Category: Issue
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Chipotle GMO False Ad Suits Filed, Refiled
A consumer has filed a lawsuit alleging that Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. falsely advertised its food as free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) despite serving meat products from animals fed GMOs and soft drinks that contain GMO corn syrup. Pappas v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. 16-0612 (S.D. Cal., filed March 10, 2016). The plaintiff…
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OEHHA Takes Emergency Measure on Prop. 65 Warnings for BPA Exposure
The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has proposed an emergency action to temporarily allow the use of standard point-ofsale warning messages for bisphenol A (BPA) exposures from canned and bottled foods and beverages. Under Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) regulations, consumer products that contain any chemical known to the state…
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UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Unveils Levy on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages
The U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has announced a new levy on soft drink companies to be assessed “on the volume of sugar-sweetened drinks they produce or import.” In a budget presentation before Parliament, Osborne laid out a two-tiered tax scheme slated to take effect in April 2018, “to give companies plenty of space…
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NOP Releases National List Petition Guidelines
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has published revised National List Petition Guidelines for requesting amendments to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List). According to NOP, the National List not only identifies “the synthetic substances that may be used and the non-synthetic (natural) substances that may not be…
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U.S. Codex Delegates to Address Food Labeling Issues
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are holding an April 13, 2016, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to discuss U.S. draft positions for consideration at the 43rd Session of the Codex Committee on Labeling in Foods (CCFL) in Ottawa, Canada,…
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CSPI Urges FDA to Mandate Warning Labels on Foods Containing Synthetic Food Coloring
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require labeling on foods containing synthetic food dyes such as FD&C Green 3 and FD&C Blue 2. CSPI’s latest move follows its January 2016 publication of a report critical of FDA’s inattention to food dyes…
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Senators Urge Action on GAO Bee Health Report
U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have written a March 14, 2016, letter requesting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) act on recommendations contained in a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on bee health. Summarizing federal initiatives designed to improve bee health…
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High Glycemic Index Allegedly Linked to Increased Lung Cancer Risk
A new study has allegedly linked a high dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load—“markers of carbohydrate intake”—to an increased risk of lung cancer in non-smokers. Stephanie C. Melkonian, et al., “Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load, and Lung Cancer Risk in Non-Hispanic Whites,” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, March 2016. Comparing data from newly diagnosed lung cancer…