Archive for 2013
Posted on Thursday, August 22nd, 2013 by Michele Simon
Last month, as USA Today described it, “Taco Bell will shock the fast-food industry on Tuesday by announcing plans to drop kids meals and toys at all of its U.S. restaurants.” CEO Greg Creed told the paper: “The future of Taco Bell is not about kids meals. This is about positioning the brand for Millennials.” Some were skeptical about the announcement, given that kids meals only represent half of one percent of Taco Bell’s overall sales. While increasing pressures on the fast food industry to stop marketing to children wasn’t the main reason for the change, it’s still a significant development.
Read rest at Corporate Accountability International.
Posted in Big Food, Child Nutrition, Food Policy, Industry Tactics, Marketing to Children | Tagged: Big Food, child nutrition, McDonald's | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (0) |
Posted on Monday, August 12th, 2013 by Michele Simon
In April, I submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on behalf of Center for Food Safety regarding proposed nutrition guidelines for “competitive foods” sold in schools. These are foods sold outside the school program and consist mainly of junk food and soda. Our position was that schools should do away with these foods altogether and focus on improved school meals. While some groups celebrated when the interim final rule was released in June, numerous questions remain. (USDA is calling the rule “Smart Snacks in School.”) I asked registered dietitian Andy Bellatti to take a closer look at the new nutrition guidelines for potential weaknesses. You can submit comments to USDA until October 28; the rule takes effect in the 2014 school year.
Read the interview at Center for Food Safety …
Posted in Big Food, Child Nutrition, Food Policy, Marketing to Children | Tagged: school food, USDA | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (1) |
Posted on Wednesday, August 7th, 2013 by Michele Simon
While the food movement has been gaining steam in recent years, tangible policy wins have been sparse due to by powerful industry lobbying. One significant victory that appears within reach is the labeling of genetically engineered foods. The narrow loss last fall of Proposition 37 in California has inspired 26 other states to propose similar measures, including Washington, the only state with a ballot measure in November’s election.
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Posted in Big Food, Food Policy, Industry Tactics | Tagged: Big Food, California Prop 37, FDA, food safety, GMO labeling, GMOs, I-522, Monsanto | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (22) |
Posted on Sunday, July 28th, 2013 by Michele Simon
In January, I released a report called, And Now a Word from Our Sponsors: Are America’s Nutrition Professionals in the Pocket of Big Food? The report continues to receive media attention, in part due to a Change.org petition asking the Academy to clean up its act. Be sure to sign on. Also, please support Dietitians for Professional Integrity, a new group of dedicated registered dietitians working to change the Academy’s sponsorship policies.
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Posted in Big Food, Industry Tactics, Marketing to Children, Public Health | Tagged: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Big Food, co-opting science, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, PepsiCo, trade groups | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (1) |
Posted on Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013 by Michele Simon
Last week I attended a conference in Washington DC with the lofty title: “3rd Advanced Regulatory and Compliance Summit on Food & Beverage Marketing & Advertising.” The event’s main sponsor was the law firm of Faegre Baker Daniels, whose numerous mega-corporate food clients include Cargill, Dean Foods, and Nestlé. In addition, the firm represents (under the heading of “crop protection“) Big Biotech players such as Bayer, Dow, and DuPont. The presenters were almost all industry lawyers, with a few government types. Not one member of the plaintiffs bar or anyone from a public interest organization was a speaker, and it seemed most of the audience was also from industry.
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Posted in Big Food, Food Law, Food Policy, Marketing to Children | Tagged: advertising regulation, class actions, deceptive health claims, FDA, GMO labeling, litigation | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (3) |
Posted on Monday, July 22nd, 2013 by Michele Simon
Nutrition Facts for Land O Lakes “Fresh Buttery Taste” Spread
Serving Size: 1 tbsp (14g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 70
Calories from Fat 70
Total Fat 8 g 12%
Saturated Fat 2 g 10%
Trans Fat 0 g
Ingredients: Liquid Soybean Oil, Water, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Buttermilk*, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Contains Less Than 2% of Salt, Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Cream*, Distilled Monoglycerides, Soy Lecithin, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Lactic Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Vitamin A Palmitate, Beta Carotene (Color).
Short Answer: Because FDA says it’s OK to lie to you.
Labeling is one of the more complex areas of food law, full of statutes, regulations, exemptions, and exceptions. In 1990, Congress updated food labeling law with the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, which gave the Food and Drug Administration authority to require specific types of nutrition labels on most food products. The handy Nutrition Facts panel you see on foods today displaying calorie, carbohydrate, fat, protein, and other nutrient amounts is the result of FDA implementing this law.
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Posted in Ask a Food Lawyer, Food Policy | Tagged: deceptive health claims, FDA, junk food, nutrition labeling | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (5) |
Posted on Wednesday, July 10th, 2013 by Michele Simon
By Michele Simon and Andrew Kimbrell
You may have noticed the impressive grassroots movement gathering steam lately over the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods. Recently, Connecticut became the first state in the nation to enact a law to require such labels, and 26 other states have introduced similar bills this year. Millions of Americans are demanding more transparency in the food supply and our elected officials are finally responding, after decades of work by groups like Center for Food Safety. But one advocacy group, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), often seen as a leader in nutrition policy, stands virtually alone in its continued opposition to labeling GE foods. This stance is troubling and confusing given how outspoken CSPI has been for decades on food labeling and consumer information.
Read rest at Center for Food Safety.
Posted in Big Food, Food Law, Food Policy, Food Safety | Tagged: California Prop 37, Center for Food Safety, CSPI, FDA, GMO labeling, GMOs, I-522, junk food, Monsanto | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (2) |
Posted on Tuesday, July 9th, 2013 by Michele Simon
Last month, I participated in an important panel at a childhood obesity conference to discuss the current strategy backed by some advocacy groups: asking industry to market “healthier” foods to children. But as Susan Linn and I recently argued, any marketing to children is harmful, regardless of the product’s nutritional content. Instead of begging corporations to tweak the grams of sugar, fat and salt that these highly processed junk foods contain, we should demand that industry stop exploiting children altogether. Some advocates argue this approach is too radical. But it’s actually far more practical and ultimately more effective because of certain key tactics that industry uses to target children.
Read rest at Corporate Accountability International.
Posted in Big Food, Child Nutrition, Industry Tactics, Marketing to Children, Public Health | Tagged: Big Food, child nutrition, childhood obesity, Corporate Accountability International, McDonald's, targeted marketing, voluntary self-regulation | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (0) |
Posted on Monday, July 8th, 2013 by Michele Simon
Have you ever wondered:
- What does “natural” mean on food labels?
- Do corporations really have a free speech right to advertise to children?
- Why are some foods containing hydrogenated oils still labeled “zero grams trans-fat?”
- Why can’t we just sue the food industry for making people sick?
These are just some of the questions that I’ve received from curious readers. For this new blog series, I will answer these and other questions related to the exciting and still emerging, but critical area of food law.
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Posted in Ask a Food Lawyer, Food Law, Food Policy | | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (6) |
