Category: Issue 591
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Global Index Ranks Food Manufacturers’ Responses to Obesity and Undernourishment
The Access to Nutrition Foundation has released its second Access to Nutrition Index® (ATNI), which ranks the 22 largest food and beverage companies on their “contributions to tackling obesity and undernutrition.” According to a concurrent press release, “The 2016 Index concluded that, while some companies have taken positive steps since the last Index, the industry as…
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Pacific Standard Profiles Former Dentist Fighting Sugar-Industry Involvement in Government Health Standards
Pacific Standard has profiled Cristin Kearns, a former dentist who has partnered with journalist Gary Taubes and researcher Stanton Glantz to fight sugar-industry influence on the U.S. government’s standards for health and dental care using similar tactics as those Glantz used against cigarette manufacturers in the 1990s. Now a researcher working for Glantz at the…
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Jury Holds Peanut Co. Liable for Employee’s Peanut Dust Inhalation
A jury in Alabama has found Golden Peanut Co. liable for an accident causing an employee welder to inhale peanut dust, resulting in a pneumonia infection and subsequent lung transplant. Smith v. Golden Peanut Co., No. 14-0999 (M.D. Ala., jury verdict filed January 15, 2015). The welder was apparently inside a grain elevator when a truck…
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Whole Foods Reaches Deal in Price-Labeling Suit
Whole Foods and a consumer have reached an agreement in a lawsuit alleging the company misrepresented the prices of its products before the point of purchase. Burgos v. Whole Foods Mkt. Grp., No. 15-7357 (D.N.J., stipulation filed January 20, 2016). The plaintiff alleged that some of Whole Foods’ price displays failed to meet the state’s…
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Costco Shrimp Case Dismissed for Lack of Standing
A California federal court has dismissed a lawsuit against Costco Wholesale Corp. alleging the company’s shrimp was falsely advertised as adherent to a supplier code of conduct on human rights while the product was allegedly obtained through the use of slave labor. Sud v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 15-3783 (N.D. Cal., order entered January 15,…
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Government Intervention Pauses Tuna Price-Fixing Lawsuit
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has intervened in an ongoing series of lawsuits against Tri-Union Seafoods, StarKist and Bumble Bee Foods alleging the companies conspired to set prices for tuna in the United States. In re Packaged Seafood Prods. Antitrust Litig., 15-2670 (S.D. Cal., order entered January 20, 2015). A California federal court granted…
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SCOTUS Decides Class-Action Settlement Offer Issue
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a class action can continue after the defendant offers the lead plaintiff everything requested and the plaintiff rejects the offer. Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Jose Gomez, No. 14-857 (U.S., order entered January 20, 2016). The claim at issue stemmed from an alleged violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act…
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GIPSA Seeks Industry Input on Marketing Grains and Related Commodities
The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has requested public comments on the services provided to support “the marketing of grain and related commodities.” The agency seeks input from producers, handlers, processors, food manufacturers, exporters, importers, and other industry stakeholders to determine how GIPSA “can best facilitate the marketing of grains, oilseeds, rice, pulses,…