Food Disparagement Laws
Food Disparagement Law or "Veggie Libel Law" describes the new libel laws that impose penalties on anyone who comments about perishable food products in a manner deemed inconsistent with "reasonable or reliable scientific inquiry."
Food disparagement laws began cropping up in the early 1990's, after a consumer scare over the pesticide Alar, a chemical used to lengthen the time that apples ripen on trees. In 1989, the CBD news program "60 Minutes" broadcast a report that said Alar could cause cancer. Washington State apple growers filed a defamation lawsuit, contending they lost $100 million in a consumer panic after the story aired. The suit, however, was dismissed on grounds that the alleged defamation was directed at a product, and that food could not be defamed. The controversy over Alar so unnerved farmers and other food producers that it prompted them to seek special protection for perishable foods.
Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas have adopted the so-called "veggie libel." These laws put agriculture products on equal footing with other commodities, protecting them from false, negative claims. Name brand products are protected by libel trademark laws. Even individuals can protect themselves under libel and slander laws. But generic products, like fruits, vegetables, and meat don't have that same protection under the law. The problem is made even more pronounced when those products are perishable. Producers can't store their products in a warehouse while they try and prove that negative claims are untrue. American Farm Bureau governmental relations specialist John Keeling has lik...
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... In fact, they would like to see more reporting of these issues. They only ask that it be balanced and fair. Their concern is that individuals promoting some philosophy or private agenda will dupe the news media and entertainment figures into spreading lies about food product and farm prices.
Oprah Winfrey vs. Texas Cattlemen was especially interesting to me for three reasons. First of all, I grew up in Amarillo, Texas. Most of the people I grew up with had some connection to the beef industry. Secondly, my father is the president of a cattle company and is very involved in the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, and the National Cattlemen's Association. I also have met Paul Engler, the man who pressed charges against Oprah. Finally, I'm a big fan of Oprah. I think she has a very positive effect of television with the exception of the April 16th 1996 show.
In addition, the USDA is exposed for promoting products such as cheese, milk, and high fructose corn syrup in a fictional way. They provided no information that they were unhealthy in the
A counter argument to the conclusion that we should not trust nor buy from our food industries could be the obvious reason that food is cheaper than ever before. When times are hard in America, we can always count on the cheap price of our fast food restaurants and their dollar menus. However, these cheap prices come at a high cost. The reason meat or grains, for example, are so cheap, is due to subsidizing the market. While this may be great for consumers, it is actually incredibly harmful to local farmers. Artificially driving down the prices
These are only few examples of the many lawsuits that have been filed against Monsanto since its creation in
The practice of using misleading labelling that still complies with law has been done for some time. Still, legislation has been moving forward, starting in December 2002 when nutrition labelling was enforced in the Food and Drugs Regulations, which has since been amended in 2005 (HealthCanada). Whilst the government is taking a proactive stance towards labelling (partly due to consumer lobby groups), companies in the food industry are still able to produce misleading and/or uninformative labelling through simple manipulation of the English language and interpretation of law. Below, current legislation will be discussed, followed by company practices and the organic food market.
This regulation or piece of legislation is important regarding the horse meat controversy. It is important because the burger products were a complete “food fraud” as they did not display on information any form of equine DNA in them therefore consumers didn’t know exactly what they were eating, this is a serious issue food ingredients should be displayed clearly on ingredients label on every food product. This network of FFCP’S should work hopefully to help reduce these problems happening and when something like this horsemeat controversy happens they should become even more aware for the
This might be true if you do buy in local farm you know that you food come from them but not everyone has the money to buy more fresh food. When I went to the Berkeley Farmer 's Market i was looking around and everything has so expensive even one apple cost like two dollar and I do understand that it more healthy but I rather go to like food maxx or grocery outlet and get a pack of apple for like three dollar, I can afford it because it too expensive and I want it to last more and be able to eat more than just one apple. I don’t think I’m the only one that goes grocery shopping at food maxx and grocery outlet because it cheaper and people are able to afford it, So when she says “This should enable you to eat more cheaply and will give you a measure of “quality control..” is not so
Shaun Whitman addresses concerns regarding the chemicals used on regular produce by providing a solution to the problem and stating how the government comes into play. One solution that the article presents is that people can wash the produce thoroughly. For example, Paragraph 5 states, “Thoroughly washing fruits and vegetables under running water removes dirt, chemicals, and bacteria. You can also peel the skins off fruits and vegetables.” This delineates that people are able to address the concern of having chemicals on the produce by simply washing the produce or peeling its skin off. This is an example of the author giving a solution to this concern. In addition to giving a solution, the author also writes about how the government is checking
the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenicide Act that had been a burden to both growers and
Current public concern is the result of a wide-ranging, well-financed propaganda campaign of negatives – negatives intended to strike fear in the hearts of countless consumers "over there" and now, over here. Government agricultural agencies of var...
