Category: Issue 300
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Study Claims Fat Intake Associated with Cognitive Decline in Diabetics
A recent study has reportedly linked cognitive decline in some diabetic women to high intakes of saturated and trans fats and low intakes of polyunsaturated fats during midlife. Elizabeth E. Devore, “Dietary Fat Intake and Cognitive Decline in Women With Type 2 Diabetes,” Diabetes Care, April 2009. Harvard Medical School researchers apparently assessed the cognitive…
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James E. McWilliams, “Free-Range Trichinosis,” The New York Times, April 10, 2009
“Free range is not necessarily natural. In fact, free-range is like piggy day care, a thoughtfully arranged system designed to meet the needs of consumers who despise industrial agriculture and adore the idea of wildness,” writes James McWilliams in this op-ed article questioning claims that free-range products confer “indisputable” health benefits. According to McWilliams, a…
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Kelly D. Brownell and Thomas R. Freiden, “Ounces of Prevention – The Public Policy Case for Taxes on Sugared Beverages,” The New England Journal of Medicine, April 30, 2009
“Because excess consumption of unhealthful foods underlies many leading causes of death, food taxes at the local, state and national levels are likely to remain part of political and public discourse,” claims this editorial co-authored by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity Director Kelly Brownell and New York City Health Commissioner Thomas…
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Childhood Obesity Conference Set for June 18-19 in Washington, D.C.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is sponsoring a National Conference on Childhood Obesity on June 18-19, 2009, in Washington, D.C. The event will address (i) evidence-based links between diet, obesity and chronic disease, (ii) opportunities in clinical practice for preventing and treating obesity and related chronic diseases, (iii) the ways that school food…
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Consumer Advocates Protest Chicken Imports from China
The consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch (FWWatch) recently launched a campaign to block chicken imports from China, where several U.S. companies are reportedly building plants. Alleging that these corporations are “putting pressure” on lawmakers, FWWatch has asked Congress to uphold its 2008 ban on imported processed poultry in light of “specific problems” with China’s…
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Chewing Gum Claims Generate Dispute Before BBB Advertising Arm
According to the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB), Wrigley should modify or discontinue some of the claims it makes for its Eclipse® brand chewing gum. Following a challenge by Cadbury Adams USA, which makes competing products, the BBB’s advertising division examined Wrigley claims that its gum “kills germs and…
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Fair Credit Transactions Litigation Can Proceed
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has turned aside a constitutional challenge to the statutory damages provisions of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act in litigation against a food establishment that allegedly printed more than the last five digits of a customer’s credit card number on an electronically generated receipt. Harris v. Mexican Specialty Foods,…
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Ninth Circuit Orders New Trial in Idaho Milk Permeate Litigation
Finding that a trial court erred in admitting evidence and instructing the jury in a lawsuit involving claims that milk permeate sickened or killed calves that were fed the product as a source of dietary energy, protein and minerals, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has returned a breach-of-warranties lawsuit to the lower court for…