Category: Issue 409
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Studies Investigate Significance of BPA Health Effects
A recent study funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reportedly measured internal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) from dietary sources, with results suggesting that the substance is, for the most part, metabolized and excreted by the body. Justin Teeguarden, et al., “Twenty-Four Hour Human Urine and Serum Profiles of Bisphenol A during High-Dietary…
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Thomas Watkins, “‘Corn sugar’ is false advertising, FDA warns,” AP, September 15, 2011
According to documents obtained by Associated Press reporter Thomas Watkins, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is currently considering a Corn Refiners Association petition to allow high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to be called “corn sugar,” has written to the association indicating concern with the trade group using the terms interchangeably. In the July 12,…
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CAMY Releases Study on Radio Alcohol Ads
The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) has issued a report claiming that “almost 1 out of 11 radio ads for alcoholic beverages in 75 markets across the nation in 2009 failed to comply with the alcohol industry’s voluntary standard for the placement of advertising.” According to CAMY, “Approximately 9 percent of all alcohol…
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Law Profs Contend Nutrition Guidelines for Food Marketed to Children Pass 1st Amendment Muster
A number of law professors, including anti-tobacco activist and Public Health Advocacy Institute President Richard Daynard, have written to the heads of four federal agencies, in their role as the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children, to support the group’s proposed nutrition principles for food marketed directly to children ages 2-17. Details about…
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Popcorn Lung Alleged Against Diacetyl Makers and Sellers
A number of former employees of an animal-food flavoring maker have sued companies that make or sell the butter-flavoring chemical diacetyl, alleging that occupational exposure caused them to contract a debilitating lung disease known as bronchiolitis obliterans (or popcorn lung). Huerta v. Aldrich Chem. Co., Inc., No. 11-9461 (Ill. Cir. Ct., Cook Cty., filed September…
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California Court Reverses $12-Million Verdict , Rules Spinach Contamination Not Insured
A California court of appeal has determined that a trial court erred in allowing a spinach seller to recover $12 million under the accidental contamination portion of its insurance policy. Fresh Express Inc. v. Beazley Syndicate 2623/623 at Lloyd’s, No. H035246 (Cal. Ct. App., decided September 8, 2011) (unpublished). According to the court, the produce…
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White Castle Devotee Sues Company, Alleging Injury from Small Booth
According to news sources, a man who weighs nearly 300 pounds has filed an Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit against White Castle in a federal court in New York, claiming that the stationary booth seating in a Nanuet restaurant is made for smaller people and that he hurt a knee trying to wedge into one…
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Consumer Claims Skinnygirl™ Margarita Is Not “All Natural” as Advertised
A putative class action has been filed in a federal court in California against Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., alleging that the company’s Skinnygirl™ Margarita beverage, purportedly created by a natural foods chef, contains sodium benzoate and other preservatives and should not be advertised and sold as a “natural” product. Bonar v. Beam Global…