Fresh Produce Discussion Blog

Created by The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

CSPI: Amway Makes Illegal Deceptive Claims for its Nutrilite Twist Tubes

CSPI Intends Litigation Unless Company Drops Deception

 
WASHINGTON—Amway, the controversial multi-level marketing company, is facing the prospect of a class action lawsuit over its Nutrilite line of liquid dietary supplements.  
Labels for Nutrilite’s “fruits & vegetables 2GO Twist Tubes” claim in big print that the product represents two servings of fruits and vegetables.  The fine print clarifies that a dose “contains the antioxidant equivalent of 2 servings.”  Either way, the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest says that the company’s 10-milliliter tubes do not come close to conveying the same health benefits as real fruit or vegetables.  Similarly, Amway claims that Nutrilite’s Immunity Twist Tubes are an “immune system booster” that will “protect your cells.”  (The Strawberry Kiwi flavor has neither strawberry nor kiwi, despite the attractive pictures of those fruits on the box.)  The immunity claim is unlawful, according to CSPI, because it implies the product will prevent disease.  It won’t, says the group.
The watchdog group will sue the Ada, Michigan-based company unless it stops advertising unsubstantiated nutrition and health benefits in connection with “fruits and vegetables 2GO” and “Immunity” Twist Tubes.  Also, both product lines contain the artificial sweetener sucralose, despite a print advertisement for “fruits & vegetables 2GO” that claims the product has no artificial ingredients. Twist Tubes are meant to be diluted in 16 ounces of water before consuming.
“Amway is sending a horrible health message to American consumers when it holds out its Twist Tubes as a short cut to getting the health benefits of real food,” said CSPI staff litigator Seema Rattan.  “People who want the health benefits of two servings of fruits and vegetables are far better off eating two servings of fruits and vegetables.  And no one should be deceived into thinking that these pricey little tubes will prevent them from getting sick.”
A 20-dose pack of Nutrilite “fruits & vegetables 2GO Twist Tubes” costs $19.99 plus $7.95 shipping and handling if purchased at amway.com; Immunity Twist Tubes cost $12.35 plus $7.95 shipping and handling.  Otherwise, the products are not available in stores but are sold by Amway distributors.
“Fruits & vegetables 2GO” has “the antioxidant equivalent of two of the 9–13 daily servings of fruits and vegetables your body needs,” according to Amway.  But there’s far more to fruits and vegetables than just antioxidants, according to CSPI.  Neither “fruits & vegetables 2GO” nor Immunity Twist Tubes has any fiber, for instance.  Real fruits and vegetables have up to 8,000 phytochemicals that may provide health benefits—something that supplements simply cannot mimic, according to CSPI.  Vitamins, like the A, B, and C vitamins in Twist Tubes, account for only a small fraction of the antioxidant activity in whole fruits and vegetables.  While the Immunity Twist Tube contains 1,000 mg of vitamin C, human tissues are generally saturated with vitamin C at 400 mg per day, and any excess is typically excreted.
In a letter to Amway Chairman Steve Van Andel, CSPI says that Amway’s labeling and advertising for Nutrilite products violates federal regulations and consumer protection laws in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Texas, New Jersey, and California.  
CSPI’s litigation unit has successfully prompted several major food companies, including Quaker, Frito-Lay, Procter & Gamble, Tropicana, and Pinnacle Foods, to halt a variety of misleading labeling or marketing practices.  In 2008, CSPI joined litigation that returned approximately $12 million in refunds to consumers who purchased the dietary supplement Airborne; labels and ads falsely claimed the product would cure and prevent colds

Monday, February 27, 2012

Interactive Century Farms Site Seeking Recommendations

Interactive Century Farms Site Seeking Recommendations

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 27, 2012—The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture launched an interactive website last year that invites the general public to celebrate the contribution of century farms to the heritage of our nation.

Century farms are those farms that have been in operation under the same family for more than 100 years.  Appropriately named “Agriculture’s Lasting Heritage,” this website tells the story of American farm and ranch families who have shaped the history of our nation. The AFB Foundation for Agriculture is currently seeking recommendations of century farms to be considered for feature articles and videos.

Agriculture’s Lasting Heritage commemorates more than the proud tradition of the American farm and ranch family, according to American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman, who also serves as president of the foundation.

“Farms and ranches that have been in the same family, and supporting family members and local communities for generations are proof of the true sustainable character of American agriculture today,” Stallman said. “Farmers and ranchers, by nature, are always committed to leaving the land in better condition for the next generation. We are proud to help raise awareness of that through this new website.”

