Claire Mitchell

Claire Mitchell

Claire Mitchell, is a  business transactional and regulatory compliance attorney for the food, beverage, and hospitality industries. Claire counsels companies at all levels of the food and beverage supply chain, including international, national, and regional producers, processors, and retailers, on a variety of regulatory compliance, risk management, and licensing issues. Claire advises clients on consumer product labeling, marketing, advertising, and packaging, product safety compliance strategies, state and federal liquor licensing matters, and commercial contract negotiation, including negotiation of brokerage, custom crush, sponsorship, concession, and contract manufacturing agreements.

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FDA Offers Webinar to Review Recent Nutrition Facts Labeling Final Rules

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Events, Food Labeling, General Information, Legislation and Regulation, Upcoming Events
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to host a webinar on Monday, June 27, 2016, to review the agency’s recent Nutrition Facts Labeling Final Rules and what industry needs to know about the changes to nutrition facts labels and serving sizes. The FDA published the final rules in the Federal Register on May 27, … Continue Reading

Food 2.0 Event Reviews Natural and Organic Food Landscape and Prospects

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Events
Stoel Rives LLP is proud to sponsor the 2016 Food 2.0 event taking place today through June 9, 2016, in Los Angeles, California.  The annual event brings together manufacturers, service providers, investors, companies, consultants and lawyers to assess the natural and organic food landscape and the prospects for this rapidly evolving space. Stoel Rives Partner … Continue Reading

Food Liability Law Blog Launches New Responsive Design and Enhanced Reader Features

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in General Information
Dear Food Liability Law blog readers. Originally conceived by our former colleague Ken Odza – now food safety counsel at Kellogg’s –  and Rick Goldfarb, Food Liability Law blog has been bringing you news on major food liability law developments for more than six years. While our commitment to keep you informed hasn’t changed, technology … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Creates New Food Labeling Battleground, plus GMO Labeling Primer

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Food Labeling, Litigation
My colleague Anne Glazer recently co-authored an article with Connie Kirby of Northwest Food Processors Association titled “Summary of Regulatory Intersection between the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration over the Labeling and Advertising of Food Products: Implication for Genetically Engineered Foods.” Prepared for Oregon Governor Kitzhaber’s Task Force on Genetically-Engineered Agriculture, … Continue Reading

FDA Issues Gluten Free Labeling Compliance Guide

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Food Labeling
Nearly a year ago on August 5, 2013, we reported on the blog that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had published a final rule establishing a regulatory definition of the term “gluten-free” for voluntary use in the labeling of foods. The final rule is intended to provide a uniform definition of the term “gluten-free” … Continue Reading

Constitutionality of Vermont’s Recently Enacted GMO Labeling Law Challenged

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Litigation, Preemption
In a lawsuit filed yesterday, June 12, 2014, in United States District Court for the District of Vermont, four national trade associations representing food producers and manufacturers sued the state of Vermont claiming that the state’s recently passed Act 120, which would require certain food containing ingredients derived from genetically engineered crops to be labeled … Continue Reading

New Bipartisan Bill Introduced Regarding GMO Labeling

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Food Labeling
Last week U.S. Representatives Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) introduced a bipartisan bill that would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to foods produced from, containing, or consisting of a bioengineered organism. The result has been either applause or outrage depending on which side of the GMO labeling debate … Continue Reading

Safeguarding FSMA’s Protectors: OSHA Issues Interim Whistleblower Reporting Regulations

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in FSMA
From labor and employment attorney Alyson Palmer: The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published an interim final rule on February 13, 2014, creating the process for handling retaliation complaints brought by whistleblowers under Section 402 of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Section 402 of FSMA amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic … Continue Reading

Settlement Reached for FSMA Final Rule Deadlines

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Food Safety, FSMA
On August 29, 2012, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the Center for Environmental Health filed an action against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alleging that the agency had violated the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by unlawfully withholding FSMA regulations beyond the required statutory deadlines. … Continue Reading

Finally…A Farm Bill!

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Legislation and Regulation
While standing in front of a tractor at Michigan State University (the first land-grant university) on Friday, February 7, 2014, President Obama signed the long awaited $956 billion farm bill into law. The 2014 Farm Bill, what some have called a “jobs bill,” an “innovation bill,” a “research bill” and a “conservation bill,” passed in … Continue Reading

Food Safety Regulations: Proposed FDA Rule on Sanitary Transportation

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in FSMA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its proposed rule on sanitary transportation under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that would require certain shippers, receivers, and carriers who transport food by motor or rail vehicles to take steps to prevent the contamination of human and animal food during transportation. The proposed “Sanitary Transportation … Continue Reading

Alternative Product Labeling: Will “Simply” Changing Your Brand Protect Your Company From False Advertising Claims?

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Food Labeling, Legislation and Regulation, Litigation
For the past few years, there has been a steady, if not increasing, stream of class action lawsuits filed against various food and beverage manufacturers and retailers alleging misbranding and false advertising due to the presence of “All Natural” claims. The companies sued in these cases range from major manufacturers and retailers to small private … Continue Reading

Initiative 522 Defeated in Washington

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Food Labeling
Based on preliminary results from Tuesday’s election, it appears that Washington State’s hotly debated Initiative 522 (I-522) concerning the labeling of genetically-engineered foods has gone the way of California’s Proposition 37. Washington officials reported on Wednesday, November 6, 2013 that voters had rejected the measure, 54% to 46%. California’s similar labeling measure, Proposition 37, was … Continue Reading

Stoel Rives Attending the Women in Agribusiness Summit #womeninagri

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Food litigation tips
Our firm is really excited to send a team of women food law lawyers to participate in the Women in Agribusiness Summit taking place in Minneapolis this year. We’re currently on day 2 of the program, with great presentations on the schedule from representatives of Land O’Lakes, General Mills, Dow AgroScience, Zoetis, Monsanto, Cargill, Syngenta … Continue Reading

Federal Judge Orders FDA to Address “All Natural” Labeling on GMO Foods

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Consumer Fraud Class Claims, Litigation
Coauthored by Claire Mitchell and Thomas Woods: California federal courts now appear positioned to lead the way nationally on the issue of whether food products containing genetically modified ingredients, commonly referred to as “GMOs” can be labeled “All Natural.” Just last week a federal judge in Colorado stayed the case of Nicole Van Atta v. General … Continue Reading

USDA Approves Non-GMO Label Claim for Meat and Egg Products

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Food Labeling
Coauthored by Andrea Canfield and Claire Mitchell: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS),  the division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) charged with regulating the safety and proper labeling of meat, poultry, and egg products, recently approved the Non-GMO Project Verified label claim for meat and liquid egg products. The label, certified by the … Continue Reading

Genetically Engineered Wheat Found in Oregon

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in General Information
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a news release (PDF) announcing that a genetically engineered (GE) variety of wheat was found growing on an Oregon farm. APHIS was first notified of the issue by an Oregon State University (OSU) scientist who reported that initial tests of … Continue Reading

A “Surprise” for Your Sweet Tooth: FDA Revisits Inedible Objects in Candy

By Claire Mitchell on Posted in Imports, Legislation and Regulation
Many of you may be familiar with the famous confection known as the Kinder Surprise or Kinder Egg, a toy-filled chocolate that is touted as the single largest children’s candy category in the world. The treat is manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero and has risen to nearly cult status in certain countries. Kinder Eggs are … Continue Reading
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