Category: Issue 499
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Researchers Allegedly Identify Biological Pathway Linking Diabetes and Heart Disease
UC Davis Health System researchers have reportedly identified “a biological pathway that is activated when blood sugar levels are abnormally high and causes irregular heartbeats, a condition known as cardiac arrhythmia that is linked with heart failure and sudden cardiac death.” Jeffrey Erickson, et al., “Diabetic hyperglycaemia activities CaMKII and arrhythmias by O-linked glycosylation,” Nature,…
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Lappé Discusses “Food MythBusters” with Mother Jones
“The food industry is spending almost $2 billion a year marketing directly to children and teens,” opines food industry critic Anne Lappé in an October 2, 2013, interview with Mother Jones that focuses on her latest project, Food MythBusters. Discussing a range of topics from genetically modified organ- isms to food marketing and farm labor…
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Food Expiration Dates Target of NRDC Report
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic have co-authored a September 2013 report claiming that the date label used on food products “is a key factor” in unnecessary food waste. Titled The Dating Game: How Confusing Food Date Labels Lead to Food Waste in America, the report focuses on…
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Corporate Europe Observatory Criticizes EFSA Ahead of Transparency Conference
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) recently joined a coalition of nongovernmental organizations in criticizing the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) ahead of the agency’s October 3, 2013, stakeholder meeting on transparency in risk assessment. Led by CEO and backed by groups such as Cancer Prevention and Education Society, Friends of the Earth Europe and GMWatch, the…
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WTO Refers COOL Dispute to Compliance Panel, Delay Sought for New U.S. Rules
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has reportedly established a compliance panel at the request of Canada and Mexico in an ongoing dispute over the U.S. country-of-origin (COOL) meat labeling rules. Canada’s International Trade Minister Ed Fast and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz applauded the WTO action, saying that the United States must “respect its international trade…
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Inconvenient Forum at Issue Again in Four Loko Death Suit
An Illinois appeals court has reversed a trial court determination that Illinois would not be an inconvenient forum for the defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of a 15-year-old boy who allegedly drank two cans of the alcohol energy drink Four Loko and was killed on a Virginia highway after becoming…
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Preliminary Settlement of Diamond Shareholder Claims Approved
A federal court in California has preliminarily approved the settlement of shareholder claims that Diamond Foods, Inc. “deliberately understated the costs of walnuts and improperly accounted for payments made to walnut growers to increase apparent profits and maintain higher share prices” in anticipation of the anticipated purchase of Pringles with company stock. In re Diamond…