The AFB Foundation for Agriculture is currently expanding the number of articles and videos featuring century farms. If you would like your farm or ranch to be considered, please go to www.agricultureslastingheritage.org/profiles and click “Submit Your Own Profile”. You may also email inquiries to alh@fb.org.

Agriculture’s lasting heritage in our nation is enduring and beneficial, due to the commitment farm and ranch families continue to make to the land, and to each other. This project would not be possible without the support of title sponsor Capreno® herbicide from Bayer CropScience.

To support the lasting heritage of our industry, visit http://www.agricultureslastingheritage.org/.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Weston Price: CDC CHERRY PICKS DATA TO MAKE CASE AGAINST RAW MILK

CDC CHERRY PICKS DATA TO MAKE CASE AGAINST RAW MILK

Agency ignores data that shows dangers of pasteurized milk



WASHINGTON, DC, February 22, 2012. In a press release issued yesterday, authors affiliated with the Centers for Disease Control claim that the rate of outbreaks caused by unpasteurized milk and products made from it was 150 times greater than outbreaks linked to pasteurized milk.” The authors based this conclusion on an analysis of reports submitted to the CDC from 1993 to 2006.



According the Weston A. Price Foundation, the CDC has manipulated and cherry picked this data to make raw milk look dangerous and to dismiss the same dangers associated with pasteurized milk.



“What consumers need to realize, first of all,” said Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, “is that the incidence of foodborne illnesses from dairy products, whether pasteurized or not, is extremely low.  For the 14-year period that the authors examined, there was an average of 315 illnesses a year from all dairy products for which the pasteurization status was known.  Of those, there was an average of 112 illnesses each year attributed to all raw dairy products and 203 associated with pasteurized dairy products.



“In comparison, there are almost 24,000 foodborne illnesses reported each year on average.  Whether pasteurized or not, dairy products are simply not a high risk product.”



Because the incidence of illness from dairy products is so low, the authors’ choice of the time period for the study affected the results significantly, yet their decision to stop the analysis with the year 2006 was not explained.  The CDC’s data shows that there were significant outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to pasteurized dairy products the very next year, in 2007: 135 people became ill from pasteurized cheese contaminated with e. coli, and three people died from pasteurized milk contaminated with listeria (wwwn.cdc.gov/foodborneoutbreaks/Default.aspx).



Outbreaks from pasteurized dairy were also a significant problem in the 1980s.  In 1985, there were over 16,000 confirmed cases of Salmonella infection that were traced back to pasteurized milk from a single dairy.  Surveys estimated that the actual number of people who became ill in that outbreak were over 168,000, “making this the largest outbreak of salmonellosis ever identified in the United States” at that time, according to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.



According to Fallon Morell “In the context of the very low numbers of illnesses attributed to dairy in general, the authors’ decision to cut the time frame short, as compared to the available CDC data, is troubling and adds to questions about the bias in this publication.”


According to Fallon Morell, the CDC’s authors continue to obscure their study by failing to document the actual information they are using. They rely on reports, many of which are preliminary. Of the references related to dairy outbreaks, five are from outbreaks in other countries, several did not involve any illness, seven are about cheese-related incidents, and of the forty-six outbreaks they count, only five describe any investigations.



Perhaps most troubling is the authors’ decision to focus on outbreaks rather than illnesses.  An “outbreak” of foodborne illness can consist of two people with minor stomachaches to thousands of people with bloody diarrhea.  In addressing the risk posed for individuals who consume a food, the logical data to examine is the number of illnesses, not the number of outbreaks.



“The authors acknowledge that the number of foodborne illnesses from raw dairy products (as opposed to outbreaks) were not significantly different in states where raw milk is legal to sell compared with states where it is illegal to sell,” notes Judith McGeary of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance.  “In other words, had the authors looked at actual risk of illness, instead of the artificially defined “outbreaks,” there would have been no significant results to report.”



This does not end the list of flaws with the study, however.  The link between the outbreaks and the legal status of raw dairy mixed an entire category of diverse products. Illnesses from suitcase style raw cheese or queso fresco were lumped together with illnesses attributed to fluid raw milk, a much less risky product.  In the majority of states where the sale of raw fluid milk is allowed, the sale of queso fresco is still illegal.  The authors had all of the data on which products were legal and which products allegedly caused the illnesses, yet chose not to use that data.



Similarly, to create the claimed numbers for how much riskier raw dairy products are, the authors relied on old data on raw milk consumption rates, rather than using the CDC’s own food survey from 2006-2007.  The newer data showed that about 3 percent of the population consumes raw milk—over nine million people--yet the authors chose instead to make conclusions based on the assumption that only 1 percent of the dairy products in the country are consumed raw.



