Category: Issue 496
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Rudd Center Report Criticizes Cereal Marketing to Youth
The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has published a study that criticizes cereal companies for allegedly promoting high-sugar products to children and portraying “unhealthy eating behaviors” in TV advertisements. Megan LoDolce, et al., “Sugar as Part of a Balanced Breakfast? What Cereal Advertisements Teach Children About Healthy Eating,” Journal of Health Communication, August…
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Study Claims Fast Food Companies Not Adhering to Child Marketing Pledges
A recent study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has claimed that fast food TV advertisements directed at children have allegedly failed to abide by Children’s Advertising Review Unit and Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative recommendations that food products—as opposed to toys, movie tie-ins and brands—should be the focus of youth marketing messages.…
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Researchers Track Alcohol Brand Mentions in Pop Songs
Boston University School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers have identified the alcohol brands most frequently mentioned in popular music, raising questions about whether public health efforts should focus on reducing youth exposure “to these positive messages about alcohol use.” Michael Siegel, et al., “Alcohol Brand References in U.S.…
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Kitchen Spices Allegedly a Source of Salmonella
A recent article in The New York Times reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is set to release a three-year-long study concluding that imported spices, particularly those from India and Mexico, are contaminated with Salmonella—reportedly the most common source of foodborne illness—at twice the rate of all other imported foods. “In a study…
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Drastic Measures Proposed to Combat Childhood Obesity in Britain
In response to evidence that British children appear to be getting fatter, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in London has reportedly recommended imposing a 20 percent tax on sugary soft drinks for one year as an experiment to see whether it reduces consumption by kids. The group has also called for a ban on TV ads…
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Law Review Comment Explores FTC Oversight of Food Health Claims
The University of San Francisco Law Review has published a student comment titled “Snake Oil in Your Pomegranate Juice: Food Health Claims and the FTC,” that examines existing statutes and regulatory authorities enabling the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the burgeoning “functional food” market. 47 U.S.F.L. Rev. 783.…
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Federal Court Could Rule in COOL Dispute Within Two Weeks
According to a news source, the federal court that heard a challenge to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) revision to its country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules to comply with a World Trade Organization ruling stated during the hearing that it would issue a decision on the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction within 14 days.…
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Who Is the Most Interesting Man in the World®?
The Mexican brewer that makes Dos Equis® beer and has advertised it with a distinctive campaign since 2007 has brought a trademark and copyright infringement lawsuit against a New Jersey-based company and its president for an advertising campaign that allegedly mimics the brewer’s “Most Interesting Man in the World®” ads. Cervezas Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, S.A. de…