Category: Issue 366
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Red Meat Allegedly Linked to Metabolic Syndrome
A recent study has purportedly linked processed red meat consumption to metabolic syndrome (MetS), which includes health factors such as abdominal obesity and elevated triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, blood pressure, or fasting glucose, or reduced HDL cholesterol. N. Babio, et al., “Association between red meat consumption and metabolic syndrome in a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular…
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Texas Students Link Sweetened Sport Drinks to Healthy Lifestyle, Says New Study
A new study reportedly claims that young people mistakenly view sugar-sweetened sports beverages as healthy alternatives to soft drinks. Nalini Ranjit, et al., “Dietary and Activity Correlates of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Among Adolescents,” Pediatrics, September 27, 2010. University of Texas School of Public Health researchers surveyed 15,283 middle- and high-school students to determine the correlation between…
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Drug-Positive Tour de France Champ Blames Steak Dinner
The New York Times reports that three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador is blaming a steak he ate on a rest day during the race for a drug test positive for clenbuterol. Experts have indicated that the small amount to which he could have been exposed would not have boosted his performance; the drug…
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WTO Rules Against U.S. Ban on Chinese Poultry
A World Trade Organization (WTO) panel has determined that the United States has violated its trade obligations by refusing to allow Chinese chicken parts into the U.S. market, an action that was apparently taken in a 2009 federal spending bill that denied the use of any U.S. Department of Agriculture funding to establish or implement…
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Ben & Jerry’s Agrees to Discontinue “All Natural” Claims; Litigation Ensues
Two days after the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) announced that Ben & Jerry’s had agreed to phase out claims that its ice creams and frozen yogurts were “All Natural,” when some product ingredients are processed, a putative class action was filed in a California federal court against the company seeking money…
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Plaintiffs Likely to Succeed on Merits of Challenge to APHIS GM Sugar Beet Permits
A federal court in California has determined that an agency decision to allow planting of genetically modified (GM) sugar beet stecklings (seedlings) without conducting an environmental assessment likely violated federal law and has ordered the parties to file briefs as to the appropriate remedy now that most of the stecklings authorized have been planted. Ctr.…
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Sixth Circuit Strikes Parts of Ohio Regulation Restricting Hormone-Free Labeling on Dairy Products
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that parts of an Ohio law regulating the use of labeling on dairy products from cows not treated with growth hormones violate the First Amendment. Int’l Dairy Foods Ass’n v. Boggs, Nos. 09-3515/3526 (6th Cir., decided September 30, 2010). The court also upheld other provisions and remanded…
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States Set “Pure Honey” Standards; National Standard Sought
North Carolina has reportedly become the most recent state to adopt a definition for “pure honey” that beekeepers hope will get fake honey off the market. Because Americans consume some 350 million pounds of honey annually, but domestic producers produce just 150 million pounds, there is apparently a financial incentive for importers and others to…