The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released a database and mobile app that score some 80,000 food products using three criteria—nutrition, ingredient concerns and processing—to inform consumers that “popular brands in many categories are not so much food as they are conveyances for excessive amounts of sugar, salt and preservatives.” According to an October 27, 2014, EWG press release, the average product rated in the Food Scores database contains 14 ingredients and 446 mg of salt per 100 g, and it has a 58 percent chance of containing added sugar, 46 percent chance of artificial or natural flavor and 14 percent chance of artificial coloring. The guide allows consumers to search by product name, company or category and provides examples of comparable products with different scores. EWG’s press release specifically calls out stuffing and stuffing mixes as products with the highest likelihood of containing added sugars. According to Bloomberg Businessweek,…
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Hours before U.S. regulators were poised to penalize Mexican sugar imports, the United States and Mexico reached an agreement to set a price floor on imported sugar and to suspend anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties. The dispute began in April 2014 when the U.S. Department of Commerce initiated an investigation following petitions from the U.S. sugar industry complaining of unfair pricing and government subsidies on Mexican sugar. Under the agreement, Mexico will reportedly be allowed to meet any demand for sugar in the United States after U.S. producers and other countries with fixed quotas have exhausted their supplies. Mexican producers will sell their sugar for no less than $0.2075 per pound for raw and $0.2357 per pound for refined. “We believe these Agreements, which work in concert with the U.S. sugar program, effectively address the market-distorting effects of any unfairly traded sugar,” Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Enforcement and Compliance Paul…
Investigators with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have for the first time identified a hormone that, when stimulated by fructose ingestion, could serve as the basis for a reliable fructose-tolerance test. Jody Dushay, et al., “Fructose ingestion acutely stimulates circulating FGF21 levels in humans,” Molecular Metabolism, October 2014. Known as Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 (FGF21), the hormone in question has been associated with obesity, insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in both humans and animals. In this study, researchers reported that FGF21 levels increased by an average of 400 percent in healthy volunteers who consumed 75 grams of fructose. By comparison, the consumption of glucose had little immediate effect on FGF21 blood levels. “This tells us that fructose actively regulates FGF21 in humans,” explained one study author. “The hormone-like response of FGF21 to fructose ingestion suggests that FGF21 might play an unanticipated role in regulating fructose metabolism. We…
A California federal court has granted in part and denied in part a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit alleging that Mott’s violated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) and California’s Sherman Law standards on the use of “no sugar added” on food packaging. Rahman v. Mott’s LLP, No. 13-3482 (N.D. Cal., order entered October 14, 2014). The plaintiff alleged that Mott’s 100% Apple Juice included a “no sugar added” label but failed to follow the additional FDA regulations requiring “a statement that the food is not ‘low calorie’ or ‘calorie reduced’ (unless the food meets the requirement for a ‘low’ or ‘reduced calorie’ food) and that directs consumers’ attention to the nutrition panel for further information on sugar and calorie content.” Mott’s moved for summary judgment on four grounds: the plaintiff (i) did not suffer damages as a result of purchasing the apple juice, (ii) lacked standing…
Examining the evolution of the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI), a recent Wired magazine article by Sam Apple explores how NuSI’s latest research efforts seek to test long-standing assumptions about the health effects of sugar and fat. Titled “Why Are We So Fat? The Multimillion-Dollar Scientific Quest to Find Out,” the article highlights the work of NuSI founders Peter Attia, a medical researcher, and Gary Taubes, a science journalist who has made a career out of exposing the allegedly tenuous evidence linking dietary nutrients to specific disease outcomes. “Taubes and Attia are firmly in the sugar-bad, saturated-fat-good camp,” reports Apple, pointing to an alternative hypothesis now popular in some scientific circles that blames table sugar and refined carbohydrates—as opposed to fats—for rising obesity rates. “But even they acknowledge they can’t be certain. That’s because, as Taubes eloquently argues, most of the existing knowledge gathered in the past five decades of research comes…
The Department of Commerce has issued an affirmative preliminary determination in a countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of sugar imports from Mexico, and the United States is preparing to impose import duties as high as 17 percent on Mexican sugar. According to an International Trade Administration fact sheet, the CVD investigation was instituted in March 2014 after domestic sugar interests filed a petition seeking relief from “the market distorting effects caused by injurious subsidization of imports into the United States.” Beginning the first week of September, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to require cash deposits based on the preliminary subsidy rates calculated for different Mexican exporters. A final determination in the matter is scheduled for January 2015. An American Sugar Alliance spokesperson said that the August 26, 2014, determination “validates our claim that the flood of Mexican sugar, which is harming America’s sugar producers and workers, is subsidized…
National Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail has traced the history of sugar from its roots as a luxury to its current incarnation as a “forbidden fruit, the momentary pleasure infused with a lifetime of guilt.” Author John Allemang argues that the human taste for sweetness is natural and that “when we denounce sugar, we are defying our nature.” He describes sugar’s history, from its inclusion in recipe collections dating to about 1300 that extolled its ability to relieve illness to its use in creating plates and sculptures as a model of early conspicuous consumption. From there, it took on negative overtones through its association with slavery, colonialism and environmental degradation; later, sugar consumption became a moral failing. “[Early nutritionists] understood it to be seductive,” Elizabeth Abbott, author of Sugar: A Bittersweet History, told Allemang. “This prompted moral outrage: When you ate it, you kept wanting to have more.” The Industrial…
Echoing a putative class action filed in Massachusetts federal court on August 1, 2014, a plaintiff has filed a lawsuit against Whole Foods Market in Pennsylvania state court accusing the retailer of mislabeling its 365 Everyday Value yogurt’s sugar content as 2 grams despite containing 11.4 grams, according to test results published in the July issue of Consumer Reports. Clemente v. Whole Foods Market Inc., No. 140801271 (Ct. of C.P. of Pa., Philadelphia Cty., filed August 11, 2014). The plaintiffs accuse Whole Foods of knowingly mislabeling its yogurt, citing a statement on the Whole Foods website that allegedly reads, “Our Private Label registered dietician reviews each nutrition label for accuracy and completeness before the label is printed. All attempts are made to review nutrition labels on a regular basis to ensure accuracy.” In the complaint, the plaintiffs argue, “Unless this statement on Defendant’s website is false, then Whole Foods Market was…
A plaintiff has alleged in Massachusetts federal court that Whole Foods Market mislabels its 365 Everyday Value Plain Greek Yogurt as containing 2 grams of sugar per serving despite Consumer Reports tests showing that a serving of the product contains an average of more than 11 grams of sugar. Knox v. Whole Foods Market, No. 14-13185 (U.S. Dist. Ct., D. Mass., filed Aug. 1, 2014). According to the complaint, the plaintiff learned about the alleged labeling discrepancy from Consumer Reports magazine, which tested six samples of 365 Everyday Value Plain Greek Yogurt and apparently found the average sugar content to be nearly six times the amount listed on the label. Whole Foods reportedly responded to the magazine’s findings by asserting that it relied on testing results from reputable third-party labs. The plaintiff alleges breach of warranty, unjust enrichment and negligence, and he seeks class certification, compensatory and punitive damages, attorney’s…
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…
