A long-term study by the Mount Sinai Medical Center for Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research has reportedly suggested a link between childhood obesity and endocrine disruptors, including phthalates and bisphenol A. Part of a study titled “Growing Up Healthy in East Harlem,” the project followed 520 children ages 6 to 8 for five years in an effort to determine “how the area where the children lived affected diet, physical activity and risk for obesity.” Researchers apparently found that study participants had “higher levels in their urine of three endocrine disruptors – 2,5 DCP, MBP and MEHHP – than a national sample of children the same age.” According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, approximately 43 percent of East Harlem kindergarteners were also overweight or obese for their age in 2003. “The heaviest girls have the highest levels of phthalates metabolites in their urine,”…
A recent study has reportedly claimed that consumption of fructose-sweetened beverages raised blood lipid levels in overweight subjects, whereas glucose-sweetened beverages did not incur analogous effects. Kimber L. Stanhope, et al., “Consuming Fructose-Sweetened, Not Glucose-Sweetened, Beverages Increases Visceral Adiposity and Lipids and Decreases Insulin Sensitivity in Overweight/Obese Humans,” Journal of Clinical Investigation, April 20, 2009. University of California, Davis, researchers created two groups from 32 overweight men and women matched for age, weight, fasting triglyceride levels, insulin concentrations, total cholesterol, and other factors. Each group then consumed either fructose-sweetened or glucose-sweetened beverages for 10 weeks while living at a research center and while eating a normal diet as outpatients. The results indicated that although both groups experienced similar amounts of weight gain, the group assigned to fructose-sweetened beverages had larger gains in abdomen fat and increased blood levels of triglycerides and low-density lipoproteins when compared to their counterparts in the…
Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner David Kessler has reportedly written a book, titled The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, that criticizes the food industry for contributing to a culture of “conditioned hypereating,” a phenomenon allegedly comparable to drug addiction that encourages millions of people to eat high-fat, high-sugar foods even when not hungry. The book cites neurological research suggesting that foods high in fat and sugar can trigger dopamine pathways in the brain, which then becomes conditioned to associate specific aromas, tastes and places with positive experiences and to thus promote overeating. According to Kessler, people prone to hypereating must learn to resist temptations in an environment rife with inexpensive high-fat, high-calorie foods. He also apparently hopes more restaurants will rein in portion sizes and reveal calories on menus. “The food industry has figured out what works. They know what drives people to…
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has produced a report concluding that despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialization, genetically engineered (GE) corn and soybean crops have not increased yields compared to other agriculture technologies. Released in March 2009, the report reviewed two dozen academic studies of corn and soybeans and found that increase in yields for both crops over the last 13 years was largely due to traditional breeding or improvements in agricultural practices. It claims that genetic engineering is unlikely to play a significant role in increasing food production in the foreseeable future and recommends that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), state agricultural agencies and universities increase research and development for proven approaches to boost crop yields. “If we are going to make headway in combating hunger due to overpopulation and climate change, we will need to increase crop yields,” the report’s author, Gurian…
Green Century Capital Management, an investment advisory firm focused on environmentally responsible companies, and As You Sow, an advocacy group that promotes corporate accountability, have issued a new report urging food and beverage manufacturers to stop using the packaging chemical bisphenol A (BPA) or risk possible repercussions in the marketplace. The report claims that 14 of the largest public packaged food and beverage companies still use BPA despite studies allegedly linking it to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and metabolic disorders. The report states: “Companies that move toward BPA-free packaging are being recognized as putting their customers’ health first, while other companies refusing to phase out BPA may find themselves punished in the marketplace.” In published reports, a Green Century director expressed concern about the lack of urgency the packaged food industry appears to have in addressing BPA. “Alternatives to BPA exist for many products. We believe companies should implement all feasible…
According to a news source, Monsanto has filed a lawsuit challenging the German government’s decision to prohibit farmers from planting the company’s genetically modified (GM) corn. Designed to produce a substance toxic to the corn borer pest, the GM seed has been permitted in Germany since 2005, and the corn has been used in Europe for animal feed since 1998. Earlier in April 2009, Germany’s agriculture minister, saying she had “legitimate reasons” to believe the corn is an environmental hazard, put a halt to plans to use the GM seed on nearly 9,000 acres in eastern states this year. Monsanto contends that the ban is arbitrary and could only be imposed as to approved plants if new scientific evidence comes to light. Other European countries have banned the GM seed, although the European Food Safety Authority concluded that studies surfacing in 2008 did “not present new scientific evidence that would…
The pesticide-exposure claims of Nicaraguan banana-plantation workers were dismissed in two cases after a hearing that began April 21, 2009, in a state court in Los Angeles, California. Meija v. Dole Food Co., No. BC340049 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty.); Rivera v. Dole Food Co., No. BC379820 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty.). Additional details about the events leading to the court’s show-cause order and hearing appear in issue 297 of this Update. The court agreed with Dole Food Co. allegations that Nicaraguan lawyers, seeking to collect millions of dollars in damages from the company, recruited poor men to pose as plantation workers and claim that pesticide exposure caused their sterility. Dole introduced evidence showing a decade-long conspiracy to defraud U.S. companies and perpetuate a massive fraud on the court. Dole alleged that the attorneys intimidated witnesses and paid plaintiffs, showed them videos depicting plantation life, falsified sterility documents,…
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear a putative class action lawsuit involving claims that Tri-Union Seafoods LLC fails to warn consumers about mercury concentrations in its canned tuna fish products. Tri-Union Seafoods, L.L.C. v. Fellner, No. 08-889 (U.S., cert. denied April 20, 2009). The plaintiff filed her claims in 2006, alleging that she developed severe mercury poisoning after eating Chicken of the Sea® canned albacore tuna almost exclusively for five years. The district court dismissed the case on federal preemption grounds, but the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated it after finding that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had taken no action about alleged risks posed by mercury in fish and thus, that the lawsuit would not conflict with FDA’s “regulatory scheme.” More information about the Third Circuit’s ruling appears in issue 272 of this Update. At least one legal commentator responded to news about the rejection…
A working group of California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) met on April 23, 2009, to consider how warnings under Proposition 65 could be provided to consumers of food products containing chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive harm. Participants discussed a draft proposal submitted by the California Grocers Association, California Retailers Association, California League of Food Processors, GMA, and American Beverage Association. It was the only proposed regulation to be submitted. Generally speaking, the proposal offers food manufacturers the option of uploading product-related information to an OEHHA Web site, which could be used, in turn, by retailers to download information that could be made available to consumers via computer, notebook, kiosk, or other similar means. Stakeholders representing consumer interests would prefer that warning information be placed on each product or in close proximity to them. While no final decisions were made during this…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed April 27, 2009, as the effective date for the final rule titled “Substances Prohibited From Use in Animal Food or Feed,” which establishes “measures to further strengthen existing safeguards against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).” The agency earlier this month considered delaying the rule for 60 days after industry stakeholders requested additional time to arrange alternative disposal methods for high-risk materials. In light of these requests, FDA has set an October 26, 2009, compliance date for renderers and other affected persons, but believes that “the rendering, livestock, meat and animal feed industries have addressed many of the compliance and carcass disposal challenges and are prepared to meet the April 27, 2009, effective date of the final rule.” See Meatingplace.com, April 23, 2009; Federal Register, April 24, 2009.
