Category: Issue 583
-
Advocacy Group Allleges Much “Wild” Salmon Is Mislabeled
Conservationist group Oceana has issued a report purportedly finding that 43 percent of salmon samples purchased from U.S. restaurants and grocery stores were mislabeled. As a follow-up to a larger study, Oceana researchers DNA tested 82 salmon samples and compared them to the names under which restaurants and grocers sold them. Of the 32 salmon…
-
The Lancet Launches Multidisciplinary Obesity Commission
U.K. medical journal The Lancet has announced establishment of a Commission on Obesity “to provide a multidisciplinary platform to contribute to accounting systems for action and to critically analyze the systemic drivers of, and solutions for, obesity.” The 22-member commission is a partnership among The Lancet, University of Auckland, George Washington University, and World Obesity Foundation.…
-
Jim Beam Files Opposition to “Double Oaked” Trademark Application
Jim Beam Brands Co. has filed a notice of opposition against an application filed by Brown-Forman Corp., maker of Jack Daniels®, to trademark Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, a bourbon product aged in two charred-oak barrels. Jim Beam Brands Co. v. Brown-Forman Corp., Serial No. 86/450,636 (T.T.A.B., notice of opposition filed October 19, 2015). Jim Beam…
-
Whole Foods Settles Trademark Dispute with Criterion Collection
Whole Foods Market, Inc. and video publisher The Criterion Collection have filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in a trademark dispute over Whole Foods’ “Criterion Collection” line of wines. The Criterion Collection v. Whole Foods Mkt., Inc., No. 15-7132 (S.D.N.Y., notice filed October 28, 2015). The parties note that matters have been “amicably settled and…
-
NYC Appeals Trial Court Ruling on Polystyrene
New York City has appealed a trial court decision overturning a determination that expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) cannot be recycled, which had resulted in a municipal ban on the material. In re Restaurant Action Alliance, NYC, No. 100734 (N.Y. App. Ct., filed October 26, 2015). The appeal argues that the commissioner of the Department of…
-
European, U.S. Courts Split on Compensation for False Outbreak Identifications
A German court has reportedly ordered the city of Hamburg to compensate a Spanish vegetable grower falsely linked to a 2011 E. coli outbreak that sickened more than 4,000 people in 16 countries. Vegetable cooperative Frunet asserted that it suffered €2.3 million in damages as a result of its incorrect identification as the source of…
-
Ninth Circuit Refuses to Reconsider Hawaii’s Overturned Anti-GMO Statute
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected as moot an appeal for reconsideration brought by the Shaka Movement in an effort to reestablish a ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) approved by voters in Maui County, Hawaii. Robert Ito Farm v. Cty. Of Maui, No. 15-15641 (9th Cir., order entered October 23, 2015). A…
-
WHO Report Classifying Red and Processed Meat as “Carcinogenic” Draws Media Scrutiny
The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has announced a monograph evaluating the alleged link between red and processed meat consumption and cancer. According to an October 26, 2015, press release, 22 experts from 10 countries reviewed more than 800 epidemiological studies about this association, with the greatest weight given…