Category: Issue 361
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U.S. Researchers Claim That Overweight Youth Are Getting Heavier
Overweight Americans ages 2 to 19 have become heavier over the last decade, according to a newly published study. May Beydoun & Youfa Wang, “Sociodemographic disparities in distribution shifts over time in various adiposity measures among American children and adolescents: What changes in prevalence rates could not reveal,” International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, August 2010.…
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Study Alleges Link Between Diet Soft Drinks and Premature Births
A recent study has purportedly linked consumption of carbonated diet sodas with an increased risk of premature birth. Thorhallur Halldorsson, et al., “Intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks and risk of preterm delivery: a prospective cohort study of 59,334 Danish pregnant women,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 30, 2010. Researchers evaluated data from approximately…
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Royal Society Papers Suggest Innovative Solutions to Looming Food Shortages
The U.K. Royal Society has published 21 papers addressing concerns that climate change, water shortages and increased demand will disrupt the global food supply in coming decades. Titled Food Security: Feeding the World in 2050, the compendium challenges citizens, politicians and scientists “to increase food production, but to do so in a way that is…
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Premature Development Causes Unease in China
Chinese health experts have reportedly estimated that “at least 30,000 children developed early maturity” in Shanghai alone, raising concerns about food additives and pesticides allegedly laden with sex hormones. According to an August 18, 2010, China Daily article, one doctor with the Beijing Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital has suggested that “early maturity in Chinese…
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Chicago Jury Awards $30.4 Million to Diacetyl-Exposed Factory Worker
According to a news source, a man who worked in a Chicago-area plant for eight years and was diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans has been awarded $30.4 million on claims that workplace exposure to the butter-flavoring chemical diacetyl left him with 25 percent of normal lung capacity that will require a lung transplant within the next 10…
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Parents Sue Online Companies for Spying on Kids
A lawsuit filed in a federal court in California by a putative class of parents on behalf of their children alleges that Clearspring Technologies, Inc. and other companies used an online tracking device that enabled their websites to access and disclose users’ online activities and personal information. White v. Clearspring Techs., Inc., No. 10-5948 (C.D. Cal.,…
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Restaurant Workers Sue Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich
Renowned restaurateurs Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich have reportedly been sued by workers in their East and West Coast restaurants. A complaint filed in late July 2010 by current and former employees of New York City’s Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca was amended to include a class of employees who work in five additional east coast…
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Plaintiff Class Alleges POM Wonderful® Will Not Keep Consumers Young Forever
A putative class action has been filed against the maker of POM Wonderful® pomegranate (PWP) juice in a Florida state court, alleging that the company is misleading consumers by marketing its product “as having special health benefits, including but not limited to, the prevention, mitigation, and or treatment of the following: (a) atherosclerosis; (b) Blood…