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RECOMMENDED LINKS
 A 'Must' for Patents
banzhaf.net website of John Banzhaf, the scientist-lawyer leading the fight against big food--latest news, legal updates, etc. BBC's "Fast Food Factory" backgrounder sundayherald.com (UK), July 21 summarizes legal actions re school vending machines McSpotlight.org website long devoted to monitoring McDonald's Center for Science in the Public Interest related press releases Is Fat the Next Tobacco? early backgrounder, January 20 Louis Cheskin "Cheskin's principle of sensation transference: It has little interest in what people think about the package. What's important is what the package makes people feel about the product." "Public Health Advocacy Institute has initiated a project to track and publicize the progress made by food producers and distributors that have voluntarily agreed to improve their practices and products so as to counteract the obesity epidemic." ascribe.org, Oct. 29 The World of Food Science Latest food corporation news... Food Reconstruction Companies links, addresses & phone numbers CASEIN THE 'NICOTINE' IN FAST FOOD? "Casein peptides react with opiate receptors in the brain, thus mimicking the effects of opiate drugs like heroin and morphine greatplainslaboratory.com." About Casein― "Imitation sausages, soups, stews, high-protein beverage powders, fortified cereals, infant formula, nutrition bars, bakery glazes, coffee whiteners, formulated meats, salad dressing, sauces, and whipped toppings all may contain casein or caseinates. Casein and caseinates are used as extenders, tenderizers, nutritional fortifers, and texturizers, therefore can be found in products other than foods. For instance, Trident For Kids and Trident Advantage contain Recaldent which contains a milk-casein derivative. Other examples of products containing casein include cosmetics, adhesives, pharmaceutical, nutritional, and personal care products."
American
Casein Co.: "MANUFACTURERS
OF POWDERED FAST FOOD NUTRITION DATA Fast Food Calories & Fats Chart The Kerry Group Casein Corporations From fattening farm animals to fattening humans?
Novel:
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Fighting
Big Food
"The Philip Morris family of companies, including Kraft Foods Inc., is the world's largest producer and marketer of consumer packaged goods. Philip Morris Companies Inc. recorded 2001 underlying operating revenues of $89.9 billion. By 1983, Philip Morris USA had become the largest cigarette company in the country, and it remains the industry leader today because it continues to build on and improve upon those attributes that got us here philipmorris.com (Click first search result, see fifth paragraph)."
"Kerry supplies over 10,000 food, food ingredients and flavour products to customers in more than 120 countries worldwide. The Group has manufacturing facilities in 16 different countries and international sales offices in 20 other countries across the globe." kerrygroup.com
"The
current methods for preparing fast food are less likely
to be found in cookbooks than in trade journals such as Food
Technologist
and Food Engineering."
Fast
Food Nation."
"Sugar,
milk, cheese, meat and chocolate are as addictive as
cocaine and consumers need dietary detox theolympian.com,
September 11."
"Americans
spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers,
videos, and recorded music— "U.S. Senator Mitch
McConnell is calling for a new law to protect fast food restaurants. 'I
think it's your choice,' says Melissa Toler. 'I think if you want to stop
at McDonalds...I think it's willpower' wave3.com,
July 17." "Some nutritionists say that it is unfair to blame just fast food firms for surging obesity when 85% of people’s food comes from supermarkets. Such stores promote processed foods with high levels of fat and sugar, along with snacks such as crisps, ice cream and chocolate, because they offer high profit margins Sunday Times (UK), July 13." “If a particular food or drink is promoted to them, and a vending machine is in the school, children will be led by that. They will think ‘the school has put that there, therefore this cannot be bad for me’ sundayherald.com (UK), July 20." "Coming down the pike are going to be large
lawsuits, class action suits looking at cardiovascular
disease, premature death, diabetes, and they`re going to
turn to the food industry and lay it on their feet foodingredientsfirst.com."
" Page
1
FAST FOODS
MACDICTIVE?—"American researchers are investigating the possibility that fast foods
may be just as addictive as hard drugs. 'It
seems that the rats ingest more and more and the changes that we see in
the brain are similar to what we would see if we gave a rat morphine
or heroin New
Scientist, February (excerpts)
BBCNews,
Jan. 30.
