Category: Issue 538
-
Article Considers Food Addiction Under DSM-5 Criteria
An article examining food addiction in light of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) has concluded that the latest edition’s new criteria for substance use disorders (SUDs) “may be valuable for food addiction research, even if some of those symptoms may rarely be endorsed by participants exhibiting addiction-like eating.” Adrian Meule and Ashley Gearhardt,…
-
Recent Research Links “Mood, Food and Obesity”
A review of recent research focused on food consumption and mood regulation has reported that complex biological factors engage both the peripheral and central nervous system “in a bi-directional manner linking food intake, mood, and obesity.” Minati Singh, “Mood, Food and Obesity,” Frontiers in Psychology, September 2014. Summarizing human and animal studies, the article addresses…
-
Artificial Sweeteners Allegedly Linked to Glucose Intolerance
A recent Nature study has reportedly concluded that non-caloric artificial sweeteners (NAS) elevate blood glucose levels and induce glucose intolerance by modifying gut bacteria. Jotham Suez, et al., “Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota,” Nature, September 2014. Noting that mice given drinking water prepared with either saccharin, sucralose or aspartame showed signs…
-
PETA UK Director Urges Action on Foie Gras in the EU
Animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is currently engaged in a campaign to ban foie gras production throughout the European Union (EU). Writing in the September 17, 2014, issue of The Parliament Magazine, PETA UK Director Mimi Bekhechi urges readers to sign a letter to EU officials calling on them to…
-
Rudd Center to Relocate to University of Connecticut
Yale University has announced that the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity will move to the University of Connecticut’s (UConn’s) Center for Health, Intervention and Prevention in January 2015 to help launch a major initiative prioritizing “health, wellness, and obesity prevention as an integral part of the University’s mission.” According to a September 12,…
-
San Francisco and Berkeley Pass Resolutions Condemning Nontherapeutic Use of Antibiotics in Livestock
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Berkeley City Council last week each passed resolutions urging federal lawmakers to pass the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2013 (H.R. 1150) and the Preventing Antibiotic Resistance Act of 2013 (S. 1256). “Twenty-three thousand people die each year in the United States from antibiotic-resistant infections,”…
-
JAMA Publishes Viewpoint on New York City’s Soda Portion Case
Georgetown public health law professors opine in the September 15, 2014, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that New York’s high court, in striking down the New York City Board of Health’s sugary drink portion size rule, could have effectively chilled “local innovation, given local agencies’ unique position to devise innovative…
-
Costa Rican Court Declares GMO Approval Process Unconstitutional
Costa Rica’s Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court has reportedly struck down the country’s approval process for projects using genetically modified organisms (GMOs), finding it violates the constitutional rights to a healthy environment and—because of the confidentiality of the process— freedom of information. Environmental groups challenged the process in late 2012, and the Ombudsman’s Office…