Food Roundup: Sara Lee Sues Over Hot Dog Ads, McDonald's Studies Eggs, and More

Sara Lee sues Oscar Mayer over hot dog claims — The maker of Ball Park hot dogs is accusing Kraft’s Oscar Mayer of false advertising because of an ad that claimed Oscar Mayer had beaten Ball Park hot dogs in a taste test, when in fact, it only beat out the leading Ball Park product. The lawsuit, which comes just as hot dog season gets started in earnest, also attacks Oscar Mayer’s 100% beef claims. [Sources: Food Business News, Daily Bread]

McDonald’s to study egg sustainability options — The burger chain, along with supplier Cargill, is conducting a study on housing alternatives for egg-laying hens, including cage-free options. The study will look at different housing forms and their impacts on the environment, the birds, the workers, food prices and other factors. But critics say McDonald’s is merely buying time by delaying the need for any actual moves towards sustainability while the two-year study is in progress. McDonald’s also released an 80 page report on its various other sustainability initiatives. [Sources: Los Angeles Times, AgProfessional, Seeking Alpha]

Canadian Wheat Board rejects GMO — The Canadian Wheat Board says it will not support genetically modified wheat, rejecting a joint statement made a week earlier by wheat industry representatives from the U.S., Australia and Canada. “We are certainly not negative about GM,” a spokeswoman said, “but we don’t think the time is right.” The organization said greater public acceptance is necessary first. [Source: FoodNavigator-USA.com]

Man jailed for seafood fraud — The president of Virginia Star Seafood Corp. was sentenced to 63 months in prison for falsely labeling more than 10 million pounds of catfish from Vietnam in order to avoid anti-dumping charges. The fish were labeled and sold as other fish types. An importer was also sentenced. [Source: PRNewswire]