Category: Issue 345
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Tom Bartlett, “Step Away From the Coke Machine,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 4, 2010
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently profiled Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, and his decades-long advocacy of soft drink taxes, an idea that once attracted derision but today “doesn’t seem so radical.” The Chronicle notes “growing evidence of a link between price and consumption,” citing recent reports…
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Scientific Battle Brewing over BPA Safety
The Independent has reported on an escalating dispute in the scientific community over the safety of bisphenol A (BPA), tracing the brouhaha to a three-year study commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that found no evidence of BPA adversely affecting laboratory rats exposed to high doses of the ubiquitous plasticizer. In an April 13,…
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Possible Salmonella Contamination of HVP Leads to Canine Joint Supplement Recall
A Nebraska-based manufacturer has voluntarily recalled a canine joint formula due to possible Salmonella contamination linked to hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP). According to the April 13, 2010, notice, Response Products has recalled a meat-flavored supplement for dogs because it contained components supplied by Basic Food Flavors, Inc., the company at the center of a nationwide…
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IOM Announces Briefing to Unveil Report on Salt Reduction Strategies
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has announced an April 21, 2010, briefing to release the findings of its Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake Committee, which investigated various means “that could be employed to reduce dietary sodium intake to levels recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” To be held at the National Press Club in…
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Arkansas Jury Awards Rice Farmers $48 Million in GM Contamination Litigation
After less than two hours of deliberation, an Arkansas jury has reportedly awarded 12 rice farmers nearly $48 million in compensatory and punitive damages for the 2006 contamination of conventional rice stocks with a genetically modified (GM) strain. The farmers alleged that Europe and Japan stopped importing U.S. rice after the contamination became known, causing…
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New Alien Tort Claims Act Complaint Filed Against Chiquita
More than 200 relatives of Colombians allegedly killed or “disappeared” by members of an organization designated by the United States as a “Global Terrorist” in 2001 have filed a lawsuit under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) against Chiquita Brands International, Inc., alleging that the company’s illegal financial support of the organization was responsible for…
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Poultry Plant Managers and HR Personnel Sued for Alleged Hiring of Illegal Immigrants
A putative class action has been filed against individual plant managers and human resources personnel responsible for hiring employees at 16 Perdue Farms, Inc. facilities in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, alleging violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in the hiring of illegal immigrants. Walters v. McMahen, No. 10-257 (M.D. Ala., filed…
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Insurance Companies Seek Contribution from Other Insurers in Defending Diacetyl Exposure Lawsuits
A group of insurance companies has sued another group of insurers, seeking a declaration that the defendants are also required to indemnify and defend flavoring companies that have been named as defendants in lawsuits by former microwave popcorn- and candy-plant employees alleging injuries from exposure to diacetyl. Arrowood Indem. Co. v. Atl. Mut. Ins. Co.,…