Category: Issue 454
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New Study Alleges Link Between BPA and Obesity in Youth
A recent study has purportedly identified an association between urinary bisphenol A (BPA) concentration and obesity in children and adolescents. Leonardo Trasande, et al., “Association Between Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration and Obesity Prevalence in Children and Adolescents,” Journal of the American Medical Association, September 2012. Relying on data from 2,838 participants ages 6-19 years who were…
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CDC Researchers Raise Concerns over Children’s Sodium Intake
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers recently published a study finding that sodium intake among U.S. children and adolescents “is positively associated” with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and risk for pre-high blood pressure and high blood pressure (pre-HBP/HBP). Quanhe Yang, et al., “Sodium Intake and Blood Pressure Among US Children and Adolescents,”…
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JAMA Publishes Obesity-Themed Issue
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has devoted its latest issue to articles focusing on obesity. Among them is a commentary authored by Thomas Farley, who is affiliated with New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which recently adopted a prohibition on sugar-sweetened beverages larger than 16 ounces. Titled “The Role…
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Anton Troianovski, “Child’s Play: Food Makers Hook Kids on Mobile Games,” The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2012
“U.S. food companies are reaching children by embedding their products in simple and enticing games for touch-screen phones and tablets,” writes The Wall Street Journal’s Anton Troianovski in this September 18, 2012, article examining how food and beverage manufacturers allegedly use mobile games and phone apps to sidestep “government and public pressure to limit advertising…
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Documentary Short on Prosecutorial Conduct Highlights Kosher Meatpacking Plant Executive’s Case
A recently released documentary short, titled “Unjustified: The Unchecked Power of America’s Justice System,” focuses on the fallout from a 2008 immigration raid on a kosher meatpacking plant in Iowa. Former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin was later charged with numerous violations, including violating child labor laws, identity theft and bank fraud. He was convicted on…
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Australian Medical Association Tackles Alcohol Marketing
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has released a 60-page report in conjunction with its National Summit on Alcohol Marketing to Young People that accuses industry of targeting children with new media tactics as well as alcohol-flavored food and cosmetic products. Urging “more robust policy and stronger regulatory oversight,” the report aims to document current alcohol…
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Mercury Policy Project Report Targets School Tuna
The Mercury Policy Project (MPP) and a coalition of other consumer groups have released a report claiming that canned albacore tuna sold in U.S. schools may contain higher mercury levels than those reported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Of the 59 canned tuna samples that MPP tested from this market sector, 48 were…
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Consumer Reports Finds Arsenic in Rice Products, Calls for Federal Standard
After testing more than 200 rice products, Consumer Reports purportedly found levels of total arsenic, both organic and inorganic, far in excess of the federal limit of 10 parts per billion (ppb) for arsenic in drinking water. Among the products tested were baby cereals, crackers, milk, pasta, flour, and an array of brown, white and…