Which is
most
fattening: McDonald's Big Mac, its large fries, or its 16 oz. Triple Chocolate Shake? fatcalories.com FORTY SUBSTANCES IN
JUST THE BUN?—"Big Mac® Bun: Enriched
bleached wheat flour (malted barley flour, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin,
iron, folic acid), water, high fructose corn syrup, yeast, vegetable oil
(partially hydrogenated soybean, corn, canola, and/or cottonseed). Contains
2 percent or less of salt, wheat gluten, malted barley flour, alpha amylase,
mono- and diglycerides, propionic acid, phosphoric acid, calcium sulfate,
ammonium chloride, monocalcium phosphate, ascorbic acid, azodicarbomide,
corn flour, soy flour, potato flour, calcium peroxide, diacetyl tartaric
acid esters of mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides,
silicon dioxide, sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate, fungal enzymes, emulsifiers,
sodium or calcium propionate (as a preservative), sesame seeds mcdonalds.com."
WORLD HEALTH ORG.
SAYS ACRYLAMIDE
IN FAST FOODS IS 'SERIOUS PROBLEM'— "Foods
in which acrylamide develops include potato chips, french fries, bread and
processed cereals. We have concluded that the new findings constitute a
serious problem source."
"AFFECTS CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEMS AND
REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM source."
CHART:
ACRYLAMIDE
LEVELS IN FOODS
Nature
Science Update
US
FDA Plan German
Plan
MCDONALD'S TO REDUCE ANTIBIOTICS IN ITS BURGERS―"McDonald's
Corp. said it is directing its meat suppliers world-wide
to phase out the routine use of antibiotics in animals,
responding to concerns that they lessen the drugs'
effectiveness for humans Wall
Street Journal, June 19." GERBER BABY FOOD CORP. STUDY
FIGHTS BACK:
"Even before their second
birthday...significant numbers of infants and toddlers are downing french fries, pizza, candy and soda."—Naples
Daily News, Florida, Oct. 26 US
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SAYS FAST FOOD NOT CAUSE OF OBESITY―"The Chamber commissioned former White House economist Todd G. Buchholz to examine reasons why Americans have gained weight over the last several decades. "Burger, Fries and Lawyers: The Beef Behind Obesity Lawsuits," acknowledges statistics that over half of American adults are overweight. But the study outlines several reasons for this phenomenon: Americans are more sedentary than in years past; snack twice as often between meals as they did two decades ago; and consume about 200 calories more each day than they did in the
1970s uschamber.com,
July 2." BABY FORMULA FATTENING?—"In two studies looking
at the effects of breast milk and formula on weight
later in life...Kids fed mainly breast milk for
the first 6 months of life were 22% less likely to be
overweight by age 14
Jnrl.
Amer. Medical Assn., May 16, 2001."
"The composition of cow's milk, the basis of most breastmilk substitutes over the centuries, is compared with that of human milk in table 2.
In cow's milk the major proteins are a-casein and , b-lactoglobulin; the ratio of casein to whey protein is 80:20; the casein micellar volume is double that of human milk, and the curd formed is
hard
unu.edu"
Teacher: "They eat a candy bar from a machine, get a brief sugar rush, and then their heads go down on their desks source."
SUGAR WITHDRAWAL LIKE DRUG WITHDRAWAL?—"Repeated, excessive intake of sugar created a state in which an opioid antagonist caused behavioral and neurochemical signs of opioid withdrawal. The indices of anxiety and DA/ACh imbalance were qualitatively similar to withdrawal from morphine or nicotine, suggesting that the rats had become sugar-dependent Journal of Obesity Research, June, 2002." SUGAR LIKE
NICOTINE?—"The enhancing effect of sucrose consumption on analgesia induced by both nicotine and morphine suggests a similar mechanism underlying the interaction between sucrose and drugs of abuse like nicotine and
morphine
srnt.org."
