Category: Other Developments
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ANH Claims Glyphosate Residues Present in Breakfast Foods
The Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) has released a white paper that allegedly identifies glyphosate residue in common breakfast foods, including “flour, corn flakes, bagels, yogurt, potatoes, organic eggs, and coffee creamers.” Part of a campaign seeking to prohibit the herbicide, the white paper purportedly relies on the results of ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay)…
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CSPI Charts Decline in Sodium Content of Packaged Foods
The fourth edition of a Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) survey has reported a 4-percent reduction in sodium across 451 packaged and restaurant foods over a 10-year period. Titled “Salt Assault: Brand-name Comparisons of Processed Foods,” the report claims that, on average, surveyed items reduced their sodium content by 41 milligrams per…
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Confectioners Join Advertising Initiative Modeled after CFBAI
The Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) and the National Confectioners Association have announced the Children’s Confection Advertising Initiative (CCAI), “a new self-regulatory initiative that promotes responsible advertising to children.” Modeled after the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), which includes six major confectioners, CCAI asks participating companies not to advertise to children younger…
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Roles of Individual Choice and Regulation in Public Health Debates Target of Northeastern University Event
“Conflicts between individual choice and collective action underlie many of the most contested and challenging debates relating to health and health care, from the very existence of Obamacare to government responses to the obesity and tobacco epidemics,” according to promotional materials for an April 15, 2016, conference on the campus of Northeastern University in Boston.…
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Hamburg Imposes Coffee-Pod Ban in City Government Facilities
Citing environmental concerns, the German city of Hamburg has reportedly banned the use of coffee pods in government buildings. Hamburg’s Guide to Green Procurement reportedly states that coffee pods cause “unnecessary resource consumption and waste generation, and often contain polluting aluminum.” “It’s 6 grams of coffee in 3 grams of packaging,” a Hamburg Department of…
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Consumers Union Campaign Hopes to Elicit FDA Action on “Natural”
An online campaign launched by Consumers Union asks, “Have you ever quickly selected one box of crackers over another because the box said it was ‘natural’? Food companies know you probably have. They also know they can slap the word ‘natural’ on just about anything.” The advocacy group urges consumers to sign its petition urging…
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WHO Report Advocates “Life-Course Approach” to End Childhood Obesity
The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO) has issued a January 25, 2016, report that recommends, among other things, a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), context-specific dietary guidelines, and “interpretive” front-of-pack labeling. Taking “a life-course approach” that focuses on what it describes as an obesogenic environment, the report urges WHO, member…
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Global Index Ranks Food Manufacturers’ Responses to Obesity and Undernourishment
The Access to Nutrition Foundation has released its second Access to Nutrition Index® (ATNI), which ranks the 22 largest food and beverage companies on their “contributions to tackling obesity and undernutrition.” According to a concurrent press release, “The 2016 Index concluded that, while some companies have taken positive steps since the last Index, the industry as…