Category: Issue 498
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New York AG Announces Crackdown on Fake Online Reviews
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman recently announced that 19 companies have agreed to stop hiring search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing entities to write fake online reviews after an undercover investigation into digital “astroturfing” allegedly found that such practices violate “multiple state laws against false advertising.” According to a September 23, 2013, press release,…
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Prop. 65 Relief for Small Business Awaits Gubernatorial Signature
The California Legislature has approved a bill (A.B. 227) that would impose a number of restrictions on private parties seeking to enforce the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop. 65) and provide relief for small businesses that have been litigation targets since its enactment. If approved by the governor, who has…
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EC Amends Nano Elements of Food Information and Labeling Rule
The European Commission (EC) has issued a draft rule amending Regulation 1169/2011—a food information and labeling rule adopted in 2011—with regard to use of the term “nano” to describe food additives. The amended rule requires adherence to the definition of “engineered nanomaterial” provided in Recommendation 2011/696/EU, because this rule “reflects the technical and scientific progress to…
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USDA Issues Final Rule on Food Container Standards
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has issued a final rule, effective Oct. 17, 2013, amending regulations governing the standards for the condition of food containers. According to the agency, revising existing tables, removing operating characteristic curves and updating language in the standards will render them applicable to most types of…
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FTC Seeks Comments on Self-Regulatory Guidelines Submitted Under COPPA
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has requested comments on proposed self-regulatory guidelines submitted by the kidSAFE Seal Program under the safe harbor provisions of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (the COPPA Rule). Owned and operated by Samet Privacy, LLC, the kidSAFE Seal Program identifies itself as “a fast-growing safety certification service and seal-of-approval program…
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CDC Report Targets Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a report examining the impact of antibiotic-resistant bacteria on human health. Titled Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013, the report categorizes bacterial strains as either urgent threats, serious threats or concerning threats according to their clinical and economic impacts, incidence, 10-year projection of incidence,…
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Legislators Seek to Modernize Food Labeling
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have introduced legislation (H.R. 3147) seeking to “modernize” food labeling by updating the Nutrition Facts panel and ingredient list requirements, addressing front-of package (FOP) labeling, and eliminating misleading health claims. Titled the Food Labeling Modernization Act of 2013, the bill would…
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EEOC Files Gender Discrimination Complaint Against Food Distributor
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a complaint against Performance Food Group, Inc., alleging that it had a “standard operating procedure of denying employment to female applicants for operative positions in its [warehouse] facilities on the basis of their gender”; EEOC also alleges that the defendant failed to promote a woman at its…