The authors also ignored relevant data on the populations of each state.  For example, the three most populous states in the country (California, Texas, and New York) all allow for legal sales of raw milk; the larger number of people in these states would logically lead to larger numbers of illnesses than in low-population states such as Montana and Wyoming and has nothing to do with the fact that raw milk is illegal in those states.



“It would hardly be surprising to see some sort of increase in foodborne illnesses related to a food where that food is legal,” said McGeary.  “If we banned ground beef, we’d see fewer illnesses related to ground beef products.   Yet this new study fails to prove even that common-sense proposition, even as it claims to prove a great deal more.  What the data really shows is that raw dairy products cause very few illnesses each year, even though the CDC data indicates that over 9 million people consume it.”

Federal government gains permanent injunction against raw milk producer

Federal government gains permanent injunction against raw milk producer
Farmer enjoined from distributing raw milk products across state lines

A federal court has granted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a permanent injunction preventing Daniel L. Allgyer and his Rainbow Acres Farm from distributing raw milk and raw milk products in final package form for human consumption across state lines.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence F. Stengel, of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, also ruled that Allgyer’s participation in a so-called “private buying club” does not shield him from federal oversight, and that Allgyer’s “cow share” agreements are a subterfuge for sales of raw milk. Members of the private buying club had allegedly purchased “shares” of individual cows and then claimed that their reputed ownership entitled them to raw milk from those cows. Allgyer provided the association members who lived outside of Pennsylvania with containers of raw milk, even though federal law prohibits sales of raw milk for human consumption across state lines. Raw milk sales are legal within the state of Pennsylvania.

Allgyer also violated federal law by not providing any labeling on the raw milk containers sold to consumers.

The FDA sought the injunction against Allgyer after documenting multiple and repeated violations of federal law. The agency issued a warning letter to Allgyer in April 2010, informing him of these violations and requesting that he take corrective measures to avoid regulatory action.  Despite such warning, Allgyer continued to operate in violation of federal law.

The permanent injunction requires Allgyer to place a statement on his products, invoices, and website that he will no longer distribute unpasteurized milk or milk products in interstate commerce. He also must keep complete records of each sale, including the name and address of each buyer, the date of sale or distribution, and the amount and type of products sold, and must provide a copy of the Court’s order to all employees and persons who work with him to distribute unpasteurized milk and milk products.

Raw milk products for human consumption (with the exception of certain cheeses aged at least 60 days) have been prohibited in interstate commerce since 1987. But pasteurization was adopted as a common practice decades prior to the federal regulation to prevent foodborne illness from bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Yersinia, Brucella and the causative organism of tuberculosis.

A recent study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention covering a 13-year period determined that raw milk products are 150 times more likely to cause a foodborne illness outbreak than pasteurized milk products. While pasteurization effectively kills bacteria through heating, milk is occasionally contaminated after pasteurization.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Poll: Americans Say Baskin-Robbins Has the Best Ice Cream



Poll: Americans Say Baskin-Robbins Has the Best Ice Cream

Atlanta, Ga. – February 16, 2012 – You scream, I scream and we all scream for Baskin-Robbins ice cream?

Poll Position wanted to know which ice cream store chain Americans think sells the best ice cream and in a national scientific poll found Baskin-Robbins was tops with 20% of the vote, followed by Cold Stone Creamery (15%), Dairy Queen (14%), Ben and Jerry’s (14%), Haagen-Dazs (8%), Bruster’s (3%) and some other store (7%). Nineteen percent of those polled expressed no opinion.

Along party lines Baskin-Robbins was again the choice of Republicans (20%), Democrats (23%) and Independents (17%).

See a breakdown of survey participants by age, race, gender, and political affiliation in crosstabs for this poll at http://media.pollposition.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/Poll-Position-crosstabs-ice-cream-store-chain.pdf.

Poll Position’s scientific telephone survey of 1,242 registered voters nationwide was conducted Feb. 12, 2012 and has a margin of error of ±3%.  Poll results are weighted to be a representative sampling of all American adults.

What do you think? Which national ice cream store chain do you think sells the best ice cream? Do you think the mortgage agreement is fair? Vote in our online companion poll and comment at http://pollposition.com/2012/02/15/best-ice-cream/.

The online companion poll in which you can vote provides unscientific results, meaning it’s a tally of participating Poll Position users, not a nationally representative sampling.

Poll Position is committed to transparency and upholding the highest professional standards in its polling, explaining why we provide you with the crosstabs of our scientific polls. Crosstabs provide a breakdown of survey participants by age, race, gender, and political affiliation.

