Category: Issue 334
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HFCS Removed from Chocolate Milk in San Francisco School District
The San Francisco Unified School District has reportedly announced plans to stop serving non-fat chocolate milk made with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and replace it with formulations using sucrose or regular white sugar. Selling nearly 12,000 cartons of nonfat chocolate milk daily, the district agreed to the change after parents complained about the HFCS content.…
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HSUS Buys Shares of Burger Chains
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has reportedly purchased stock in Jack in the Box Inc. and Steak n’ Shake Co. in an effort to persuade each restaurant chain “to implement the types of basic animal welfare changes many of its competitors have made.” The activist group has criticized both companies for allegedly…
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MDL Court Issues Ruling on Motion for Reconsideration in Bisphenol A Litigation
A federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) court in Missouri has issued an order and opinion disposing of defendants’ motion that it reconsider its prior rulings refusing to dismiss some of the bisphenol A-related claims in the case on the basis of federal preemption and primary jurisdiction. In re: Bisphenol-A (BPA) Polycarbonate Plastic Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No.…
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Federal Court Remands Consumer Protection Claims Filed Against Cereal Maker
A federal court in the District of Columbia has remanded to the D.C. Superior Court a lawsuit brought by the National Consumers League (NCL) against General Mills alleging that the company falsely misrepresents that Cheerios® “has drug-quality properties that would reduce total and ‘bad’ cholesterol levels when eaten.” Nat’l Consumers League v. General Mills, Inc.,…
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U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Consider GM Alfalfa Seed Appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision enjoining the sale and planting of genetically modified (GM) alfalfa seed until the government completes an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the crop’s proposed delisting. Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, No. 09-475 (U.S., certiorari granted January…
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New York Governor Proposes Soda Tax to Help Balance Budget
New York Governor David Paterson (D) has released a 2010-11 executive budget proposal that calls for “a new excise tax of approximately one penny per ounce on sugared beverages linked to obesity ($465 million).” According to the proposal, which claims that obesity-related disease costs the state’s health care system $7.6 billion annually, the so-called soda…
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OEHHA Extends Comment Deadline on Latest Prop. 65 Food Warning Proposal
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has extended the comment period for its food warning regulations until March 1, 2010. The latest proposal is to establish a pilot program that would impose Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) warning obligations on food manufacturers and retailers to inform consumers about the presence of food ingredients…