Category: Other Developments
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As You Sow Crowdfunds to Finance Nano-Ingredient Testing
Advocacy organization As You Sow, which recently issued a report on nanomaterials in food, is continuing to test products for nano-scale ingredients and has conducted a crowdfunding campaign to finance the initiative. Further details about the report appear in Issue 470 of this Update. The organization apparently succeeded in raising the $6,000 needed to test Betty…
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ATNI Report Ranks Food and Beverage Companies
The first edition of a global “Access to Nutrition Index,” evaluates the “nutrition-related commitments, performance and disclosure practices of 25 of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers.” Contending that food and beverage companies “must do more to increase access to nutritious products and positively exercise their influence on consumer choice and behavior,” the report…
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PHAI Publishes Issue Brief on Viral Marketing to Children
The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI), with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Eating Research program, has released a legal issue brief titled “It’s Not Just for Teens: Viral Marketing to Young Children.” Intended as a guide for state attorneys general and claiming that “[f]ood marketers are in the forefront of using viral marketing…
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Rudd Center Seeks to Redefine “Child-Directed Advertising”
The Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has published a study urging a broader definition of “child-directed” TV advertising than the one currently employed by the industry-backed Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI). Jennifer Harris, et al., “Redefining ‘Child-Direct Advertising’ to Reduce Unhealthy Television Food Advertising,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, March 2013. According…
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RWJF Issues Recommendations for Healthier Beverages
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF’s) Healthy Eating Research (HER) panel has released a set of age-based “Recommendations for Healthier Beverages” that urge government buildings, workplaces and other public venues to increase the availability of water and unflavored milk as replacements for high-calorie beverages. Billed as “an advisory panel of prominent researchers, nutritionists and policy experts,”…
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Monster Energy Briefs Reporters on Expert Findings in Maryland Teen’s Death
During a recent press conference, counsel for Monster Energy reportedly addressed claims made in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the company by the parents of a Maryland teenager who allegedly died after consuming the company’s energy drink. The company’s experts have apparently reviewed the medical records in the case and determined that “there is…
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NYC Department of Health Highlights Gaps in Potassium Labeling
A research letter published February 25, 2013, in JAMA Internal Medicine claims that less than 10 percent of surveyed packaged food products provided information about potassium content on their nutrition facts panels (NFPs). Noting that under current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy the disclosure of potassium levels is optional, researchers with New York City’s…
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IATP Webinar to Feature Anti-Sugar Crusader Robert Lustig
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) has announced a March 18, 2013, webinar to discuss how “America’s sweet-laden diet is helping drive obesity and chronic metabolic disease.” Titled “Sickly Sweet: The Science and Policy of Fructose Overconsumption in America,” the webinar will reportedly be led by Robert Lustig, a specialist in neuroendocrinology at…