The first of two recent reports by the Berkeley Media Studies Group explains how target marketing to communities of color by soda and fast food companies contributes to racial inequality. The report states that the explicit goal of these marketing strategies is to increase consumption of junk food in African-American and Latino communities. The second report builds on the theme of target marketing, detailing how the soda and fast food industries exploit the cultural ties and values of African-American and Latino mothers, ultimately making communities sicker by influencing the food choices of these women.
New Report Shows Car Safety Rules Save Lives
A new report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found the number and rate of traffic fatalities in 2010 fell to the lowest levels since 1949, despite a significant increase in the number of miles Americans drove during the year. As Brian Wolfman noted on the Consumer Law and Policy Blog, “a combination of safety factors – safer vehicles (prompted by government rules), more seat belt use (prompted by government rules, increased enforcement, and public education), and less drunk driving (prompted by government rules, increased enforcement, and an all-out public awareness campaign) – have come together to bring the number of highway traffic deaths, in absolute numbers, to their lowest level since 1949. That’s astounding given the immense increases over the period in the number of drivers and miles driven and the increased speeds at which people drive. A triumph of government regulation that is hard to overstate.”
Michigan Court Rules State Cannot Sue Merck to Recover Vioxx Costs
A Michigan state appeals court ruled 2 to 1 recently that the state cannot sue the drug maker Merck and Co. to recover Medicaid costs spent on the drug Vioxx. Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market in 2004 after its own research showed the once-blockbuster drug doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke. The company paid $4.85 billion to settle most of the 50,000 lawsuits claiming that Vioxx harmed or killed users. According to InjuryBoard blogger and attorney Mark Bello, the 1995 law grants immunity to drug makers for any drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is the only law of its kind in the U.S. Michigan State Representative Lisa Brown has introduced a bill to change this anti-consumer law and stop the drug industry profiting from putting citizens at risk.
GAO Finds US Regulation of Food Safety Inconsistent, Ineffective and Inefficient
A new US Government Accountability Office report on federal food safety oversight found that, “Fragmentation in the nation’s food safety system results in inconsistent oversight, ineffective coordination, and inefficient use of resources.” The GAO recommended a single food safety agency, a food inspection agency, and a data collection and risk analysis center but warned that any reorganization would be a complex process and could lead to short-term disruptions and higher costs.
Nestle Appoints Former UNICEF Director to Corporate Board
This month Ann Venemen, Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), from 2005-2010, joins the Board of Directors of the Nestle Corporation, the worlds largest global food and beverage corporation and the leading global manufacturer of infant formula. Public health advocates have accused Nestle of subverting international agreements on advertising of infant formula. UNICEF had played a leading role in opposing corporate promotion of infant formula at the expense of breast feeding. Prior to joining UNICEF, Veneman served as Secretary of Agriculture for President George W. Bush. Last month Nestle reported double-digit growth in shares of infant formula in Asia, Oceana, and Afric, and that market share was up on a global basis.
Food Companies Seek Future Profits in “Health and Wellness” Products
Chicago Tribune reporter Emily Bryson York analyzes how big food companies like Pepsi, Wal-Mart and Starbucks are seeking to design products and marketing campaigns that speak to their customers’ concerns about health. Said Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, “Over time, people are going to be quite surprised, almost stunned, by what we’re about to do.”
FDA Panel Finds that Ban on Menthol Cigarettes Would “Benefit the Public Health”
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended last week that “the removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit the public health.” However, the FDA itself now needs to decide whether or not to accept the recommendation. Reaction to the report was mixed:
Said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: “This is the most conclusive scientific finding that menthol cigarettes dramatically increase youth tobacco use and make it more difficult for African-Americans to quit. It creates a scientific record which compels F.D.A. to act.”
Dr. Michael Siegel, a tobacco expert and professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, wrote: “This is a huge victory for Lorillard.” The committee’s failure to recommend policy change “swept the issue under the rug by giving the F.D.A. an out.”
Investors reacted favorably. Stock in Lorillard Tobacco, a tobacco company that generates 90 percent of its revenues from menthol cigarettes closed more than 10 percent higher on the day the advisory panel released its report.
Introducing the New Corporations and Health Watch
As Corporations and Health Watch enters its fifth year, we introduce a new format and design. CHW was 
founded in 2007 to provide a meeting place for researchers, health professionals and activists concerned about the health impact of corporate practices. By offering a virtual space to exchange information and analyze developments in the alcohol, automobile, firearms, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and tobacco industries, CHW hopes to advance our understanding of corporate policies and practices as social determinants of health. It also seeks to encourage those working to change harmful corporate practices across industries, countries and strategies to learn from each other, develop common goals and support each others’ campaigns. So what’s new about the redesigned CHW?
First we now have six contributing writers who will regularly write for CHW:
- Jessie Daniels, at the City University of New York School of Public Health at Hunter College, who writes about new media, corporations and the intersections of class, race and gender.
- Nicholas Freudenberg, also at the CUNY School of Public Health, who writes about the economic and political influences on corporate practices and advocacy campaigns to change them and works with local, national and global advocacy organizations.
- David Jernigan, at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who writes about the alcohol industry and alcohol marketing to youth.
- Lainie Rutkow, also at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who writes about the use of law to protect the public’s health and the regulation of corporations in the context of specific industries, including tobacco, food, and pharmaceuticals.
- Michele Simon, at the Marin Institute, who writes about alcohol and food industry practices, and
- William Wiist, at the College of Health and Human Services at Northern Arizona University, who writes about the impact of corporations on health and democracy, and corporate globalization and health governance.
More contributing writers will be added in the coming months. On CHW, we write in our individual capacity, not as representatives of institutions.
Second, we invite readers’ contributions of short essays, news stories or links to new publications on CHW topics. Our guidelines for contributors are available here.
Third, we will now post new stories every week, add an RSS feed and encourage readers to contact writers to explore common interests. We’ll continue to email you our monthly newsletter that gives highlights of our stories of the last month.
Fourth, we have reorganized our archives, making them easier to search and adding key words. We’re especially interested in making our archives accessible and useful to public health and other students to serve as a resource for their research and activism. We encourage readers to send students to the site and also to the forward the link to CHW to interested colleagues and lists.
As we move into the second decade of the 21st century, the role of corporations in creating the global health challenges of rising rates of chronic diseases and injuries and persistent inequities seems stronger than ever. The 2008 economic crisis demonstrated the risks of unfettered markets and the glimmers of alternatives. As political and economic power becomes increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few global corporations, public health researchers, practitioners, activists and students need to ask how we can apply the lessons of public health reform from the 19th and 20th centuries to this one. We hope you’ll help the redesigned Corporations and Health Watch become a growing voice in this effort.
Photo credits:
MyPyramid In Court
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has sued the United States Department of Agriculture, alleging that the new Dietary Guidelines mislead Americans about what to eat and not eat. PCRM President Dr. Neal Barnard said, “The dietary guidelines are the best they have ever been, but we’re pushing to make them even better.” The suit charges that USDA’s ties to agribusiness led it to obscure information on what foods to avoid. USDA Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee members include individuals with ties to Dannon, Kraft Foods and McDonalds Corporation.
Drug Price Spikes
After winning FDA approval for exclusive rights to sell Makena, a drug that prevents preterm labor, reported Associated Press, KV Pharmaceutical raised the price from $10 to 20 per injection to $1,500. About 130,000 women a year are estimated to benefit from the drug but many state Medicaid programs are unable to afford the higher price.
Corporations and Health Watch 