Category: Other Developments
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NY State PTA Takes Stand Against Antibiotic Overuse in Livestock
The New York State Parent Teacher Association (PTA) has reportedly become the first PTA in the country to pass a resolution that calls on Congress and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “to protect human health by prohibiting the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in food animal production.” Representing hundreds of thousands of parents, teachers…
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Center for Food Safety Asks FDA for Stronger Protections from Arsenic
In response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s request for comments on its “Draft Guidance for Industry on Arsenic in Apple Juice: Action Level,” the Center for Food Safety (CFS) has asked the agency to “limit the public’s exposure to arsenic through a new regulatory strategy that recognizes the prevalence of arsenic in the…
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ANZJP Article Examines Food Addiction in the Context of DSM-5
A recent viewpoint article published in the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry (ANZJP) has raised the question of whether food addiction “is a ‘true’ and valid addiction, through the lens of the recently released DSM-5,” the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Nagesh Pai, et…
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Rudd Center Issues 2013 Report on Food Advertising to Children and Teens
The Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has released an updated report on food advertising to children and teens that criticizes the fast-food industry for failing to meet its own marketing standards. Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, “Fast Food FACTS 2013” claims that fast-food restaurants spent $4.6 billion on total…
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EWG Guide Targets “Dirty Dozen” Endocrine Disruptors
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Keep A Breast Foundation have released an October 2013 report detailing how to avoid exposure to certain endocrine disruptors allegedly found in food, food packaging and other consumer products. Titled “The Dirty Dozen: 12 Hormone-Altering Chemicals and How to Avoid Them,” the report singles out bisphenol A, dioxins, atrazine,…
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American Academy of Pediatrics Calls for “Media Diet”
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently issued a policy statement calling on doctors to review patient media use and work with parents to scale back their children’s “entertainment screen time.” The latest in an ongoing series of policy statements addressing media violence, infant media use, and obesity and the media, AAP’s recommendations include encouraging…
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Researchers Study Effects of Framing Childhood Obesity Messages
Communications and health policy researchers report that while perceptions about government interventions to address childhood obesity are correlated with political ideology, certain approaches to—or framing of—the childhood obesity message can affect whether conservatives accept the seriousness of the problem and are willing to (i) endorse responsibility beyond the individual, and (ii) support policy action. Sarah…
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Mondelēz to Launch “Smart Shelves” in 2015
Mondelēz International reportedly intends to introduce “smart shelves” whose sensors first identify the age and gender of grocery shoppers and then deliver targeted ads via video display. “Knowing that a consumer is showing interest in the product gives us the opportunity to engage with them in real-time,” Mondelēz CIO Mark Dajani said in a recent…