Friday, February 10, 2012

NRA: American Men Hunger for Restaurant Gift Cards This Valentine’s Day

(Washington, D.C.) While dining out remains a popular choice for Americans to celebrate Valentine’s Day, new National Restaurant Association research shows that nearly one-third would also like to receive a restaurant gift card on February 14. However, men show a much stronger preference for restaurant gift cards as a Valentine’s Day gift than women do at nearly half.

“Restaurant gift cards are popular gifts at any occasion, but we found that they are an especially good choice as a gift option for adult males this Valentine’s Day,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the National Restaurant Association. “Celebrating the occasion with a special meal will be on the menu for one-quarter of Americans this February 14, but those who opt to give restaurant gift cards as gifts will, in a sense, extend the holiday to have a special meal another day.”

Given a list of six Valentine’s Day gift options and asked which one they would most like to receive as a Valentine’s Day gift, 31 percent of adults favored restaurant gift cards, followed by jewelry, clothing/apparel, flowers, chocolate and perfume/cologne. When broken down by gender, 46 percent of men favored restaurant gift cards over clothing/apparel at 16 percent, and chocolate at 12 percent. Women indicated that their preferred gifts are jewelry (37 percent) and flowers (23 percent), with restaurant gift cards coming in third at 13 percent.

The survey also showed that nearly half of American adults don’t plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day at all, or celebrate with things other than a special meal. One-quarter will celebrate Valentine’s Day by dining in a restaurant. In addition, one-quarter plans to celebrate the occasion at home or someone else’s home, and of those, 15 percent plan to order restaurant takeout or delivery.

Among those who plan to dine out on February 14, younger adults are slightly more likely to do so, as are individuals in two-person households compared with those in single-person households and households with three or members.

The National Restaurant Association surveyed 1,007 American adults on February 2-5 about their dining plans for Valentine’s Day. Previous research by the Association shows that Valentine’s Day is the second most popular holiday to dine out, after Mother’s Day.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

CSPI: Juice Gone Wild!

Juice Gone Wild!

Nutrition Action Healthletter Unpacks “Confusion in Aisle 10”


WASHINGTON—Minute Maid Help Nourish Your Brain 100% Fruit Juice Blend fairly typifies the new-fangled products in the juice aisle.  It’s mostly apple and grape juice—two of the cheapest, least nutritious juices—though its label uses big print to highlight smaller amounts of pomegranate and blueberry juice.  Its labels also bear highly misleading non-sequiturs related to brain health, including “Vitamin C is highly concentrated in brain nerve endings.”  But according to a review of juices in the current issue of Nutrition Action Healthletter, people worried about memory or brain development needn’t waste their money on this Coca-Cola product.
Nutritionists agree that juice is better than soda.  But juice is not good for the waistline, according to Nutrition Action.  In 2006, an expert panel comprised of leading scientists recommended limiting daily juice intake to no more than eight ounces per day.  Liquid calories aren’t as filling as solid foods, one of several reasons why it’s better to eat fruit than to drink juice.  Plus, drinking juice may raise the risk of diabetes.
“Juice makers, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, realize that consumers are concerned about losing weight and reducing their risk of diet-related diseases,” said Nutrition Action senior nutritionist Jayne Hurley, co-author of the review.  “But no juice is going to perform miracles for eyes, skin, hearts, colons, or any other part of the body.  That goes for just plain juice, and it certainly goes for a juice dressed up with some combination of water, artificial sweeteners, food dyes, or fake fibers.”
Some orange juice labels, like those of Tropicana’s Healthy Heart with Omega-3, imply heart health.  But that juice has only 50 milligrams of EPA plus DHA from fish oil, a tiny fraction of what one would get from a serving of heart-healthy salmon.  Minute Maid Heart Wise orange juice, on the other hand, contains a hefty one gram of beneficial plant sterols.  Two grams of plant sterols per day can lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol by roughly ten percent over a period of 8 weeks.  “Minute Maid wins,” says Nutrition Action.  
If you’re watching your waistline, a different Tropicana product, Trop50 Orange has 50 percent less sugar and calories than regular orange juice.  Of course, it’s 60 percent added water and only 40 percent juice and is sweetened with the safe high-potency plant-based sweetener Reb A (Pure Via).  Trop50 is a smart choice if you like the sweeter taste, says Nutrition Action. (Some Trop50 products play the usual tricks, though.  Its Pomegranate Blueberry variety has more apple juice than pomegranate juice and more grape juice than blueberry juice.)
Other examples of juice aisle trickery exposed in Nutrition Action include:
•    Ocean Spray Cran-Energy Raspberry.  To its credit, it only has 35 calories per serving.  Its “energy” presumably comes from its green tea extract’s 55 milligrams of caffeine and not added B vitamins.  Otherwise, the drink is basically water, juice (again, more cheap grape than the touted, but more expensive, cranberry or raspberry), added vitamins, safe artificial sweeteners, and, to its discredit, Red 40 dye.
•    IZZE. Most carbonated juice drinks like IZZE have no fewer calories than ordinary juice or cola, according to Nutrition Action.  Once more, apple and white grape juice are the primary juices, even in IZZE’s  more exotic flavors, such as Sparkling Blackberry, Blueberry, Clementine, Grapefruit, Lime, Peach, and Pomegranate. The IZZE Esque line has 50 calories per 12 ounce bottle because it’s 25 percent juice. Nutrition Action suggests adding seltzer to nutrient-rich orange juice to make a lower-calorie “sparkling” juice.
•    Vita Coco Coconut Water has “more than 15 times the electrolytes found in sports drinks,” according to the company, which goes on to advise that “Life is hectic enough, and you should be hydrated when you do it.”  Any beverage hydrates you, according to Nutrition Action.  And the only time one would need electrolytes in a drink is after hours of vigorous exercise.  That said, coconut water has roughly just 40 fat-free calories per cup and is a decent source of beneficial potassium.
•    Welch’s 100% Grape Juice with Fiber gives the impression that its fiber might come from “the whole Concord grape—skins and seeds included.”  Rather, the fiber comes from the additive maltodextrin, a starch-like carbohydrate that resists digestion.  Nutrition Action says there’s no good evidence that maltodextrin, or the dextrin added to V8 High Fiber or Sunsweet PlumSmart and Prune Juice Light, confers the kind of benefits as the fiber found in naturally in foods.
Nutrition Action also calculated scores for various juices based on the levels of 12 vitamins, minerals, and carotenoids, plus fiber.  Carrot juice led the pack thanks to its high vitamin A and potassium content.  Orange juice ranked second, followed by tomato juice (low sodium variety), grapefruit, prune, pineapple, unsweetened cranberry, coconut water, and perhaps surprisingly, considering all the hype generated by POM, pomegranate.  Apple and grape juice came in last.

