Category: Issue 384
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Soft Drink Consumption Allegedly Associated with Increased Blood Pressure
U.K. researchers have reportedly linked sugar-sweetened beverages to a risk of high blood pressure, speculating that “one possible mechanism” for the association “is a resultant increase in the level of uric acid in the blood that may in turn lower the nitric oxide required to keep the blood vessels dilated.” Ian Brown, et al., “Sugar-Sweetened…
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Most Plastic Products Alleged to Release Estrogenic Chemicals
A recent study of commercially available plastic products has reportedly claimed that “almost all” those sampled leached chemicals having reliably detectable estrogenic activity (EA). Chun Z. Yang, et al., “Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals: A Potential Health Problem That Can Be Solved,” Environmental Health Perspectives, March 2011. Researchers evidently used “a very sensitive, accurate, repeatable,…
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Denise Mann, “Can You Get Hooked on Diet Soda?,” Health.com, February 25, 2011
“Diet soda isn’t as addictive as drugs like nicotine, but something about it seems to make some people psychologically—and even physically—dependent on it,” opens this Health.com article on individuals who drink more than the average amount of diet soda per day. According to journalist Denise Mann, some diet soft drink aficionados imbibe anywhere from four…
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FOE Report Critical of GM Crop Data
Friends of the Earth (FOE) International has published a February 2011 report claiming that “the biotech industry and its sponsors generate considerable hyperbole about the benefits that GMOs [genetically modified organisms] provide to farmers, consumers and the environment.” Titled Who Benefits from GM Crops?, the report criticizes data released by the International Service for the…
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Insurer Claims Policy Does Not Cover Diacetyl Claim Damages
An insurer that issued commercial umbrella policies to a company that makes flavorings ingredients, including those used in butter-flavored microwave popcorn, is seeking a declaration that it has no obligation under those policies to defend or indemnify the company in lawsuits alleging respiratory injury from exposure to diacetyl. Continental Cas. Co. v. Citrus & Allied…
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Ninth Circuit Finds GE Sugar Beet Seedlings Unlikely to Pose Threat of Irreparable Injury
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court ruling that would have required those who had planted genetically engineered (GE) sugar beet seedlings to destroy the crop. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Vilsack, Nos. 10-17719, -17722 (9th Cir., decided February 25, 2011). The Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service…
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U.S. Supreme Court Rules FOIA Personal-Privacy Exemption Applies to Individuals Not Corporations
The U.S. Supreme Court has determined that a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemption barring the release of law enforcement records whose release “could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy” is inapplicable to documents provided to a federal agency by a corporation. FCC v. AT&T, Inc., No. 09-1279 (U.S., decided…
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Arizona House Panel Passes Law to Stop “Consumer Incentive” Meal Restrictions
The Arizona House of Representatives Commerce Committee has reportedly approved a bill (H.B. 2490) that would block cities and counties from enacting laws that would prohibit restaurants, food establishments or convenience stores from offering “consumer incentive items” with meals. Scheduled to go before the House for a full vote, the law identifies the items as…