Category: Issue 447
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Researchers Allegedly Link New Poultry Viruses to Live-Attenuated Vaccines
University of Melbourne researchers have reportedly demonstrated that viruses from two live-attenuated poultry vaccines have combined in the field to produce new infectious viruses “responsible for widespread disease in Australian commercial poultry flocks.” Sang-Won Lee, et al., “Attenuated Vaccines Can Recombine to Form Virulent Field Viruses,” Science, July 2012. According to a July 13, 2012,…
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ABA Sponsors Program on California’s Proposed GM Food Labeling Law
The American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources will hold a teleconference on July 31, 2012, titled “California’s Proposed GM Food Labeling Law: Pros, Cons, and Legal Issues.” A panel of speakers, including the Center for Food Safety’s George Kimbrell and the Global Environmental Ethics Counsel’s Thomas Redick, will consider the latest information…
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Extremely Obese Children Removed from Parents’ Care in Australia
According to news sources, human-services authorities in Victoria have sought protection for extremely obese children on at least two occasions in 2012, arguing to children’s court magistrates that they would be unable to lose weight in their parents’ care. One case reportedly involved a preteen boy who weighed more than 240 pounds and a teenage…
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CSPI Criticizes DreamWorks, Food Companies for Licensing Deals
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has sent a July 18, 2012, letter to the chief executive officer of DreamWorks Animation SKG, criticizing the studio’s decision to license its popular film characters to food companies. Focusing on the recent film Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, the consumer group cited tie-ins “with multiple…
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Health Advocacy Coalition Joins ACS Call for Surgeon General Report on Soft Drinks
Suggesting that soft drinks are associated with “addictive mechanisms,” a coalition of nearly 100 federal, state and local public health organizations and individuals have added their voices to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s, urging the U.S. Surgeon General to “prepare a Report on the health effects of sugary drinks and to issue a…
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California Judge Says Product Claims Were Preempted or Non-Actionable Puffery
According to a news source, a Los Angeles Superior Court has dismissed a putative class action seeking damages against One World Enterprises LLC for allegedly misleading consumers about the nutritional value and hydrating properties of its coconut water product. Shenkman v. One World Enters. LLC, No. BC467165 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., dismissed on July…
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Advocacy Groups Challenge Constitutionality of California Shark Fin Ban
Organizations representing the interests of Asian Americans have filed suit in a federal court in California against the governor and agency officials seeking a declaration that legislation enacted in October 2011 banning the “possession, sale, offer for sale, distribution, or trade of shark fins” violates their members’ equal protection rights, unlawfully interferes with interstate commerce…
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Trade Groups Challenge DOL’s New Tip Pool Rule for Restaurant Employees
Restaurant trade organizations, an Oregon restaurant and one of its employees, a server, have filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief against the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), alleging that its interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, forbidding restaurants from distributing a share of tips to non-tipped employees, regardless of whether the restaurants…