The world’s No 1 hamburger chain said it would start listing calorie information on menus in 14,000 US restaurants and drive-thrus. The change takes place ahead of a national rule that will require larger restaurant chains to make the disclosures and in conjunction with other corporate policy changes related to obesity and nutrition.
Good News: Tobacco Consumption Drops in Wake of Federal Tax Hike
More than three years after President Obama signed legislation increasing the federal cigarette tax from 39 cents a pack to $1.01 a pack, rates of smoking have dropped.
According to an analysis by USA Today, the decrease in smoking can be seen especially among teens, poor people and those dependent on government insurance. The dip in smokers came after the president signed the tax hike — which was intended to finance expanded healthcare for children — in early 2009 and it went into effect on April 1, 2009.
Australian news coverage of alcohol advertising restrictions
In an article recently posted on BMC Public Health, Andrea Fogarty and Simon Chapman of the Sydney School of Public Health in Sydney, Australia, conclude that restrictions on alcohol advertising currently have low newsworthiness as a standalone issue. Future advocacy might better define the exact nature of required restrictions, anticipate vocal opposition and address forms of advertising beyond televised sport if exposure to advertising, especially among children, is to be reduced.
Britain’s Health Secretary has caved in to fast-food industry, says former adviser
British Secretary of Health Andrew Lansley is guilty of a “dereliction of duty” for failing to tackle Britain’s growing obesity epidemic, one of his former public health advisers warns. In an interview with The Independent, Professor Simon Capewell, who served on the Health Secretary’s Public Health Commission in opposition, accuses Mr. Lansley of conniving with the food industry and ignoring scientific evidence on obesity.
Survey Shows Small Arms Trade Has Doubled Since 2008
In its 2012 report released this week, Small Arms Survey found that legal global trade in small arms has grown to at least $8.5 billion a year. If the illicit trade were added, it would come to more than $10 billion, the weapons research group said Monday. The Small Arms Survey had estimated the global trade in small arms, munitions and spare parts at more than $4 billion four years ago. The countries that export more than $100 million of small arms were the United States, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Austria, Japan, Switzerland, Russia, France, South Korea, Belgium and Spain.
New York State Attorney General Investigates Energy Beverage Firms’ Marketing
The Wall Street Journal reports that New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating whether the multi-billion dollar energy-drink industry is deceiving consumers with misstatements about the ingredients and health value of its products. Schneiderman issued subpoenas to PepsiCo Inc, the makers of AMP, Monster Beverage Corp, and Living Essentials LLC, maker of 5-hour energy drink. The subpoenas asked for information on the companies’ marketing and advertising practices.
Gun Smuggling and the U.S. Mexico Border
A new video by Cuéntame and the Washington Office on Latin America, part of a campaign to stop gun smuggling into Mexico, shows the lines of accountability in the gun trade. According to official data, “Over the last 5 years, nearly 60,000 people have lost their lives in Mexico’s drug-related wave of violence. More than 70% of the weapons seized in Mexico in the last three years and submitted for tracing came from the U.S.”
Australian Tobacco Companies Lose Fight Over Packaging
Earlier this month, the High Court in Australia upheld that Government’s pioneering laws to force tobacco companies to put their products in plain packaging. Read an interview with various Australians involved in the tobacco controversy for varying opinions on the national and global significance of the decision.
Antipsychotic Drug Prescriptions for Off-label Conditions Increase for Children and Youth
In an article published this month in the Archives of General Psychiatry, Mark Olfson and his colleagues reported that between 1993-1998 and 2005-2009, visits with a prescription of antipsychotic medications per 100 persons increased almost eightfold for children, almost five fold for adolescents, and almost doubled for adults. Only a small proportion of child and adolescent antipsychotic visits included an FDA clinical indication; many prescriptions were for off-label use. An earlier commentary by the psychiatrist Dr. Peter Breggin on the Huffington Post links this increased use to unethical drug company marketing practices.
McDonald’s to customers: Eat more
McDonald’s new Breakfast After Midnight menu — available in locations across the state of Ohio and in Denver and Boston — offers limited breakfast offerings from 12 a.m. onward. Included are popular items like Egg McMuffins, Sausage McMuffins, hotcakes with sausage, breakfast burritos, fruit and maple oatmeal, hash browns, juice and coffee. The Huffington Post reports that the menu will be available in all 24-hour McDonald’s stores in featured markets. One slogan for the campaign is “the moon is full you should be too.”
Corporations and Health Watch 