Category: Issue 336
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Literature Review Examines Alleged Link Between Artificial Sweeteners and Childhood Obesity
A recent literature review has examined research that links children’s artificial sweetener consumption to weight gain, purportedly finding “no strong clinical evidence for causality.” Rebecca J. Brown, et al., “Artificial Sweeteners: A systematic review of metabolic effects in youth, “International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, January 2010. Sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and…
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Marni Jameson, “Fed up with fat and saying something about it,” Los Angeles Times, February 1, 2010
This article chronicles a growing movement among “normal weight folks” who have become “vocal, sometimes vehemently so, in their support for ‘sin taxes’ on junk foods and soda,” and who have “increasingly attacked, with words or actions, the overweight or obese.” Jameson quotes Douglas Metz, chief of health services for a San Diego-based company that…
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IOM Holds Meeting on Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols
The Committee on Examination of Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols of the Institute of Medicine held a meeting on February 2, 2010. The committee was established at the request of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to undertake a review of front-of-package (FoP) nutrition rating systems and…
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Settlement Reached with Insurance Carrier in Peanut Corp. Salmonella Outbreak
According to a news source, some 120 of those purportedly sickened by Salmonella-contaminated peanut butter and their attorneys should soon begin receiving a share of a $12 million Hartford Insurance Co. policy held by the Peanut Corp. of America. Those sharing the settlement filed claims by October 31, 2009, as part of the company’s bankruptcy…
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Popcorn Plant Workers Seek Damages for Diacetyl Exposure
A number of microwave popcorn workers and their spouses have reportedly filed a complaint against a flavoring company in a federal court in Illinois, alleging personal injuries, loss of consortium and wrongful death from exposure to the butter flavoring diacetyl. Barker v. Int’l Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., No. 10-48 (S.D. Ill., filed January 21, 2010).…
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Another Lawsuit Claims Yogurt Maker Violates False Advertising Law
A New Jersey resident has reportedly filed a putative class action against General Mills, Inc., alleging that the company’s claims about the beneficial digestive health benefits of its Yo-Plus® yogurt products are false and misleading. Amin v. General Mills, Inc., No. 10-305 (D.N.J., filed January 19, 2010). According to a news source, the plaintiff alleges that…
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Quaker Oats Targeted by Trans Fat Class Action in California
Two California residents have filed a false advertising complaint on behalf of themselves and a nationwide class of consumers against The Quaker Oats Co., alleging that the company falsely labels Chewy Granola Bars® as “0g trans fat” when they actually contain “dangerous amounts of artificial trans fat, a toxic product that causes cancer, diabetes, and…
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False Advertising Claims Filed in California Against Kellogg Co. over Trans Fats
Two California residents have filed putative class claims against the Kellogg Co. in a California federal court, alleging that the company misleads consumers by making health claims for its Nutri-Grain® bars and promoting some of its Keebler cookie products as containing 0 grams of trans fat. Higginbotham v. Kellogg Co., No. 10-255 (S.D. Cal., filed…