Many Americans don’t get enough of the vitamins and minerals they should, but the Environmental Working Group (EWG) is now concerned that children and other vulnerable populations are exposed to excessive and unhealthy amounts in
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The Wrong Obama Gives Tough Talk on Junk Food Marketing to Kids
This past week, Michelle Obama gathered 100 food industry representatives, academic experts and public-health advocates for a “summit” at the White House to discuss junk food marketing to children. The event included public remarks by
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Industry Lawyers Tell Big Food How Not to Get Sued
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
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Feds to Parents: Big Food Still Exploiting Your Children; Good Luck With That
If you wanted to ensure a report gets buried, a good time to release it would be the Friday before a holiday week. That the Federal Trade Commission released its latest report on marketing to
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Disney Bans Junk Food Marketing from its Network Kingdom
Over the next three years, the Walt Disney Company will phase junk food advertising out of its TV and radio programming targeted at kids. Under the new plan – announced Tuesday – all foods marketed
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Guide to Fighting Fast Food in Your Own Back Yard
It’s hard not to get depressed over the politics of food these days, given the massive power of the food industry to influence everything from the farm bill to childhood obesity. So a new
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More Empty Recommendations on Junk Food Marketing to Children
Last week, the nation’s top public health experts gathered at a much-trumpeted obesity conference hosted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called Weight of the Nation. (A quick glance at the
Congress to Kids: Drop Dead
Last month, when Congress declared pizza a vegetable, it was hard to believe things could get much worse. But never underestimate politicians’ ability to put corporate interests ahead of children’s health.
In the massive
Toying with the Happy Meal: Is McDonald's Evading the Law?
While most media outlets dubbed it the “Happy Meal toy ban,” the ordinance passed in San Francisco last year didn’t ban anything. The law just placed a few reasonable nutrition guidelines (a maximum of 600
Eating Fruits and Vegetables is No Job Killer
An effort to get American children to eat more fruits and vegetables should, even in hyper-polarized Washington, be a no-brainer. Congress recently declared pizza sauce to be a vegetable in school lunches. Now, major food
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PepsiCo Wants to 'Scare the Crap' Out of Your Kids
PepsiCo has long been my poster child for food corporations whose actions speak louder than words when to comes to responsible marketing. CEO Indra Nooyi loves to tout the company’s “Performance with Purpose” and show
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