Tag: alcohol
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French Court Imposes Fines and Suspended Sentences in Wine Scam
A court in Carcassonne, France, has reportedly found French winemakers and traders guilty of deliberately and repeatedly mislabeling wine as a more expensive grape variety to get a better price from E. & J. Gallo under its Red Bicyclette® brand. French customs officials apparently discovered the swindle when they found that the amount of “pinot…
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Beer Is Good Source of Silicon for Bones, Says New Study
A recent study has reportedly “confirmed that beer is a very rich source of silicon,” a dietary nutrient that increases bone mineral density. Troy Casey and Charles Bamforth, “Silicon in Beer and Brewing,” Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, February 2010. According to researchers with the University of California’s Department of Food Science…
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New York Bill Proposes Warning Labels for Energy Drinks
New York Assemblyman Nelson Castro (D-86) has proposed an amendment (A09754) to the state’s agriculture and markets law that would require a warning label on all energy drinks. Citing “serious health risks including heart attack, stroke and even heart disease,” the provision calls for product warnings to appear in a black box and in letters…
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First Circuit Strikes Down Massachusetts Wine Shipping Law Under Commerce Clause
The First Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an injunction against the enforcement of a Massachusetts law that regulated wine shipments in a manner that changed “the competitive balance between in-state and out-of-state wineries in a way that benefits Massachusetts wineries and significantly burdens out-of-state wineries.” Family Winemakers of Cal. v. Jenkins, No. 09-1169 (1st Cir.,…
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Mixing Caffeine and Alcohol May Pose Serious Risks, Pennsylvania Research Team Says
A Temple University study challenges the sobering effects of caffeine by asserting that mixing caffeine and alcohol could “lead to poor decisions with disastrous outcomes.” Danielle Gulick and Thomas J. Gould, “Effects of Ethanol and Caffeine on Behavior in C57BL/6 in the Plus-Maze Discriminative Avoidance Task,” Behavioral Neuroscience (2009). The authors observed mice in a maze…
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Winery Seeks Damages from Bottle Maker
Francis Ford Coppola Presents, LLC has filed a complaint in a California court against a company that makes corks, screw caps, bottles, and other packaging, alleging that defects in the bottles and screw caps purchased for the winery’s Encyclopedia® collection of wines caused the degradation or destruction of 55,000 cases of wine. Francis Ford Coppola…
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Study Recommends Prohibiting Alcohol Advertising in Boston’s Public Transit System
Concluding that alcohol ads are viewed more than 18,000 times by public school student transit passengers during an average weekday, a new study recommends that Boston’s public transit system be prohibited from displaying alcohol advertisements. Justin Nyborn, et. al, “Alcohol Advertising on Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Transit System: An Assessment of Youths’ and…
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FDA Launches Inquiry into Legality of Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages
Responding to a request from a coalition of state attorneys general, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has called on the makers of alcoholic energy drinks to provide information and data showing their use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages is permissible under the law. The letter, sent to nearly 30 companies, explains what the law…