Category: Issue 399
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Critique of Study Linking Obesity to Social Networks Buried in Statistical Journal
In 2007, a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine generated widespread media coverage for its claims that obesity can be transmitted via social networks, such as friendship, familial relationship or marriage. Details about the study appear in Issue 225 of this Update. The authors wrote additional papers on other personal characteristics, including smoking…
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Charles Siebert, “Food Ark,” National Geographic Magazine, July 2011
“[T]he movement to preserve heirloom varieties goes way beyond America’s renewed romance with tasty, locally grown food and countless varieties of tomatoes. It’s also a campaign to protect the world’s future food supply,” writes National Geographic’s Charles Siebert in this July 2011 article discussing the dangers of homogeneity when it comes to commercial agriculture and…
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CHW Article Focuses on “Astroturf” Food Advocacy
Corporations and Health Watch (CHW) has published a June 22, 2011, article claiming that food and beverage companies frequently deploy a public relations strategy known as “astroturfing” to disguise “corporatedriven” propaganda as “bottom-up, grassroots community activism.” Titled “Corporations, the Public’s Health and Astroturf,” the article specifically warns consumers against “cloaked websites” that “intentionally disguise authorship…
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CEO Reports Conflicts of Interest Among EFSA Food Additive Experts
The Corporate European Observatory (CEO) has published a report accusing European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) food additive experts of concealing conflicts of interest and industry ties. CEO claims that 11 out of 20 experts on EFSA’s Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources in Food (ANS) “have a conflict of interest, as defined by the…
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EWG Issues Updated Guide to Pesticides in Produce
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released its “2011 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce” updating “pesticide loads” on 53 conventional fruits and vegetables. EWG analysts reportedly reviewed U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration data from 2000 to 2009 that detailed the amounts and types of pesticides found on sampled produce, most…
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Food Nutrition Labeling and Youth Marketing Continue to Generate Comment
Calling for the food industry to put voluntary nutrition labeling initiatives on hold, Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Childhood Obesity, has co-authored an opinion piece about front-of-package nutrition labeling in The New England Journal of Medicine. Among other matters, the article recommends that industry leaders await an Institute…
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Insurers Claim No Duty to Defend Four Loko Lawsuits
Insurance companies with policies covering Phusion Projects, Inc., which makes the caffeinated alcohol beverage Four Loko®, have filed a summary judgment motion in their declaratory judgment action against the company, claiming that a policy exclusion unambiguously frees them from defending or indemnifying the beverage maker. The Netherlands Ins. Co. v. Phusion Projects, Inc., No. 11-1253 (N.D.…
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Final Court Approval Given to Trans Fat Class Settlement
A federal court in California has approved a non-monetary settlement of a class action alleging that Unilever U.S., Inc.’s health-related claims for margarine products containing trans fats were false and misleading. Rosen/ Red v. Unilever U.S., Inc., Nos. 09-02563, 10-00387 (N.D. Cal, decided June 21, 2011). Additional information about the settlement appears in Issue 398 of this…