Category: Other Developments
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Ag Law Professor Refutes NYT Article Claims About Fraud in Pigford Settlement
University of Arkansas School of Law Professor Susan Schneider has authored a post on the Agricultural Law Blog agreeing with a Federation of Southern Cooperatives post refuting claims by a New York Times reporter of fraud linked to the recovery of settlement proceeds (the Pigford settlement) in litigation alleging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) loan…
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Apples Top EWG List of Most Contaminated Produce
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has issued its 2013 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, which “ranks pesticide contamination on 48 popular fruits and vegetables, based on an analysis of more than 28,000 samples tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA] and federal [Food and Drug Administration].” This year’s “Clean Fifteen™” list—fruits and vegetables…
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Hispanic Institute Criticizes Food and Beverage Industry in New Report
The Hispanic Institute has published a report advocating regulation of sugary drinks and processed foods to “help reduce alarmingly high rates of obesity among Hispanics.” Titled “Obesity: Hispanic America’s Big Challenge,” the report claims that 40.4 percent of Mexican Americans and 39.1 percent of Hispanics overall are obese, raising concerns about the rising health care…
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Avian Influenza (H7N9) Deemed “One of the Most Lethal” by WHO Leader
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released the results of its preliminary investigation into a new strain of avian influenza A (H7N9), which WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Security Keiji Fukuda reportedly described as “one of the most lethal influenza viruses we have seen so far.” First identified in China and linked to live poultry…
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Pediatricians Issue Warning over “Cinnamon Challenge”
A recent Pediatrics “Perspectives” article warns physicians and parents about the increasing number of children and adolescents who have attempted the “Cinnamon Challenge,” an impossible prank made popular on the Internet that apparently entails “swallowing a tablespoon of ground cinnamon in 60 seconds without drinking fluids.” Amelia Grant-Alfieri, et al., “Ingesting and Aspirating Dry Cinnamon…
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New York Comptroller Resolves Shareholder Resolutions on Political Spending Disclosures
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has reached agreements with several Fortune 500 companies, including Dr. Pepper Snapple group, to disclose their corporate political spending. The agreements apparently resolve shareholder resolutions that DiNapoli filed on behalf of the state’s pension fund, which holds more than 600,000 shares of Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, valued at some…
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Social Policy Researcher Contends Anti-Obesity Initiatives Don’t Work
In a Spring 2013 Breakthrough Institute paper, social policy research associate Helen Lee suggests that public health advocates have gone astray in modeling anti-obesity efforts on anti-tobacco efforts that have done little to address either overeating or smoking in any appreciable way. Titled “The Making of the Obesity Epidemic: How Food Activism Led Public Health…
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Harvard Public Health Chair Advocates Strategies to Reduce Obesity
Harvard School of Public Health Chair of Nutrition Walter Willett recently published an editorial in BMJ, urging policy makers to consider a range of strategies to curb obesity rates and thereby reduce the incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular mortality. The April 9, 2013, editorial responds to a study concluding that population-wide weight loss in Cuba…