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About Food Law Prof Blog

Posted on September 18, 2010
If you are interested in serving as an editor of Food Law Prof Blog for the Law Professor Blogs Network, please contact Paul Caron and Joe Hodnicki by email.

FTC Investigation of Ad Claims that Rice Krispies Benefits Children's Immunity Leads to Stronger Order Against Kellogg

Posted on June 03, 2010
FTC News Release: Leading cereal maker Kellogg Company has agreed to new advertising restrictions to resolve a Federal Trade Commission investigation into questionable immunity-related claims for Rice Krispies cereal. This is the second time in the last year that the...

Professor Peter Erlinder in prison in Rwanda

Posted on May 31, 2010
Forgive me -- I know this does not relate to food law, but I hope you'll agree it's worth the space here under the circumstances. William Mitchell College of Law Professor Peter Erlinder, my colleague, was arrested in Rwanda on...

Alfalfa Sprouts linked to Salmonella -- FDA: Urgent Nationwide Recall

Posted on May 24, 2010
From the FDA: This recall affects raw alfalfa sprouts packaged and labeled as: Caldwell Fresh Foods alfalfa sprouts - 4-ounce plastic cups and one pound plastic bags and in 2-pound and 5-pound plastic bags in cardboard boxes with sticker affixed...

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Eloisa C. Rodriguez-Dod, It?s Not a Small World After All: Regulating Obesity Globally

Posted on May 20, 2010
The Mississippi Law Journal is pleased to announce the publication of Professor Eloisa C. Rodriguez-Dod's article on regulating adult obesity globally. "It?s Not a Small World After All: Regulating Obesity Globally" is a study of domestic and international regulatory efforts...

An Investigation into Bisphenol A in Canned Foods

Posted on May 19, 2010
Follow up to previous postings on Bisphenol A , this News release: "Senator Dianne Feinstein stood with environmental health advocates today on Capitol Hill to release a new report that demonstrates alarming levels of bisphenol A (BPA) in common canned...

FDA Seeking Comments on Calorie and Nutrition Labeling

Posted on April 30, 2010
From the FDA CFSAN website: April 29, 2010 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a request, in the Federal Register, for data and other information the agency can use as it considers ways to make nutrition information...

FDA: Industry Guidance on Egg Safety

Posted on April 30, 2010
From the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN): On April 13, 2010, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published guidance for small egg producers to help them comply with a new federal egg safety regulation. The guidance, entitled...

Supreme Court to hear arguments in GE Crop case Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms Tomorrow

Posted on April 26, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms tomorrow. This is the Roundup Ready Alfalfa case, in which plaintiffs challenged USDA's (APHIS's) deregulation of genetically engineered alfalfa under the NEPA. The issues on which cert...

FDA Pressured to Combat Rising ?Food Fraud?

Posted on April 19, 2010
Representatives of the US food industry are saying that the FDA isn?t doing enough to stop the rise of fraudulently mislabeled food. From a March 30, 2010, Washington Post article: John Spink, an expert on food and packaging fraud at...

Study shows fatty foods may cause drug-like addiction -- similar brain responses to cupcakes and cocaine

Posted on April 19, 2010
According to a study published March 28, 2010, online in Nature Neuroscience journal, researchers have found that fatty foods may be addictive. When rats are exposed to high-fat junk foods their brains react similarly to when they are exposed to...

Minneapolis City Council Will Allow Street Vendors

Posted on April 15, 2010
Last week, the City of Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that will allow for a limited number of street food vendors, in a limited area of downtown Minneapolis. The amended ordinance contains a number of restrictions that would...

New Health Care Legislation Affects Restaurants' Nutritional Information Requirements

Posted on April 15, 2010
The recently passed health care legislation includes a new requirement regarding nutritional information for fast food items. The new requirements come as a victory for people who have been advocating more accountability for restaurants who serve fast food...

Is Wal-Mart the answer for cheaper organics and more locally grown foods?

Posted on April 15, 2010
Some Americans are reluctant to shop at Wal-Mart for several reasons, including its perceived anti-union stance, lax environmental standards, poor working conditions, and danger to mom-and-pop stores. But many more Americans flock to Wal-Mart, mainly because of its low prices...

