Category: Issue 351
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Jerome Groopman, “The Plastic Panic,” The New Yorker, May 31, 2010
“Bisphenol A, commonly known as BPA, may be among the world’s most vilified chemicals,” opens this May 31, 2010, New Yorker article that positions the present-day furor in the long and often convoluted history of toxicology. According to author Jerome Groopman, scientists cannot agree whether BPA is a cautionary tale against overstating risks or understating…
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Perishable Pundit Concludes Series on Produce Traceability
An online publication focused on the produce industry has published the final installment of a recent series of articles about produce traceability contributed by a produce standards consultant. Titled “What is the ROI on PTI?,” the article by Gary Fleming discusses the benefits of implementing the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI), a voluntary industry-developed standard, even…
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Food Makers and Chain Restaurants Improving Product Quality
According to research recently conducted by Harvard’s Medical School and School of Public Health in collaboration with the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), food manufacturers and chain restaurants have responded to trans fat restrictions and bans by improving the quality of the foods rather than simply reverting to the use of saturated…
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Eloisa Rodriguez-Dod, “It’s Not a Small World After All: Regulating Obesity Globally,” Mississippi Law Journal, 2010
Law Professor Eloisa Rodriguez-Dod discusses a number of ways that governments in the United States and around the world are attempting to address the growing incidence of obesity among their populations. This article provides information about municipal trans fat bans and menu-labeling ordinances, China’s restrictions on the morbidly obese adopting children, Spain’s voluntary food advertising regulations,…
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Defamation Verdict Against Peruvian Scientist in GM Maize Research Dispute to Be Reviewed
According to a news source, the Peruvian Superior Court has agreed to hear an appeal filed by a medical sciences biotechnologist convicted of defamation by a lower court for criticizing another scientist whose research allegedly showed that genetically modified (GM) maize had been illegally planted in a valley on the Peruvian coast. The researcher, Antonietta…
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GeneWatch UK Director Resigns from FSA Steering Group on GM Foods
GeneWatch UK Director Helen Wallace has apparently resigned from a Food Standards Agency (FSA) steering committee dedicated to discussing genetically modified (GM) foods, after claiming that the group “is nothing more than a PR exercise on behalf of the GM industry.” Charged with managing a public dialogue on the potential risks and benefits of GM…
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Mexico Adopts Stringent School Food Rules to Combat Obesity
Mexican health officials have reportedly unveiled stringent guidelines that would prohibit the sale of processed or fried foods on school grounds. According to media sources, the regulations would ban soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages along with more traditional fare such as meat tortas, tamarind candy and atole, unless they were reformulated to meet nutritional…
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USDA and DOJ Hold Second Workshop on Competition Issues
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) recently held the second workshop in a series dedicated to competition and regulatory issues in agriculture. Held in Normal, Alabama, the forum reportedly focused on the poultry industry and featured the remarks of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, as…