Category: Issue 389
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Rudd Center Study Compares Compulsive Eating with Substance Addiction
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has published a study that reportedly compares addictive eating behavior in both obese and lean women to substance dependence. Ashley Gearhardt, et al., “Neural Correlates of Food Addiction,” Archives of General Psychiatry, April 2011. According to an April 4, 2011, press release, researchers assessed the addictive…
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Food Marketing to Youth Discussed in Brussels
According to public health lawyer and activist Michele Simon, who recently attended a meeting in Brussels “to address the problem of cross-border marketing of unhealthy food to children,” the same types of issues confronting public health advocates in the United States confront their counterparts in Europe. Regulatory standards are apparently under development, but Simon did…
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Litigation and Obesity Symposium Transcripts Available
Public interest lawyers and industry representatives debated the merits of using litigation to address obesity at a December 2010 symposium hosted by George Mason University, and edited transcripts have recently been made available in the Journal of Law, Economics & Policy. Among the speakers was John Banzhaf whose law students at George Washington University have…
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Court Sets Hearing on Fees in Native American Discrimination Suit Against USDA
A federal court in the District of Columbia has reportedly scheduled an April 26, 2011, hearing to determine whether attorneys representing Native American farmers and ranchers in the settlement of claims alleging discrimination against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) should receive $60.8 million in fees. Keepseagle v. Vilsack, No. 99-03119 (D.D.C., preliminary settlement approval…
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New York City to Consider Ban of Toy Giveaways in Restaurant Meals
New York City Council Member Leroy Comrie (D) has introduced a bill (Int. No. 530) that would ban toy giveaways in restaurant meals deemed high in calories, sodium and fat. Amending the city’s administrative code “in relation to setting nutrition standards for distributing incentive items aimed at children,” the bill mirrors a similar San Francisco…
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Arizona Governor Proposes Medicaid Fee for Smokers, Obese
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) has reportedly proposed levying a $50 annual fee on smokers, the chronically ill or obese who receive aid from the state’s financially strapped Medicaid program. Effective October 1, 2011, if approved by the Arizona Legislature, the plan would apply to childless adults who “need to work with their primary care…
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French Food Agency to Broaden Aspartame Study
The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) has reportedly reassessed the nutritional benefits and risks of intense sweeteners, confirming that two new studies “provide no sufficient scientific basis for a toxicological re-evaluation of aspartame.” ANSES apparently dismissed the first study concerning the effects of aspartame on mice because of methodological…
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EFSA Confirms Food Irradiation Safety
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued an April 6, 2011, statement on food irradiation that summarizes the 2010 scientific opinions adopted by the Panel on Biological Hazards and the Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavorings and Processing Aids, which together assessed the procedure’s efficacy and safety. Using the latest available evidence, these…