Category: Issue 431
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Study Claims Trans Fat Intake Increases Risk of Stroke in Women
A study has claimed that trans fat consumption among healthy postmenopausal women is associated with an increased risk for ischemic stroke, although extended aspirin use seemed to mitigate that risk. Sirin Yaemsiri, et al., “Trans Fat, Aspirin, and Ischemic Stroke in Postmenopausal Women,” Annals of Neurology, March 2012. Researchers relied on data from 87,025 women ages…
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Study Says Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Increase Heart Disease Risk in Men
A study based on 42,883 men enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study has allegedly determined that those who drank one 12 ounce sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) per day increased their coronary heart disease (CHD) risk by 20 percent over those who did not drink any SSBs. Lawrence de Koning, et al., “Sweetened Beverage Consumption, Incident Coronary…
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Study Allegedly Links Red Meat Consumption to Increased Mortality
A recent Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study has claimed that daily meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer and other causes. An Pan, et al., “Red Meat Consumption and Mortality,” Archives of Internal Medicine, March 2012. Relying on data from 37,698 men in the Health…
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Greenwashing Foes Tackle Food and Fitness Marketing with Health Claims
A marketing company that bills itself as a “champion of authentic green marketing” and crusades against product “greenwashing” claims has launched a new website on which the health-related claims of food and fitness products can be rated. EnviroMedia Social Marketing created the online tool to expose “exaggerated or misleading health claims through advertising, marketing or…
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U.S., Canada and EU Agree to End Beef Growth Hormone Rift
According to news sources, a 25-year-old trade dispute pitting European Union (EU) laws prohibiting the import of beef treated with growth hormones and U.S. and Canadian trade sanctions imposing hundreds of millions of dollars of duties on EU exports of Roquefort cheese, truffles, chocolates, and other comestibles has been resolved. The U.S. and Canadian tariffs…
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New “All Natural/100% Pure” Suits Filed Against Juice Makers and Retailers
An Alabama resident has reportedly filed seven lawsuits in federal court against companies that make or sell orange juice products advertised as 100 percent pure or natural when they are actually “a product of industrial processing and laboratory-flavored juices.” Veal v. Tropicana Prods., Inc., No. 12-00804 (N.D. Ala., filed March 13, 2012). John Veal apparently…
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Federal Labeling Law Does Not Preempt Claims Against JOOSE® Maker
A federal court in California has refused to dismiss most of the putative class claims filed by a consumer against a company that made an alcoholic beverage containing high levels of caffeine, finding that a federal alcohol labeling law did not preempt state-law claims based on labeling or advertising and that the allegations of economic…
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OEHHA Adds Methanol to Prop. 65 List for Reproductive Toxicity
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has added methanol to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity (Prop. 65). The listing, which is effective as of March 16, 2012, is based on the National Toxicology Program’s identification of the chemical as a reproductive toxicant. Because the chemical…