“If you live in a free market and a free society, shouldn’t you have the right to know what you’re buying? It’s shocking that we don’t and it’s shocking how much is kept from us” (Kenner). For years, the American public has been in the dark about the conditions under which the meat on their plate was produced. The movie, Food Inc. uncovers the harsh truths about the food industry. This shows that muckraking is still an effective means of creating change as shown by Robert Kenner’s movie, Food Inc. and the reforms to the food industry that followed its release.
Pomeranz, Jennifer L. "A Comprehensive Strategy To Overhaul FDA Authority For Misleading Food Labels." American Journal Of Law & Medicine 39.4 (2013): 617-647. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
...struggling to earn any income at all and sometimes do not even get the opportunity to eat. Another issue that Raj Patel did not touch on is the lack of care consumers have for the farmers. It seems that consumers care about farmers about as much as the corporations do, which, in my opinion, is not a lot. When consumers only care about low prices and large corporations only care about making a profit, the farmers are left out to dry. Many consumers believe “food should be available at a bargain price, a belief that relies on labor exploitation and environmental exhaustion at multiple points along the commodity chain.” (Wright, 95) Corporations as well as consumers generally tend to be selfish and I think Raj Patel is afraid to mention this. If only these people cared a little bit more about each other I believe the hourglass of the food system will begin to even out.
To help keep crops from being destroyed, conventional farmers use many methods such as pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Nearly 1 billion pounds of these chemicals are used every year (“pesticides”). Because of this excessive use, some scientists express concern that using artificial chemicals in the farming process could produce unhealthy crops. People who ate it over a long period of time could suffer from degraded health and stunted growth (“Organic Foods”). For example, in 1989, the EPA banned the use of Alar which was a chemical used to ripen apples (“Farming, Organics”). This chemical proved to be carcinogenic after causing tumors in mice after several laboratory tests (“Organic Food”). As a result of these findings there was a dramatic increase of the sales for organic food (“Organic Food”). Another study found that Atrazine (one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States) has the potential of being carcinogenic and reducing sperm counts in males (“Organic Food”). This was further proven when evidence was found that chemicals u...
Oprah Winfrey is a role model to thousands of people out there. She has made people understand the purpose of life and how to live it in a way that you are happy. She wants people to help and care for unprivileged people. Oprah thinks that education is a right and not a privilege. She wants everybody to have a good education no matter who they are. Oprah has an amazing story. She went through so many failures in her life but yet still carried on. She had such a tough childhood that actually mad her stronger as a person, that shows us today that just because you had rough parts in life where you didn’t want to carry on you can still get through it and get to where you want to be. Failure determs the level of success you are on and that’s what
Whenever we buy a product, we’re relying on both the company being honest with us about its contents as well as government regulations that do not always have the best interest of the consumer in mind. The first element to be included in my Food Bill of Rights is honesty. There are too many cases where American food has caused people to become sick and even caused fatalities because consumers do not know what they are eating. If you really look into the standards of what can be labeled as particular foods, the knowledge is really shocking. Consider the current policy of the United States Department of Agriculture; only 40% of beef is required for a company to label their products as such (Taco Bell’s Beef Problem). Further research shows the standards for meat in schools is lower than the standards for meat in fast food. Even with these outrageously low standards, there are still places to eat that don’t meet the requirements to label their products. Only a few years ago, Taco Bell was sued because they claimed their beef was 88% beef. However, when their meat was inspected it didn’t even make the required 40% minimum standard set by th...