25 Million Fans Betting on the Super Bowl

Atlanta, Ga. – February 1, 2012  – A new poll by Poll Position indicates at least 25 million Americans will bet money on this Sunday’s NFL Super Bowl showdown between the New York Giants and New England Patriots.

In a national scientific telephone poll, Poll Position asked, “Will you bet money on the Super Bowl?”

Eleven percent of respondents said yes they are betting money on the Super Bowl, 78% said no and 10% were undecided or had no opinion on the question.

With roughly 234 million adults in America, the 11% who said they are betting on the Super Bowl would translate into slightly more than 25 million Americans betting money on this year’s Super Bowl.

Eighteen percent of men said they would bet on the game, while only 5% of women say they’ll do so.

Caveat: Not everyone betting on the game will admit it.

More Democrats (16%) say they’ll bet on the big game than Republicans (12%) and independents (5%).

The age group most likely to bet: 18-29 year olds, 19% of whom say they’ll gamble on the game.

See a breakdown of survey participants by age, race, gender, and political affiliation in crosstabs for this poll at http://media.pollposition.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/Poll-Position-crosstabs-Super-Bowl-bet.pdf.

Poll Position’s scientific telephone survey of 1,145 registered voters nationwide was conducted January 31, 2012 and has a margin of error of ±3%.  Poll results are weighted to be a representative sampling of all American adults.

What do you think?  Will you bet money on the Super Bowl?
Vote in our online companion poll and comment at http://pollposition.com/2012/02/01/25m-betting-on-super-bowl/.

The online companion poll in which you can vote provides unscientific results, meaning it’s a tally of participating Poll Position users, not a nationally representative sampling.

Poll Position is committed to transparency and upholding the highest professional standards in its polling, explaining why we provide you with the crosstabs of our scientific polls. Crosstabs provide a breakdown of survey participants by age, race, gender, and political affiliation.

Learn more about Poll Position’s polling methodology at http://pollposition.com/2011/09/26/our-polling-methodology/.

About Poll Position
Poll Position is a unique non-partisan news, polling, and social media company founded and lead by two award-winning CNN news and polling veterans. The company’s goals are to engage, enlighten, and entertain millions of people with exclusive news-making, buzz-generating public opinion polls and giving people everywhere an opportunity to vote and comment on hot topics, while learning the views of others.

For more news updates and research findings, follow Poll Position on Twitter @PollPosition and become a Facebook fan at http://www.facebook.com/PollPosition. Become a registered user at http://pollposition.com/members-area/.

To learn more about Poll Position, go to http://www.pollposition.com.