Last week on January 3, 2013, sponsors of Initiative 522 (I-522), a measure that would require the labeling of certain genetically engineered foods, filed their petitions with the Washington Secretary of State’s Office for review. The filing of I-522 comes in the wake of Proposition 37, a similar initiative that was ultimately rejected by California … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the primary agency charged with regulating the nation’s supply of meat, poultry, and egg products. Besides ensuring the safety and wholesomeness of those products, FSIS is also charged with the important function of reviewing the accuracy of all meat, poultry, and egg product … Continue Reading
A new U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection (FSIS) rule, which was originally announced in a Federal Register notice published on December 29, 2010, will require nutrition labeling on the major cuts of single-ingredient, raw meat and poultry products and ground or chopped meat and poultry products unless one of several exemptions applies. … Continue Reading
Recently, on March 12, 2012, 55 Members of Congress sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg calling on the agency to require the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods. According to a press release from the nonprofit organization Center for Food Safety: The bicameral, bipartisan letter led by … Continue Reading
The “All Natural” class action litigation in California has continued into 2012, as expected. The claims in California are being filed under California’s consumer-friendly unfair competition law (or UCL), which is codified in sections 17200 and 17500 of the California Business & Professions Code, and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA). Given the costs and … Continue Reading
California litigators Tom Woods and Melissa Jones have prepared a Litigation Legal Alert on "All Natural" class action litigation in California and what to expect in 2012. The Alert, which is linked above, provides background information regarding "All Natural" class action litigation in California. It also discusses why the authors believe that class action litigation in this area … Continue Reading
You can’t Google this and you can’t refer to anything but your own common sense: Is the following statement true or false? The regular consumption of significant amounts of water can reduce the risk of development of dehydration and of concomitant decrease of performance. I’ll be back with the "answer" tomorrow.… Continue Reading
By California litigators Tom Woods and Melissa Jones Consumer class action plaintiffs remain very active in California, with cases continuing to be filed against food manufacturers and suppliers regarding alleged misleading labeling and marketing claims. Just this week, plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against Trader Joe’s alleging that it falsely advertised and sold cookies … Continue Reading
Sulfur dioxide was recently added as a Proposition 65 chemical that could require warnings to consumers and employees as a chemical that may cause reproductive effects. The listing of sulfur dioxide will be particularly troublesome because sulfur dioxide is used as a fumigant and preservative on a number of fruits, including grapes and in related … Continue Reading
In a letter to leading supermarket chains, Vermont Representative Peter Welch took issue with the packaging and shelf placement of the “All Natural Syrup” line of table syrup produced by Log Cabin. The primary issues raised in Rep. Welch’s letter related to potential customer confusion due to the similar packaging and frequently close shelf placement … Continue Reading
Note: The following post is authored by guest blogger Anne Glazer. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) recently affirmed a USPTO refusal to register the following mark for use with beef: The TTAB said the BRASSTOWN BEEF logo is likely to cause confusion in relation to the word mark RAISED RIGHT, which was already … Continue Reading
This blog entry was originally written by Lee Smith from the California Environmental Law Blog. The Industry Acrylamide Coalition (Coalition) filed suit against the State of California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), the agency that manages and revised the Prop 65 list to include 4-metheylimidazole (4-MEI), as a carcinogen. 4-MEI is often found … Continue Reading
Following the playbook it has followed in the past with sodium and other issues, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has filed yet another complaint of very questionable legal merit to promote a policy agenda. This time CSPI seeks to compel all retailers to use loyalty cards as a recall alert system. … Continue Reading
April 8, 2011 – Scott Rickman from Del Monte, Lara White from Adams and Reese, and I will be talking at the Defense Research Institute (DRI) food law break-out. This event is held in conjunction with the DRI annual product liability conference in New Orleans. Click here for the complete manuscript that we’ve prepared to … Continue Reading
Note: The following is posted by David Pacheco from the Essential Nutrition Law Blog. The multinational food company Dannon agreed to a 45 million dollar class action settlement earlier this year based on consumer complaints about advertising claims regarding the health benefits of its probiotic line of dairy products. Now the company has entered into a … Continue Reading
We’re nearly down to the wire on whether the 111th Congress will send S.510, the food safety bill, to the President for signature into law. I’m told it could happen by the weekend. No matter what happens in Congress, food law is changing and changing faster than it ever has. The ABA Food Supplements Subcommittee and Products … Continue Reading
A recent decision held that Front of Package (”FOP”) labeling claims may not (yet) be subject to federal preemption. The decision in a putative class action, Chacanaca v. The Quaker Oats Company, involves what has become a common fact pattern: The FDA says an issue is complex and subject to industry guidance and possibly rule-making … Continue Reading
Our previous blog entry discusses last week’s release of the Federal Trade Commission’s ("FTC") revised, proposed "Green Guides" generally, discussing how the FTC is focused on "deception" and is not taking a radical departure from the 1998 version (the last version) of the Green Guides. But under the new Guides what are the consequences of the … Continue Reading
Originally posted on the Essential Nutrition Law Blog by Jonathan Stagg Peeled, Inc. (“Peeled”) www.peeledsnacks.com, a company specializing in healthy, natural snack foods including dried fruits and dry roasted nuts, recently filed a trademark infringement suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Peeled Fruit LLC (“Peeled Fruit”) www.simplypeeled.com. Peeled … Continue Reading
The Corn Refiners Association (the “CRA”), a trade organization representing the US corn refining industry, recently petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) to allow the term “corn sugar” as an alternative label declaration for high fructose corn syrup (“HFCS”). The the FDA’s decision on whether to approve the renaming is expected to take … Continue Reading
By Guest Blogger Elaine Albrich This post also appears on the Alcoholic Beverages Law Blog Figuring out what information must be on your wine label can be tedious. Adding terms like "organic" or "sustainably-grown" can be even more challenging. Extra steps are required for adding organic certifications or claims to a wine label, although the … Continue Reading
Click on the image below to view the slide-deck from the presentation that I recently gave with Scott Rickman from Del Monte at ACI’s summit on Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance in Chicago. The ACI summit was a nice introduction to food regulation byFDA, USDA, FTC, EPA and DHS. Our presentation was intended to start … Continue Reading
At its recent annual meeting, the American Medical Association (“AMA”) agreed to urge the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) to adopt more accurate labeling standards regarding trans fats and saturated fats used in food products. Current FDA rules allow nutrition labels to list saturated and trans fats as zero, so long as the product contains … Continue Reading
By Guest Blogger David Pacheco This post also appears on the Essential Nutrition Law Blog Yesterday, Stoel Rives’ Salt Lake City office hosted a seminar on Advertising Law with Catherine Lake, Josh Gigger, and myself presenting. As part of the seminar, I offered some tips on avoiding legal problems when advertising the environmental friendliness of … Continue Reading
