Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Issue 374

  • Federal Court Urges Parties to Negotiate in USDA Gender Discrimination Case

    According to a news source, a district court in the District of Columbia has denied a request seeking an order that the Justice Department submit a proposal for settling claims of loan program discrimination filed by female farmers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Instead, the court apparently urged the lawyers representing the litigants to…

  • Court Considers Insurance Coverage for Listeria Contamination

    A federal court in Ohio has determined that, for the most part, an “all-risk” insurance policy excludes from coverage the losses sustained by a meat processor whose products were contaminated with Listeria during processing. HoneyBaked Foods, Inc. v. Affiliated FM Ins. Co., No. 08-01686 (N.D. Ohio, W. Div., decided December 2, 2010). Still, the court ordered…

  • Court-Ordered GE Sugar Beet Seedling Destruction on Hold

    The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has reportedly issued a temporary stay of a district court order mandating the destruction of 256 acres of genetically engineered (GE) sugar beet seedlings that were, according to the lower court, planted illegally in September 2010. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Vilsack, No. 10-04038 (N.D. Cal., decided November 30,…

  • San Francisco Board of Supervisors Overrides Mayoral Veto of Toy Ban

    The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has overruled Mayor Gavin Newsom’s (D) veto of a bill prohibiting restaurants from offering toy giveaways in children’s meals deemed too high in calories, salt or fat. Under the law, which takes effect in December 2011, restaurants can only provide toys with meals containing fewer than 600 calories and…

  • FSA Says Offspring of Clones Do Not Require Authorization as “Novel Foods”

    The United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) board has reportedly changed its position to agree with the European Commission (EC) that food from the offspring of cloned cattle and pigs does not require authorization as “novel foods.” Meeting December 7, 2010, to discuss animal cloning for food production, the FSA board also agreed that “for…

  • EC Bans BPA in Baby Bottles

    The European Commission (EC) has announced a ban on bisphenol A (BPA) in plastic baby bottles. According to a November 26, 2010, press release, the decision was reached at a meeting of European Union member states that followed “months of discussion and exchange of views between the Commission’s services, the European Food Safety Agency, member…

  • EC Committee Defines “Nanomaterial”

    The European Commission’s (EC’s) Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks has approved a definition for “nanomaterial” as a basis for future regulatory safety evaluations and risk assessments. The committee concluded that size is the most relevant consideration in defining the term, and that no scientific justification exists to prefer any specific size…

  • EC Rejects Citizen Initiative on GM Crops as Invalid

    Saying the European Union’s (EU’s) citizen initiative procedure, created under the Lisbon Treaty, is “not yet valid,” EU Health Commissioner John Dalli has reportedly dismissed on procedural grounds the submission of 1.03 million citizens taking part in a campaign to compel the European Commission (EC) to prohibit genetically modified (GM) crops until an “independent ethical,…