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Objective: To identify the corporate political activity (CPA) of major food industry actors in France.Design: We followed an approach based on information available in the public domain. Different sources of information, freely accessible to the public, were monitored.Setting/SubjectsData were collected and analysed between March and August 2015. Five actors were selected: ANIA (Association Nationale des Industries Agroalimentaires/National Association of Agribusiness Industries); Coca-Cola; McDonald's; Nestlé; and Carrefour.Results: Our analysis shows that the main practices used by Coca-Cola and McDonald's were the framing of diet and public health issues in ways favourable to the company, and their involvement in the community. ANIA primarily used the 'information and messaging' strategy (e.g. by promoting deregulation and shaping the evidence base on diet- and public health-related issues), as well as the 'policy substitution' strategy. Nestlé framed diet and public health issues, and shaped the evidence base on diet- and public health-related issues. Carrefour particularly sought involvement in the community.Conclusions: We found that, in 2015, the food industry in France was using CPA practices that were also used by other industries in the past, such as the tobacco and alcohol industries. Because most, if not all, of these practices proved detrimental to public health when used by the tobacco industry, we propose that the precautionary principle should guide decisions when engaging or interacting with the food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Extended-spectrum β-lactamases producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-E) are increasingly identified in health care facilities. As previously done for the control of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, many hospitals have established screening strategies for early identification of patients being carriers of ESBL producers in general and ESBL-E in particular, and have implemented contact precautions (CP) for infected and colonized patients.Methods: The incidence of ESBL-E has been compared retrospectively between two French university hospitals (A and B) with different infection control policies over a 5-year long period of time (2006-2010).Results: While hospital A only implemented standard precautions after identification of patients colonized with ESBL-E, hospital B recommended additional CP. During the period of the study, the ESBL-E incidence rate significantly increased in both hospitals, but no significant difference was observed between the two hospitals.Conclusions: This observational study did not reveal that additional CP measures had a greater impact on the incidence of ESBL-E in hospital settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent PIP scandal that affected patients worldwide, and received extensive media coverage, led to concerns being felt by patients about the ‘risks’ of cosmetic surgery. Theories about regulation and risk refer to societies such as those in the West becoming more risk averse. Regulation, in turn, has come to be seen as an instrument to solve a problem for a community seen to be or which perceives itself to be at risk. The political and electoral risk acknowledged by government if it ignores that concern, or at least media coverage of it, can lead to regulation, or the tightening up of regulation, as a response. This article looks at current proposals for legislation in the UK following the PIP silicone implant scandal as an example of the risk-regulation premise. Are cosmetic surgery patients in the UK now going to see stricter regulation of the cosmetic surgery industry? The article argues that the UK and France have both reacted to healthcare scandals and the ensuing societal conception of risk by drawing up more thorough legislation on cosmetic surgery than previously existed. France enacted the Kouchner law in 2002 and the UK government published the Keogh Report in April 2013. A comparison is made of these to establish whether the UK can learn from the French legislation when it comes to drafting actual regulation in the future, perhaps in 2014. Finally, some arguments are made about whether risk aversion may make better law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the global society facing serious environmental problems it is imperative to find solutions to meet new environmental challenges. The precautionary principle answers those types of challenges that are still under uncertain future. This principle requires action steps to uncertain risks. If the original principle was hardly considered, today it managed to advance the principles of precaution environmental and oldest tradition. It is of interest to know that in law enforcement has developed an extensive jurisprudence based on the precautionary principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Precautionary Principle is a guide to coping with scientific uncertainties in the assessment and management of risks. In recent years, it has moved to the forefront of debates in policy and applied ethics, becoming a key normative tool in policy discussions in such diverse areas as medical and scientific research, health and safety regulation, environmental regulation, product development, international trade, and even judicial review. The principle has attracted critics who claim that it is fundamentally incoherent, too vague to guide policy, and makes demands that are logically and scientifically impossible. In this paper we will answer these criticisms by formulating guidelines for its application that ensure its coherence as a useful normative guide in applied and policy ethics debates. We will also provide analyses of cases that demonstrate how our version of the principle functions in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the reaction of the human beings when they face any kind of risk, need for diligence, undertaking of necessary precautions and the building of the proper foresight in the formulation of a strategy. It informs that the due diligence is a precept rather characteristic of Anglo-American common law and finds particular application in regard to prosthetic devices, pharmaceutical and other biotechnological products. It further informs that the few guarantees against short-lived precautions were present and Protestants fared badly in France.

This paper examines the role of the precautionary principle (PP) in transforming the French regulatory landscape for genetically modified organisms used in food and agriculture over the last decade. Despite few explicit references to the PP, we argue that it has been instrumental. The changes do not result from a linear top-down process, as in the application of a new law. Instead, the PP has acted as a point of articulation for debates in different public arenas; through these debates, the PP has been progressively translated into pragmatic practices. New boundaries have been drawn between risk assessment and risk management practices. This has facilitated the progressive emergence of a distinct arena of scientific expertise and opens the possibility for the reciprocal emancipation of public decision and scientific expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The precautionary principle first appeared in France during the health crisis following the contamination of patients with HIV via blood transfusion. This study analyses whether the risk associated with blood transfusion was taken into account early enough considering the context of scientific uncertainty between 1982 and 1985. The aim was to evaluate whether a precautionary principle was applied and whether it was relevant. First, we investigated the context of scientific uncertainty and controversies prevailing between 1982 and 1985. Then we analysed the attitude and decisions of the French authorities in this situation to determine whether a principle of precaution was applied. Finally, we explored the reasons at the origin of the delay in controlling the risk. Despite the scientific uncertainties associated with the potential risk of HIV contamination by transfusion in 1983, we found that a list of recommendations aiming to reduce this risk was published in June of that year. In the prevailing climate of uncertainty, these measures could be seen as precautionary. However, the recommended measures were not widely applied. Cultural, structural and economic factors hindered their implementation. Our analysis provides insight into the use of precautionary principle in the domain of blood transfusion and, more generally, medicine. It also sheds light on the expectations that health professionals should have of this principle. The aim of the precautionary principle is to manage rather than to reduce scientific uncertainty. The principle is not a futile search for zero risk. Rather, it is a principle for action allowing precautionary measures to be taken. However, we show that these measures must appear legitimate to be applied. This legitimacy requires an adapted decision–making process, involving all those concerned in the management of collective risks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article reports developments concerning the application of precautionary principle (PP) in France. The French Supreme Court alleges that PP shall be used following a global analysis that can be performed only by the public authorities. It also discusses the judgment concerning the restriction to the use of PP on the uncertainty of the safety of certain food. It highlights the court's judgment on the food supplement containing creatine and glutamine without having obtained an authorization to the adjunction under the 1912 legislation.