A New York state appellate court has affirmed a lower court’s ruling dismissing a lawsuit against a local Fox TV station that investigated and reported on the allegedly false health claims of D’Lites ice cream in two stores. Prince v. Fox Television Stations Inc., No. 107129/2011 (N.Y. App. Div., 1st Dept., order entered March 8, 2016). The eight-minute “Shame Shame Shame” report informed viewers that the nutritional information advertised for a small serving did not correlate to the nutritional information of the ice cream served by two New Jersey stores; the owner of a D’Lites store—not one involved in the report—sued the station for libel. A lower court then dismissed the lawsuit; details appear in Issue 524 of this Update. “To the extent that there were purported discrepancies in the measurements of sugar and carbohydrates in the test results of the samples sold in stores, plaintiff does not dispute that…
Tag Archives nutrition
The Access to Nutrition Foundation has released its second Access to Nutrition Index® (ATNI), which ranks the 22 largest food and beverage companies on their “contributions to tackling obesity and undernutrition.” According to a concurrent press release, “The 2016 Index concluded that, while some companies have taken positive steps since the last Index, the industry as a whole is moving far too slowly. Scored out of ten on their nutrition-related commitments, practices and levels of disclosure, no company achieved a score of more than 6.4.” Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the 2016 Global Index ranks companies in the following areas: (i) governance, including whether the company has a corporate nutrition strategy; (ii) product formulation and nutrient profiling systems; (iii) efforts to make healthier products accessible to consumers via pricing and distribution; (iv) compliance with marketing practices and policies geared toward general…
Pacific Standard has profiled Cristin Kearns, a former dentist who has partnered with journalist Gary Taubes and researcher Stanton Glantz to fight sugar-industry influence on the U.S. government’s standards for health and dental care using similar tactics as those Glantz used against cigarette manufacturers in the 1990s. Now a researcher working for Glantz at the University of California, San Francisco, Kearns first became interested in the subject after reading a government-published handout at a dental conference with suggested advice for diabetic patients, including “’[i]ncrease fiber, reduce fat, reduce salt, reduce calories,’ and it didn’t say anything about reducing sugar,” she told the magazine. Kearns has since reportedly tried to identify where the sugar industry has influenced nutritional science through privately funded studies or roles in policy discussions. “Maybe, for some creative attorney down the road, some of [Kearns’] research or research like that could help in crafting discovery requests,” a…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft guidance for industry about the agency’s current thinking regarding the disclosure of small amounts of nutrients and dietary ingredients on nutrition labeling. The document focuses on how the agency intends to use its enforcement discretion when a conflict occurs between compliance with § 101.9(c) and § 101.9(g) of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations such that compliance with both sections is not possible. FDA is also considering whether to revise both sections and, if so, may reportedly amend or withdraw the draft guidance. Those wishing to submit comments on the draft guidance must do so by September 28, 2015. See Federal Register, July 30, 2015. Issue 573
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued proposed revisions to the required information appearing in food and beverage products’ Nutrition Facts labels. The changes include a required declaration of the percent daily value for added sugars based on the recommendation that daily intake from added sugars not exceed 10 percent of total calories. The proposal would also revise the footnote appearing on the Nutrition Facts label “to help consumers understand the percent daily value concept.” FDA has reopened a 60-day comment period addressing its proposed revisions. “The FDA has a responsibility to give consumers the information they need to make informed dietary decisions for themselves and their families,” Susan Mayne, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, was quoted as saying in a July 24, 2015, press release. “For the past decade, consumers have been advised to reduce their intake of added sugars, and…
“In order to bolster its credibility, reflect objective science that has the public’s best interest in mind, and hold the food industry more accountable, it is paramount that ASN reconsider its financial ties to the junk food industry,” concludes public health lawyer and activist Michele Simon in an investigation that purports to expose conflicts of interest between the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) and various food and beverage companies. Among other things, Simon contends that “powerful junk food companies purchase ‘sustaining partnerships’ from ASN, gaining access to the nation’s leading nutrition researchers at their annual meetings, and in their policy positions.” Issue 569
In a recent article for Law360, Shook, Hardy & Bacon Class Actions & Complex Litigation Co-Chair Jim Muehlberger and Agribusiness & Food Safety Associate Jeff Lingwall discuss the new wave of putative class action litigation against food and nutraceutical companies brought by plaintiffs bearing product test results that allegedly indicate deviations from labeled amounts. They explain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards for evaluating nutrition labeling and attendant provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act/Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, advocating anticipatory measures by companies, given the advent of product testing websites, crowdfunded research and the increased scrutiny of the dietary supplement industry. Such measures, they say, include ensuring that (i) production processes (and those of any contract manufacturers) produce FDA-compliant test results and (ii) performing regular product testing to assure compliance with nutrition labeling per FDA-testing procedures. Issue 557
According to a joint World Health Organization (WHO)/Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) news release, the ministers and senior officials of 170 countries convening in Rome have adopted a Framework for Action and a Declaration on Nutrition. Opening the Second International Conference on Nutrition, WHO Secretary General Margaret Chan reportedly criticized the production of what she characterized as less healthy industrialized food and called attention to the consequences of its contribution to obesity and overweight along with the emergence of diabetes, cancers and heart disease. The commitments and recommendations set forth in the framework and declaration are intended to ensure “that all people have access to healthier and more sustainable diets.” They also commit the governments to prevent malnutrition “in all its forms, including hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity.” Among other matters, governments are urged to “educate and inform their citizens about healthier eating practices” and reinforce obesity initiatives “by the creation…
A recent perspective article in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has questioned whether nutrient-content claims—such as “sugar-free,” “high in oat bran,” or “contains 100 calories”—are confusing to consumers. Authored by Allison Sylvetsky and William Dietz, the article claims that sugar- and calorie-related claims “may lead parents to underestimate the products’ energy content and allow their children to consume more than they otherwise would.” According to the authors, the use of nonnutritive sweeteners in sugar- and calorie-modified products “may still foster the development of a ‘sweet tooth’ because nonnutritive sweeteners are a hundred times sweeter than table sugar by weight.” In addition, U.S. consumers have no way to gauge whether their children have exceeded the acceptable daily intake for a particular nonnutritive sweetener because the amount added to any given product is considered proprietary information. “We believe that adopting a more straightforward and easily understandable ingredient-labeling system in the…
Health Canada has proposed nutrition labeling changes as part of an ongoing effort to make food and beverage labels easier for consumers to read. Based on a public consultation, the conclusions of Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s Food Labelling Modernization Initiative and a technical review of current labels, the amendments would revise the Nutrition Facts table, ingredient list and suggested Daily Values to take into account “the most up to date scientific information and consumption habits.” In particular, the proposed changes would (i) adjust serving sizes to reflect “the amounts of food that Canadians actually eat in one sitting,” (ii) update the Daily Values and nutrients displayed in the Nutrition Facts table; (iii) refresh the appearance of the Nutrition Facts table and ingredient list to emphasize calories, added sugars and other nutrients of concern to Canadian consumers, and (iv) create “an optional information box highlighting the presence of certain bioactive components,…
