Category: Issue 436
-
Study Questions Alleged Link Between Junk Food in Schools and Childhood Obesity
A recent study attempting “to isolate the causal effect of junk food availability on children’s food consumption and body mass index (BMI)” has concluded that access to competitive foods in schools “does not significantly increase BMI or obesity among this fifth-grade cohort despite the increased likelihood of in-school junk food purchases.” Ashlesha Datar and Nancy…
-
NYT Highlights Food Desert Controversy
An April 17, 2012, New York Times article has drawn attention to two recent studies questioning the perception that poor urban neighborhoods are “food deserts” with little access to fresh produce, vegetables and other healthy options. According to Times science correspondent Gina Kolata, reports published in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine (February 2012) and Social…
-
Animal Welfare Groups Pull Reins on Proposed Horse Slaughterhouse
A New Mexico rancher has reportedly petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to operate the first horse slaughterhouse since the ban for such operations was lifted in November 2011. Since 2006, the federal government has essentially blocked horse slaughterhouses because Congress did not fund their legally required USDA inspections. Those inspections, however, were approved…
-
Egg Farmer Calls California Cage Limitations Unconstitutional
A California egg farmer has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 2 (Prop. 2), a voter-approved ballot initiative that, beginning January 1, 2015, will subject egg producers to criminal sanctions for confining egg-laying hens to cages preventing them from “lying down, standing up, and fully extending . . . [their] limbs” and “turning…
-
Class Action Filed Against Seafood Producer Challenging “Omega-3” Claims
California resident Tricia Ogden has filed a putative class action in federal court against Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, alleging that it misbrands its seafood products by claiming they “are an excellent and affordable source of protein, nutrients and Omega 3 fatty acids” and “Rich in Natural Omega-3.” Ogden v. Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, No. 12-01828 (N.D.…
-
Employer Settles ADA Claim Filed on Behalf of Obese Woman
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the owner and operator of a long-term residential treatment facility for chemically dependent women and their children has agreed to pay $125,000 to the estate of an employee allegedly terminated from her position because she was severely obese. EEOC v. Res. for Human Dev., Inc., No.…
-
Court Guts Most Claims in Muscle Milk® Consumer Fraud Litigation
A federal court in California has granted in part and denied in part the defendant’s motion to dismiss claims that its product labels, ads and Website representations for Muscle Milk® ready-to-drink beverages and snack bars violate state unfair competition and false advertising laws and the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, and constitute fraud, negligent misrepresentation…
-
Class Notification Ongoing in Diamond Walnut Settlement of Omega-3 Fraud Claims
Under a court order preliminarily approving a settlement of consumer fraud claims involving purported health benefit labeling used to sell Diamond Foods walnuts, the class notification program has apparently begun. Zeisel v. Diamond Foods, Inc., No. 10-01192 (N.D. Cal., preliminary approval order entered January 30, 2012). The court previously certified a nationwide class of consumers…