Category: Issue 427
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Seafood Company Sentenced to $1 Million in Fines and Community Service Payments
A California-based seafood company has reportedly been sentenced in federal court for knowingly selling mislabeled frozen fish fillets. United States v. Seafood Solutions, Inc., No. 11-297 (C.D. Cal., sentencing February 6, 2012). Seafood Solutions, Inc. agreed to plead guilty to the charge in July 2011, as part of a federal investigation into companies that had been selling…
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Study Allegedly Links BPA to Insulin Resistance
A recent study has claimed that bisphenol A (BPA) exposure causes pancreatic cells to secrete increased amounts of insulin, thereby raising questions about the substance’s effect on insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and obesity. Sergi Soriano, “Rapid Insulinotropic Action of Low Doses of Bisphenol-A on Mouse and Human Islets of Langerhans: Role of Estrogen Receptor…
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Maine Activists Champion BPA Ban in Baby Food, Canned Foods
Environmental health activists in Maine are reportedly campaigning to extend the state’s current ban on bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles, sippy cups and reusable food containers to all food containers within three years. Spearheaded by the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, the effort follows a chemical analysis funded by the group that…
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Oxford Academic Wants WHO to Adopt Framework Convention on Alcohol Control
A university lecturer in global health politics at the University of Oxford has called for the World Health Organization (WHO) to use a “vastly underused” mechanism, a legally binding framework convention requiring just a two-thirds vote, to address the health burdens and mortality purportedly attributed to alcohol consumption. In the February 16, 2012, issue of…
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Environmental Group Files Prop. 65 Notice of Violation to Enforce 4-MEI Warnings
The Center for Environmental Health has filed a notice of violation under California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act (Prop. 65) to inform the manufacturer and retailers of several carbonated soft drinks containing caramel coloring that it will file a citizen enforcement lawsuit against them for violating Prop. 65’s warning provision since January 7,…
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False Advertising Class Action Filed in Georgia Against POM Wonderful
A Georgia resident has filed a complaint in federal court on behalf of a statewide class of consumers allegedly misled about the purported health benefits of POM Wonderful’s pomegranate products. Templeton v. POM Wonderful, LLC, No. 12-53 (S.D. Ga., filed February 16, 2012). According to the complaint, the company promotes its products “as having special…
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Frito-Lay Claims Infringement of Tortilla Chips Design and Packaging
Frito-Lay North America, Inc. has filed a trademark and patent infringement lawsuit in a Texas federal court against a company that purportedly makes a similar tortilla chip product and sells it in similar packaging. Frito-Lay N. Am., Inc. v. Medallion Foods, Inc., No. 12 00074 (E.D. Tex., filed February 10, 2012). At issue are Frito-Lay’s TOSTITOS…
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Court Enjoins Dairy Farmer from Selling Raw Milk Across State Lines
A federal court in Pennsylvania has granted the U.S. government’s motion for summary judgment and permanently enjoined a Pennsylvania dairy farmer from selling raw milk and milk products in interstate commerce. United States v. Allgyer, No. 11-02651 (E.D. Pa., decided February 2, 2012). According to the court, Daniel Allgyer’s interstate sales of raw milk were…