Category: Issue 462
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Lindt and Haribo Spar over Gold Bears and Teddies
Lindt & Spruengli AG is once again facing trademark litigation over its gold-wrapped chocolate candy, this time for its “Teddy,” which Haribo GmbH claims infringes its “Gold-Bears” multi-colored gummy bears product. Lindt was unable to secure a European Union (EU) trademark for its chocolate bunny, but was able to stop Hauswirth in Austria from manufacturing…
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Study Examines Food Contaminant Exposures
University of California, Los Angeles, and University of California, Davis, researchers have published a study examining the health effects of foodborne toxin exposure in children and adults. Rainbow Vogt, et al., “Cancer and noncancer health effects from food contaminant exposures for children and adults in California: a risk assessment,” Environmental Health, November 2012. Based on…
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Research Allegedly Links Cattle Farming to Peripheral Neuropathy
A recent study has allegedly linked cattle farming to an “increased prevalence of self-reported symptoms associated with peripheral neuropathy,” raising questions about the role of Campylobacter jejuni infection in Guillain-Barré Syndrome (BGS). Leora Vegosen, et al., “Neurologic Symptoms Associated with Cattle Farming in the Agricultural Health Study,” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, October 2012.…
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CDC Highlights Calories Consumed from Alcoholic Beverages
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a study claiming that on any given day, adult consumers of alcoholic beverages imbibe approximately 16 percent of their total caloric intake from alcoholic beverages— “the same contribution to overall calories as the 16 [percent] from added sugars among U.S. children.” Samara Joy Nielsen, et…
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Marion Nestle Discusses Food Marketing with Childhood Obesity
New York University Nutrition Professor Marion Nestle recently gave an interview to Childhood Obesity’s features editor, Jamie Devereaux, on healthy food access, the role of packaged foods in diets, and “the topic of peer pressure in eating fast food, sugar-sweetened beverages, and brand-name snacks.” While supporting federal policy to increase fresh fruit and vegetable consumption in low-access areas,…
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Marketers, Tech Companies Oppose Proposed Children’s Online Privacy Rules
According to a November 5, 2012, New York Times article, technology and media companies have joined trade groups and marketing associations in opposing the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) efforts to update provisions implemented under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). As regulators look to expand the types of data-collection activities covered by COPPA, companies…
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“Fat-Blocking” Soda Launches in Japan
PepsiCo, Inc. has reportedly launched a “fat-blocking” soda in Japan, sparking media interest in the latest product to take advantage of a Japanese government study finding that the water-soluble fiber supplement dextrin blocks fat absorption in the digestive system. According to various sources, “Pepsi Special” containing “indigestible dextrin” has received a “Food for Specified Heath…
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OPC Releases Report on Self-Regulatory Marketing in Australia
The Obesity Policy Coalition (OPC) has sent a report to Australian officials on the country’s current self-regulatory system for food marketing, which OPC has described as “seriously flawed.” According to the coalition, the codes developed by the food industry to govern marketing to children “are extremely complex,” resulting in “a litany of loopholes” that companies…