Water Bottles

Posted on April 15, 2010
On my own radar lately is what kind of water bottle to take to they gym, or to class, or in the car. A May 2008 Consumer Reports article warned against bottles that contain Bisphenol-A (or BPA). A few months...

Government Report Finds Tainted Meat

Posted on April 15, 2010
The USDA Office of Inspector General has released a study of meat contamination with veterinary drugs, pesticides, and heavy metals. The news is not good. The study is an Audit Report of the FSIS National Residue Program for Cattle. From...

Students Stand Up for Healthier Food at School

Posted on April 13, 2010
The battle against school lunch has a new and powerful voice: students. According to the Chicago Tribune, at a March 24 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students came before the board to complain about...

Opposition to GE Alfalfa

Posted on April 13, 2010
Last month (March 3, 2010) the Center for Food Safety posted a National Organic Coalition (NOC) press release estimating that more than 200,000 comments were submitted to the USDA critiquing the APHIS Draft Environmental Impact Statement concerning GM alfalfa (available...

Junk Food Product Placement in Movies

Posted on April 13, 2010
According to a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics, the product placement of food in movies from 1996-2005 mostly consists of nutrient deficient foods. The study concludes that "more than two thirds of popular movies featured food, beverage, and/or...

Fat-Free = Fewer Nutrients: A Salad Study

Posted on April 13, 2010
Sometimes news takes a while to trickle through. A headline in the April 2010 issue of Cooking Light Magazine reads ?Choose Fat-Free Dressing, and You?ll Miss Out on Many Nutrients.? Results from a 2004 Iowa State University study conducted by...

New York Times E coli poisoning story wins Pulitzer

Posted on April 12, 2010
The 2010 Pulitzer Prizes were just announced, and the prize for explanatory reporting goes to a food poisoning story. The Explanatory Reporting award is presented "for a distinguished example of explanatory reporting that illuminates a significant and complex subject, demonstrating...

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) Constituent Updates

Posted on March 26, 2010
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition is a part of the Food and Drug Administration. They post "Constituent Updates" on their website. You can also subscribe to these messages and have them sent to you as email messages. Here's...

FDA: Dairy farmer sold cows with illegal drug residues

Posted on March 26, 2010
What do we do with used up dairy cows? We eat them. But they aren't supposed to become meat if they're full of antibiotics. FDA News Release: FDA Takes Action Against New York Dairy Farmer Proprietor sold animals with illegal...

FDA: Public Health Agencies Warn of Outbreaks Related to Drinking Raw Milk

Posted on March 26, 2010
Food Law Prof Blog has been on a break, and we have not been posting, but we are aware that raw milk has been the focus of active controversy recently. Here's the latest FDA news release: The U.S. Food and...

General Mills reducing sugar in kids? cereal

Posted on February 23, 2010
After much pressure from those concerned with the growing rates of childhood obesity, General Mills has announced they will follow in the footsteps of other major cereal producers by reducing the amount of sugar added to their children?s cereals. A...

Food, Inc., Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary, on NPR

Posted on February 23, 2010
Food, Inc., a documentary about America's food system, is up for an Oscar for best documentary. National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation featured an interview with Director Robert Kenner today, February 23, 2010: How much do we really know...

California Dairy Industry contributed to economic boost

Posted on February 16, 2010
In a recent study, the California Milk Advisory Board concluded that the California Dairy Industry contributed $63 billion to the state?s economy in 2008. The dairies produced $9.9 billion worth of milk in 2008. This amount, added to the remainder...

Michelle Obama Leads Campaign Against Obesity

Posted on February 16, 2010
President Obama signed a memorandum February 9, 2010, creating a Task Force on Childhood Obesity to support the First Lady?s ?Let?s Move? campaign, aimed at ending childhood obesity in the United States within one generation. From the New York Times:...

Fewer than 1% of American farms are organic

Posted on February 16, 2010
The USDA has released a survey finding fewer than 1% of all American farms are organic. From the USDA press release: WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2010 ? The nation?s organic farms and ranches have higher average sales and higher average production...

Scientists Create GM Tomatoes with an Extended Shelf Life

Posted on February 14, 2010
In research study published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Journal (PNAS), scientists at the National Institute of Plant Genomic Research in New Delhi, India, unveiled a tomato which has been genetically modified to extend shelf...

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