Category: Issue 631
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Burger King Ad Invoking Google Home Stirs Up Attention
A Burger King advertisement featuring a prompt for Google Home, a voice-powered digital-assistant device, has caught media attention as an interesting but flawed method of incorporating artificial intelligence into a food-marketing campaign. The 15-second ad features a Burger King employee noting the ad is too short to explain the ingredients, stating Google Home’s trigger, “OK,…
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EFSA Reassessment Finds No Safety Concern for Use of Acacia Gum
The Panel of Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food, a branch of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), has conducted a reassessment on the effects of acacia gum used in food products and reportedly found 30,000 milligrams per person per day to be well-tolerated. The scientific opinion apparently found no carcinogenic or other…
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Cornell Addresses Criticisms of Food and Brand Lab Director Brian Wansink
Cornell University has issued a statement concluding that alleged statistical errors in studies authored by Brian Wansink, director of the university’s Food and Brand Lab, “did not constitute scientific misconduct.” Known for his work focused on how ads, packaging and other factors influence eating behavior, Wansink reportedly attracted criticism after he published a blog post…
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Torchy’s Tacos Sues Competitor for Infringement of “Damn Good Tacos”
Texas chain Torchy’s Tacos, which uses the tagline “Damn Good Tacos” in its restaurants and merchandising, has filed suit against Colorado restaurant Dam Good Tacos for trademark infringement, claiming consumer confusion. Success Foods Mgmt. Group, LLC v. Dam Good Systems, LLC, No. 170842 (D. Colo., filed April 5, 2017). Asserting that it registered the “Damn…
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Kerrygold Files Trademark Suit Against Wisconsin Maker of Irishgold Butter
The Irish distributor of Kerrygold butter won an emergency restraining order against a Wisconsin creamery after alleging the creamery backed out of an agreement to process Kerrygold locally and later created its own nearly identical product, “Irishgold,” infringing Kerrygold’s trademark. Ornua Foods N. Am., Inc. v. Eurogold USA LLC, No. 170510 (E.D. Wis., filed April…
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Asahi Facing False-Source Putative Class Action
A consumer has filed a projected class action alleging Asahi Beer U.S.A., Inc. misleads customers into believing that Asahi Super Dry beer is made in Japan despite being produced in Canada. Panvini v. Asahi Beer U.S.A., Inc., No. 17-1896 (N.D. Cal., filed April 5, 2017). The plaintiff claims that although most of the Asahi Dry…
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Italy Proposes New COOL Rule for Pre-Packaged Foods
Italy has reportedly proposed new legislation that would require food manufacturers to include country-of-origin labeling (COOL) on all pre-packaged food labels or face fines of up to €18,000. Under the proposal, food-product labels must list an Italian address for the food’s production facility or indicate that the food is made outside of the country. Italy’s…
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Canada Proposes Ban on PHO by Summer 2018
Canada has announced a proposal to ban the use of partially hydrogenated oils (PHO) in food by adding them to the agency’s “List of Contaminants and Other Adulterating Substances in Food” by summer 2018. That deadline would bring Canada in line with the United States, where food manufacturers have until June 2018 to remove PHO…