Category: Other Developments
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Italian Police Arrest Alleged Mafia Members in Bread-Selling Scheme
Italian police have reportedly arrested 24 people in an operation targeting the Lo Russo crime syndicate in connection with a scheme to intimidate grocers and supermarkets in Naples into buying bread at prices considerably higher than the market standard. The police also seized three bakeries allegedly identified as Lo Russo-controlled. The crime group reportedly forced…
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Boston Beer Co. Seeks to Trademark “Brexit”
One day after U.K. citizens voted to leave the European Union, Samuel Adams® brewer Boston Beer Co. filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register “Brexit” for use on hard cider products. U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 87083390 (filed June 24, 2016). Two other applications for Brexit marks were filed the…
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Former FDA Commissioner Examines Increasing DOJ Actions Against Food Companies
Former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner for Foods David Acheson has authored an article warning food company officials to prioritize food safety in light of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) increasing prosecutions against executives of food companies responsible for pathogen outbreaks. Acheson describes the Park Doctrine, which allows the government to seek…
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France Restricts Alcohol Sales After Soccer Fans Riot
Following June 11, 2016, riots and arrests in Marseille related to a Euro 2016 match between England and Russia, France has reportedly restricted the sale of alcohol in cities hosting the next games in the soccer tournament. Under the measures, public areas and shops in Lille and Lens could not sell alcohol before or during…
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EWG Drops “BPA Bombshell” Product Database
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has launched what it describes as “the first easily, searchable database of nearly 16,000 processed food and drinks packaged in materials that may contain the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol A, or BPA.” According to EWG, the new database organizes information obtained from a food industry website into a list of products…
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NAS Report Finds No Evidence of Human Health Risk from GE Crops
The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) has published a report finding “no substantiated evidence of a difference in risks to human health between currently commercialized genetically engineered (GE) crops and conventionally bred crops, nor did it find conclusive cause-and-effect evidence of environmental problems from the GE crops.” Authored by the NAS Committee…
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Dairy Groups Urge White House to Challenge WHO Guidelines Restricting Milk Consumption by Young Children
The National Milk Producers Federation, International Dairy Foods Association and U.S. Dairy Export Council have authored a May 9, 2016, letter to President Barack Obama (D), asking the White House to reject proposed World Health Organization (WHO) guidance that “would discourage consumption of nutritious dairy products by young children.” Slated for presentation at the 69th…
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U.S. Food System’s Impact on Public Health Focus of Georgetown Law Event
Government agency leaders, industry representatives, academics and public health advocates will gather in Washington, D.C., on June 3 for “Vote Food 2016: Better Food, Better Health.” Organized by the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, event sessions will target the next president’s food agenda, antibiotic resistance in…