Category: Media Coverage
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New York Times Claims New GE Techniques Allow Companies to Skirt Regulation
According to a January 1, 2015, New York Times article by Andrew Pollack, the advent of new technologies has created a loophole in federal regulations for companies looking to market genetically-engineered (GE) crops. Noting that new techniques do not involve the transfer of genetic material from other species, use bacterium to insert foreign materials or…
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NPR Tracks Trademark Friction in Craft Brewing Market
A January 5, 2015, post on NPR’s “The Salt” blog reports that trademark disputes have come to a head in the craft brewing market, where more than 3,000 companies compete for a dwindling number of pithy beer names. Although many brewers work to resolve issues outside the courtroom, there has also been an increase in…
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Wired Reviews Obesity Research Initiatives Focused on Sugar
Examining the evolution of the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI), a recent Wired magazine article by Sam Apple explores how NuSI’s latest research efforts seek to test long-standing assumptions about the health effects of sugar and fat. Titled “Why Are We So Fat? The Multimillion-Dollar Scientific Quest to Find Out,” the article highlights the work of…
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Washington Post Targets Lack of Food Additive Scrutiny
Discussing the expedited approval process for food additives that took effect 17 years ago, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Deputy Commissioner for Food Michael Taylor recently told Washington Post reporter Kimberly Kindy that the agency does not have “the information to vouch for the safety of many of these chemicals.” According to the August…
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New Yorker Profiles Vandana Shiva, Anti-GMO Activist
Michael Specter has profiled “the Gandhi of grain,” Vandana Shiva, in a piece for the New Yorker that describes her as “a hero to anti-[genetically modified organisms (GMOs)] activists everywhere” while criticizing her inflammatory methods and unscientific arguments. Specter chronicles many of Shiva’s recent provocative statements—including a speech calling fertilizer “a weapon of mass destruction”…
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Shook Attorneys Discuss France’s Class Action Expansion with Food Navigator
Shook, Hardy & Bacon Partner Marc Shelley and Associate Emily Fedeles recently spoke with Food Navigator about a proposal contained in French Minister of Health Marisol Touraine’s National Health Bill that would extend class actions to claims involving injuries to health. According to the August 7, 2014, article, the bill seeks to expand a new…
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NPR Tackles Burrito/Sandwich Conundrum
NPR’s “All Things Considered” has tackled a conundrum that has apparently stymied courts and regulators alike: is a burrito considered a sandwich? According to NPR’s Elise Hu, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) currently distinguishes a sandwich—“meat or poultry filling between two slices of bread, a bun or a biscuit”—from burritos, wraps and hot dogs,…
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Freudenberg Talks Sugar Policy
City University of New York School of Public Health Professor Nicholas Freudenberg authored a July 8, 2014, article for Corporations & Health Watch, offering eight policy approaches for reducing added sugar consumption. Titled “Time to Talk on Added Sugar Policy,” the article recommends that, in light of New York City’s failure to implement soda-size limitations,…