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
In its much-anticipated decision, the United States Supreme Court last week declared that the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and the federal Lanham Act can coexist side-by-side. In other words, even if you comply perfectly with the FDA’s labeling rules on something, you can still be sued by a competitor for a misleading label … Continue Reading
Thursday, February 17, 2011 – Hosted by The Coca-Cola Company. Please save the date for this first annual one-day CLE workshop sponsored by ABA’s Food and Supplements subcommittee that will include panels on the impact of federal statutory and regulatory reform on the food industry, state consumer laws and consumer class actions related to food … Continue Reading
In an opinion issued on July 21, 2010, Judge John Gleason of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York largely denied the defendant’s motion for dismissal and held that 10 of the 13 claims in a class action suit brought against Coca-Cola for alleged unlawful health claims on its Vitaminwater … Continue Reading
By Guest Blogger Jay Eckhardt In a dispute over product labeling and marketing, the Coca-Cola Company avoids liability as a result of its careful compliance with FDA rules. (Also, see Rick’s post from last week, regarding Coca-Cola’s victory in a dispute over its original formula label found on Coke® Classic.) But pomegranate champion POM Wonderful can still pursue a Lanham Act deceptive advertising claim against the company. On May 5 the U.S. District … Continue Reading
On April 27, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois dismissed the case of Kremers v. Coca-Cola Company. The case involved another of these ubiquitous claims where someone is suing saying they were fooled by labeling on a product. Unfortunately, the case was dismissed on grounds that indicate we might never really know the … Continue Reading
The recent decision in Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. v. Coca-Cola Co. (i.e., Gatorade vs. Powerade) illustrates the hurdles a company has to overcome to convince a court to stop a competitor from using arguably false advertising. Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. (“SVM”) was challenging advertising that compared Powerade ION4 to Gatorade Thirst Quencher. Judge John G. Koeltl of the Southern … Continue Reading