Obesity

McDonald’s Happy Meals with Soda & Fries Still the “Most Popular” Meal Combinations

Feet to the Fire, Uncategorized /

  by Cara Wilking, J.D. The National Restaurant Association announced last week  that a number of chain restaurants will be offering healthier children’s meal menu options. McDonald’s has opted not to participate in the initiative.  Likely it will point to the fact that it already offers apple slices and milk and that it only advertises […]

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Organizations that Care About Health Should Play No Part in the Soft Drink Industry’s Effort to Rehabilitate Its Public Image

1 Comment / Feet to the Fire, Food/Beverage Marketing /

by Cara Wilking, J.D. CLICK HERE DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS A PDF INTRODUCTION The United States has the highest per capita rate of carbonated soft drink consumption in the world at 736 eight-ounce servings or 46 gallons per person in 2009.[1] The soft drink industry is dominated by three major companies: The Coca-Cola Company (“Coke”),

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State Laws Prevent Local Control Over Much More Than Just Happy Meal Toys

Feet to the Fire, Food/Beverage Marketing /

Prepared by Cara Wilking, J.D., Staff Attorney Santa Clara County, CA and the City and County of San Francisco, CA enacted ordinances requiring restaurants to meet nutrition criteria for children’s meals that use incentive items such as toys to drive child consumer demand. Neither law bans the use of toys or other incentive items, and

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Journal of Public Health Policy issues Call for Papers on changing food industry behavior

Food/Beverage Marketing /

The Journal of Public Health Policy’s Co-Editor, Anthony Robbins and Editorial Board Member and Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition at NYU, Marion Nestle, have recently issued a Call for Papers for the Journal in an editorial entitled: Obesity as collateral damage: A call for papers on the Obesity Epidemic. We at PHAI encourage colleagues in

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Arkansas State Consumer Protection Profile

Food/Beverage Marketing, State Profiles /

Download the Arkansas State Consumer Protection Profile (pdf) Which state consumer protection provisions could be used to protect consumers from junk food marketing? The Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“ADTPA”) generally prohibits unconscionable, false and deceptive trade practices. Ark. Code §§ 4-88-107. It is unlawful to “[k]nowingly making a false representation as to the characteristics,

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Arizona State Consumer Protection Profile

Food/Beverage Marketing, State Profiles /

Download the Arizona State Consumer Protection Profile (pdf). Which state consumer protection provisions could be used to protect consumers from junk food marketing? Arizona’s Consumer Fraud Act (“CFA”) prohibits “[t]he act, use or employment by any person of any deception, deceptive act or practice, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, or concealment, suppression or omission

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Alaska State Consumer Protection Profile

Food/Beverage Marketing, State Profiles /

Download full Alaska State Consumer Protection Profile (pdf) Which state consumer protection provisions could be used to protect consumers from junk food marketing? Alaska’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act (“UTPCPA”) is modeled off of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTCA”). In general it prohibits “[u]nfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts

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Future of Obesity Litigation panel featuring PHAI’s Gottlieb and CSPI’s Gardner airs and is available online

Conferences, Food/Beverage Marketing /

On January 21, 2011, Northeastern University Law Journal sponsored its third annual symposium.  This year, it was entitled “From Seed to Stomach,” and addressed legal and regulatory aspects of obesity and food safety.  The symposium was recorded for broadcast by CSPAN, which aired the material from February 25-28, 2011. PHAI’s Executive Director, Mark Gottlieb, along

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Alabama State Consumer Protection Profile

Food/Beverage Marketing, State Profiles /

Download the full Alabama State Consumer Protection Profile (pdf) Which state consumer protection provisions could be used to protect kids from junk food marketing? The Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“DTPA”) prohibits deceptive acts including: “Passing off goods or services as those of another, provided that this section shall not prohibit the private labeling of

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Unclear on calories: GMA & FMI’s front-of-package “Nutrition Keys” omit key calorie information

Feet to the Fire, Food/Beverage Marketing /

Today the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), the packaged food and beverage industry’s trade association, and Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the food retailer’s trade assocation, revealed a front of package labeling scheme designed to “complement the Clear on Calories labeling system developed by the American Beverage Association,” the non-alcoholic beverage industry’s trade association. It seems GMA

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