Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Issue 409

  • Brandeis University Sues Cookie and Biscuit Makers for Patent Infringement

    Brandeis University has filed suit against a number of cookie and biscuit manufacturers, including Keebler Co., Famous Amos Chocolate Chip and The Pillsbury Co., alleging that they have infringed patents that adjust the LDL/HDL ratio in human serum by balancing saturated and polyunsaturated dietary fatty acids. Brandeis Univ. v. East Side Ovens, Inc., No. 11-619 (W.D.…

  • Coffee Drinker Claims That Safeway Misled Purchasers of “Kona Blend”

    After Kona coffee growers called for Safeway, Inc. to comply with Hawaiian regulations on labeling Kona coffee, a California resident filed a putative class action against the company in federal court, alleging that its Safeway Select™ “Kona Blend” coffee contains “very little Kona coffee bean content.” Thurston v. Safeway, Inc., No. 11-04285 (N.D. Cal., filed…

  • Class Cert. Sought in Trans Fat Lawsuit Against Smuckers

    A California woman who alleges that certain J.M. Smucker’s products contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (PHVO), or trans fat, while the company falsely promotes them as healthy for consumers, has requested an October 10, 2011, hearing on her motion to certify a nationwide class. Henderson v. The J.M. Smucker Co., No. 10-04525 (C.D. Cal., first amended complaint…

  • “Percent Fat Free” Litigation Against Deli Meat Makers Dismissed in Florida

    A federal court in Florida has dismissed with prejudice most of the claims asserted in a putative class action alleging that “percent fat free” labels on the packages of deli meats are misleading and deceptive. Kuenzig v. Kraft Foods, Inc., No. 11-838 (Tampa Div., decided September 12, 2011). Additional information about the case appears in Issue…

  • Florida EVOO Lawsuits Dismissed for Inadequate Pleading

    Two putative class actions alleging that companies making and selling extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) sell their products at a premium despite their failure to meet certain EVOO standards have been dismissed by a federal court in Florida because the plaintiffs did not adequately plead their claims under Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544…

  • WTO Nixes “Dolphin-Safe” Labels on U.S. Tuna

    Concluding that “dolphin-safe” tuna product labels authorized by the U.S. Commerce Department “are more trade-restrictive than necessary to achieve a legitimate objective,” a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel has given a partial victory to Mexico, which filed a complaint in 2009 claiming that the labels were illegal because they excluded Mexican yellowfin tuna from the U.S.…

  • FDA and FSIS to Collect Information on Dietary Sodium Intake

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) have established new dockets “to obtain comments, data and evidence relevant to the dietary intake of sodium as well as current and emerging approaches designed to promote sodium reduction.” FDA and FSIS have warned that current sodium…

  • USDA Intends to Ban Six E. Coli Strains in Raw Beef Products

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recently announced its intention to prohibit six serogroups of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in addition to E. coli O157:H7. According to FSIS, the agency plans to begin testing for the additional STEC on March 5, 2012, at which time those six strains will…