ruling caused them an injury-in-fact different from the general public.” The court noted that commission declaratory rulings are discretionary and stated,…
Food litigation lawyer William Marler has apparently filed the first lawsuit against Nestlé USA for injury allegedly caused by E. coli-contaminated cookie dough. The outbreak, which has reportedly infected more than 70 people in 30 states since March 2009, has been linked through food surveys to the consumption of raw refrigerated cookie dough, which has been recalled. According to news sources, a Nestlé facility in Danville, Virginia, has been closed and is being inspected by federal microbiologists and food safety investigators. Samples from batches of the purportedly implicated dough have been tested, and no contamination has apparently been found to date. E. coli is not typically associated with eggs, which are the only ingredient in the cookie dough that could potentially cause foodborne illness if contaminated with Salmonella and consumed raw. Health officials and food producers are reportedly puzzled over how E. coli, which lives in cattle intestines, could have ended…
