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Abbott Accused at Trial of Hiding Fatal Risk of Infant Formula
Abbott Laboratories hid the risks of its premature-infant formula causing a potentially fatal bowel disease from parents even though company officials acknowledged the peril in internal documents, a lawyer told a Missouri jury.
The company was accused of putting profits over safety by an attorney for the mother of a premature baby girl who developed necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, and suffered brain damage after being fed Abbott’s Similac Special Care 24, a cow’s milk-based formula. The trial that kicked off this week in state court in St. Louis is the first of more than 1,000 such claims against Abbott and other formula makers to be presented to a jury.
Abbott officials didn’t mention the NEC risks on the product label and didn’t inform parents that their children could face brain damage or death from being fed the formula, Jake Plattenberger, Margo Gill’s lawyer, said Tuesday in opening statements that were broadcast on Courtroom View Network. He said Abbott spends more than $100 million a year marketing the product.
St. Louis courts are considered to be plaintiff-friendly and have produced large verdicts in the past. In 2019, a St. Louis jury awarded 20 women $4.7 billion in damages against Johnson & Johnson over claims its baby powders caused their cancers.
H5N1 Confirmed in 5 More U.S. Dairy Herds, More Cats
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today added five more dairy herds in three states to its list of H5N1 avian flu outbreak confirmations.
Also, APHIS confirmed the virus in three more cats from two states, both of which are experiencing H5N1 outbreaks in dairy cows and poultry.
Most of the APHIS confirmations involve detections initially announced by states. The newly added outbreaks include 3 in Colorado, 1 in Michigan, and 1 in Texas, boosting the USDA’s total to 145 in 12 states.
In related developments, APHIS confirmed H5N1 detections in three more domestic cats, two from Minnesota and one from Michigan, raising the total since 2022 to 33.
Anti-Diet: General Mills Pushes ‘Health at Any Size’ Research With Dietitian Influencers as Obesity Rate Doubles
In news that should come as a surprise to no one, the people leading the charges against “fat shaming” and advocating for something called “anti-dieting” are … you guessed it … food companies.
People following the online trend are finding themselves (surprise!) gaining weight. That includes Jaye Rochon, who a Washington Post article profiled. She followed a “health at every size” mindset and … voila …. was stunned when she put on 50 pounds, tipping the scale near 300 pounds.
Under the guise of coming off as woke and encouraging “health at any weight” (as if that’s actually a thing), the Washington Post revealed this week that General Mills, behind closed doors has been “touting anti-diet research it claims proves the harms of ‘food shaming.'”
Last year, at least 10 dietitians promoted General Mills cereals on TikTok and Instagram using the hashtag #DerailTheShame, often showing personalized Cheerios boxes and denouncing food shaming.
Mexico’s Planned Glyphosate Ban Helped Show How Agroecology Can Lead the Way Forward
Farmers around the world all need to deal with weeds. The most widely used chemical product they use to kill those unwanted plants is glyphosate, often sold under commercial names like Roundup.
In 2015, the World Health Organization declared glyphosate a “Probable Human Carcinogen.” This link to cancer was reinforced in January 2024 when a jury in the United States concluded Roundup caused non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and ordered chemical company Bayer — which purchased Roundup producer Monsanto in 2018 — to pay U.S.$2.5 billion in damages. Bayer has announced it intends to appeal the verdict.
Scientists have also raised concerns about the environmental harms of long-term glyphosate application. To name just a few, glyphosate threatens honey bee populations and has been found to kill birds, fish and soil microorganisms, all of which are crucial for ecosystem health.
Banning glyphosate is an essential step in protecting the health of humans and our ecosystems. Until a full ban is achieved, however, the pioneering work of farmers in Mexico shows how agroecological techniques can replace these chemical interventions.
The No. 1 Ultra-Processed Food This Dietitian Stays Away From: It ‘Doesn’t Have Any Nutritional Value’
Almost 60% of the caloric intake of the average American diet comes from ultra-processed foods, according to a 2017 paper published in the journal Population Health Metrics — and that’s concerning to health experts.
“Ultra-processed foods contain ingredients that we generally wouldn’t find in our kitchen, and they often contain high amounts of sugar and salt,” says Jinan Banna, registered dietitian and professor of nutrition at the University of Hawaii.
“Some [ultra-processed foods] I would never consume, such as soda,” Banna tells CNBC Make It. “Soda doesn’t have any nutritional value other than just calories in the form of sugar. So they’re empty calories, which don’t give us any of the nutrients that we need.”
PepsiCo Earnings Beat Estimates, but U.S. Demand Weakens
PepsiCo reported mixed quarterly results Thursday, hurt by declining demand in North America for its drinks and snacks.
The company also narrowed its revenue outlook for the full year. Pepsi now expects organic revenue growth of approximately 4%, a more cautious outlook than its previous forecast of at least 4%. The company reiterated its guidance for core constant currency earnings growth of at least 8%.
Net sales rose nearly 1% to $22.5 billion. The company’s organic revenue, which excludes acquisitions, divestitures and currency changes, increased 1.9% for the quarter, fueled by Pepsi’s international business.
But the company struggled in its home market, hurt by product recalls and shrinking demand for its products.
