Category: Issue 475
-
PHAI Publishes Issue Brief on Viral Marketing to Children
The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI), with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Eating Research program, has released a legal issue brief titled “It’s Not Just for Teens: Viral Marketing to Young Children.” Intended as a guide for state attorneys general and claiming that “[f]ood marketers are in the forefront of using viral marketing…
-
Rudd Center Seeks to Redefine “Child-Directed Advertising”
The Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has published a study urging a broader definition of “child-directed” TV advertising than the one currently employed by the industry-backed Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI). Jennifer Harris, et al., “Redefining ‘Child-Direct Advertising’ to Reduce Unhealthy Television Food Advertising,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, March 2013. According…
-
RWJF Issues Recommendations for Healthier Beverages
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF’s) Healthy Eating Research (HER) panel has released a set of age-based “Recommendations for Healthier Beverages” that urge government buildings, workplaces and other public venues to increase the availability of water and unflavored milk as replacements for high-calorie beverages. Billed as “an advisory panel of prominent researchers, nutritionists and policy experts,”…
-
Class Suit Claims 5-Hour ENERGY® Is Not a Healthy Vitamin Energy Drink
Pennsylvania residents have filed a putative statewide class action in federal court against the company that makes 5-Hour ENERGY® drinks, claiming that they are promoted as a “healthy vitamin-filled energy drink” but are “nothing more than a shot of caffeine.” Thompson v. Innovation Ventures, LLC, No. 13-336 (W.D. Pa., filed March 7, 2013). The plaintiffs…
-
Second Circuit Uphold Terms of Unambiguous Ballpark Vending Contract
In a nonprecedential summary order, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling against Kosher Sports, Inc., a New Jersey-based provider of kosher food products, which had a 10-year contract with Queens Ballpark Co., the company that operates Citi Field, where the New York Mets play their home games. Kosher Sports,…
-
Halal Fraud Settlement Critic Now Free to Oppose It on Facebook
According to a news source, a Michigan judge has lifted a gag order imposed on an attorney who posted information on his Facebook page critical of a proposed settlement of claims that a McDonald’s Corp. franchisee sold as halal certain chicken products without complying with Islamic standards; the court has also granted his request to…
-
Deceptive Ad Claims Settled with Muscle Milk® Maker
The company that makes the Muscle Milk® line of nutrition products has agreed to settle putative class claims that it misrepresented the products’ nutritional value. Delacruz v. CytoSport, Inc., No. 11-3532 (N.D. Cal., motion to approve settlement filed March 7, 2013). Details about the complaint appear in Issue 403 of this Update. A court order leaving…
-
New York City Takes Appeal from Ruling on Soft-Drink Size Limits
Immediately after a New York court determined that the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene lacked the authority and a rational basis to adopt a prohibition on the sale of sugary beverages in containers larger than 16 ounces, the city filed a notice of appeal, which will reportedly be heard during the…