Category: Issue 293

  • Study Finds Calorie Content of Classic Recipes on the Rise

    A recent article claims that some Joy of Cooking recipes have significantly increased in serving size and caloric content when compared to their original 1936 versions. Brian Wansink and Collin Payne, “The Joy of Cooking Too Much: 70 Years of Calorie Increases in Classic Recipes,” Annals of Internal Medicine, February 2009. The authors identified a…

  • Scientists Dispute JAMA Study Linking BPA Exposure to Type 2 Diabetes

    Three letters published in the Febuary 18, 2009, edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) have raised questions about a study linking bisphenol A (BPA) exposure to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and liver enzyme abnormalities in adults. Led by British researcher Iain D. Lang, the study concluded that participants in the Centers…

  • WSJ Article Targets Water Footprints

    Reporting alarming water shortage data from the United Nations and U.S. water managers, a Wall Street Journal reporter surveys corporate efforts to calculate the water needed to produce a single unit of consumer merchandise and find ways to reduce water “footprints.” Alexandra Alter, “Yet Another ‘Footprint’ to Worry About: Water,” The Wall Street Journal, February 17,…

  • South Korea Claims French Baby Formula Tainted with Meningitis Bacteria

    South Korean regulators have reportedly detected a bacteria associated with infant meningitis and enteritis in a shipment of organic baby formula imported from France. The Korean National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) identified Enterobacter sakazaki in formula originating with the Bordeaux-based manufacturer Vitagermine, which stated that its products passed EU standards before shipment. The…

  • Peanut Corp. of America Files for Bankruptcy; Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Seeks to Lift Stay

    The Peanut Corp. of America, whose Salmonella-tainted peanut butter and peanut paste products led to one of the largest food recalls in the United States, has reportedly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in Virginia. The day it did so, Texas health officials apparently announced a recall of all products manufactured at the company’s peanut-processing…

  • Tomato Industry “Racketeering” Investigation Elicits Two Guilty Pleas

    Federal investigators seeking to crack down on corruption in California’s tomato-processing sector have apparently secured guilty pleas from two industry employees, one with a tomato paste supplier and the other with a processed tomato purchaser. Jennifer Dahlman, who worked for a California company under investigation for alleged bribery, price-fixing and mislabeling, reportedly pleaded guilty to…

  • Federal Appeals Court Upholds Validity of NYC Menu Board Ordinance

    The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling that rejected the restaurant industry’s preemption and First Amendment challenge to New York City’s health code provision mandating that certain restaurant chains post calorie information on their menu boards. New York State Rest. Ass’n v. NYC Bd. of Health, No. 08-1892 (2d Cir.,…

  • Multnomah County, Oregon, Adopts Menu Labeling Laws

    Multnomah County commissioners have reportedly adopted regulations requiring restaurant chains with 15 or more locations nationwide to display calorie content alongside individual items on their menus. Effective March 12, 2009, the law also requires these establishments to provide information about sodium, saturated fat, trans fat, and carbohydrate content at the point of sale. Restaurants must…