Uninformed Honey Bees
Ah, the pitfalls of the “all natural” marketing claim. What could be more natural that bees making honey? Apparently, it depends on the integrity of the bees and whether they knew better than to forage on glyphosate herbicide. A consumer class action against Sioux Honey, a cooperative in Sioux City, Iowa, is going forward on allegations that Sioux Honey has falsely labeled its honey as “Pure” and “100% Pure” and “all natural” because it contains trace amounts of glyphosate. In essence, the suit claims that Sioux Honey misled consumers with claims that its honey was all natural and failed to warn of the presence of glyphosate, resulting in a lower quality and “unnatural” product. And of course it referred to the potential of glyphosate as a carcinogen. Sioux sought dismissal of the “pure” claims, arguing that the bees were naturally foraging, sometimes in areas where glyphosate was used, but the honey they created was an entirely natural process and resulted in a pure product. The court declined to dismiss the claims, concluding that consumers may understand the “pure” honey label to be free of non-honey substances such as glyphosate.
Advertising claims are always ripe targets for consumer claims, especially food-related claims of “pure” or “natural” or the like. And as this case shows, sometimes even the “natural” process may not result in a natural product. Maybe it would be fitting to call this honey Roundup Ready?
A Supreme Leak
Monday morning’s news that the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft majority opinion potentially overruling Roe v. Wade had been leaked and published online marked a particularly dark point in the High Court’s history. Nobody would disagree that the matter of abortion has been one of the most highly charged issues of modern times, but it should also be deeply troubling that the Supreme Court has been compromised by a historic breach. The sanctity and credibility the Court, particularly its impartiality, is crucial to its ability to function as a pillar of government. The leak has landed a tremendous blow to an institution that has become the subject of increasing partisan ridicule over the years. The primetime news drama that now accompanies confirmation hearings to the Court have pushed the institution into a political arena that it was not designed for and nobody can truly win. Unfortunately, this leak just adds to the fire that undermines the Court’s credibility. A sad state of affairs indeed.
Leaks from the Supreme Court are incredibly rare, but not entirely unprecedented. In 1852, the outcome of the case, Pennsylvania v. Wheeling & Belmont Bridge Co., was published in the New York Tribune 10 days before the ruling was actually issued. Also, the Roe v. Wade decision itself was shared by a Supreme Court clerk with Time magazine which published the story a few hours before the decision was announced by the Court.
Assuming this leak was intentional, it is still hard to find a motive or identify who would stand to benefit from it. Neither side of the debate over abortion rights truly gains anything from the leak. Does it inflame Congress to take up abortion legislation? Might it solidify a Justice’s shaky vote one way or the other? Hard to say. But will certainly not help the Justices engage in the sort of open, probing deliberation that is needed to reach sound decisions. And that is precisely what we need at the Court, and for that matter, from our elected officials.
Cape Law Firm’s Frequently (or Randomly ) Asked Questions
Should you purge crawfish with salt water before boiling?
While many a crawfish aficionado swears by the salt water purge, there are also plenty who believe that it is just a myth. The basic idea behind the salt water purge is that it causes the crawfish to quickly “purge” their guts, particularly the hindgut. An LSU AgCenter study suggests that the salt might be mildly more effective, but it isn’t especially conclusive. I say do whatever you believe works – salt or no salt. But definitely pick one method and use it because live crawfish generally still have a lot of mud and debris caked on (and in). The fresh water (with or without salt) will always get them a whole lot cleaner.