"Taxpayers are paying hundreds of millions of dollars for a federal school lunch program, but many kids are filling up on empty calories before lunch. That's what has to change."―US Senator Patrick Leahy, washingtonpost.com, March 14, 2001 MANY STATES TO REMOVE SCHOOL VENDING MACHINES OR REQUIRE REMOVAL OF FAST FOODS FROM THEM―"At least 30 states have considered legislation CNN.com, July 14." "The Philadelphia School District will take soft drinks out of the district's schools in an effort to reduce obesity in children July 15." "Chips, cookies, candy and soft drinks will now be banned from the vending machines Missouri, July 11." "The Seattle School Board, in Washington state, has narrowly voted to extend a five-year drinks contract with Coca Cola - but has placed restrictions on sales to pupils BBC, July 21."
------------- Page 4 LEGAL ACTIONS RE FAST FOODS
NUTRITION LABELLING URGED FOR CHAIN RESTAURANTS―"Chain restaurants in the nation’s capital may soon have to disclose calorie and other nutrition information if legislation announced today by District of Columbia Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) becomes law Cntr. Science in the Public Interest." MCDONALD'S REJECTS ROLE IN CAUSING OBESITY IN CHILDREN―"McDonald's has rejected accusations that its cooking fattens America's children, telling a judge that a lawsuit relied on incomplete information and outdated material to allege that children were misled by advertising icnetwork.co.uk, June 26. JUDGE DISMISSES OBESITY LAWSUIT AGAINST MCDONALD'S―"One necessary element of any potentially viable claim must be that McDonald's products involve a danger that is not within the common knowledge of consumers. Plaintiffs have failed to allege with any specificity that such a danger exists abcnews.com, January 22." BIG FOOD CORPS BRACING FOR LEGAL STORM—"Fast food's biggest players will receive a jolting demand from the law professor who helped bring Big Tobacco to its knees: Display warning notices about the alleged addictive nature of fatty foods USAToday, July 14." LEGAL ACTION RE FAST FOOD IN SCHOOLS NOT FAR OFF―"Lawyers say school boards and education departments will be the next targets of obesity lawsuits. They believe it will be easier to win a damages case against an education authority than a fast-food company because schools have a greater duty of care to their pupils sundayherald.com (UK), July 20." McDONALD'S SUES CRITIC—"but the critic says he has no intention of going back on saying its burgers taste of rubber and its fries of cardboard source." Lawyers are gathering in Boston on Friday for the first major conference on ways of suing the fast food industry BBCNews, June 20. Page 5 "PROCESSED" OR "RECONSTRUCTED" FOODS See also: Casein the 'Nicotine' in Fast Foods? and The
Kerry Group Casein Corporations
WHY ARE THE NUTRIENTS
MISSING?—"Imagine a Healthier World," says the Alliance
for Better Foods website. "It could be very important to
developing nations, where millions of children go blind
from lack of vitamin A, and where millions of
iron-deficient women and children suffer serious health
problems. The scientists, supported by the Rockefeller
Foundation, identified a great humanitarian need and
sought to solve it by adding the missing nutrients to a
food that hundreds of millions of poor people eat nearly
every day
source."
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FORTY FIVE
SUBSTANCES IN JUST ONE KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUT?—"Ingredients:
Enriched bleached wheat flour (contains bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced
iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), dextrose, vegetable
shortening (partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil), water, sugar,
soy flour, egg yolks, vital wheat gluten, yeast, nonfat milk, yeast nutrients
(calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate), dough conditioners (calcium dioxide,
monocalcium and dicalcium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, sodium
stearoyl-2-lactylate, whey, starch, ascorbic acid, sodium bicarbonate, calcium
carbonate), salt, mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated mono-and diglycerides,
lecithin, calcium propionate (to retain freshness), cellulose gum, natural and
artificial flavors, fungal alpha amylase, amylase, maltogenic amylase,
pentosanase, protease, sodium caseinate, corn maltodextrin, corn syrup solids
and BHT (to help protect flavor). Glaze may also contain: Calcium carbonate,
agar, locust bean gum, disodium phosphate, and sorbitan monostearate.
Section III, Part 1 LEGAL ACTIONS RE SCHOOL VENDING MACHINES
