Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Issue 499

  • Red Lobster Sued for Sexually Hostile Environment

    As the fiscal year came to a close and on the eve of the federal government shutdown, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed nearly two dozen employment discrimination lawsuits including one against GMRI, Inc. alleging discrimination based on sex  on behalf of a class of women employees at a Salisbury, Maryland, Red Lobster Restaurant.…

  • Court Allows ECJ and “All Natural” Claims to Proceed Against Blue Diamond

    A federal court in California has denied the motion to dismiss filed in a putative nationwide class action alleging that Blue Diamond Growers misled consumers by labeling its almond milk products and snack foods as “all natural” and representing that they contain “evaporated cane juice,” (ECJ) in violation of federal labeling requirements incorporated into state…

  • Court Dismisses Misbranding Claims Against Welch Foods

    A federal court in California has dismissed with limited leave to amend the second amended complaint filed on behalf of a putative nationwide class against Welch Foods, alleging that the company’s juice, beverage, spread, and jelly labels and Website violate California labeling law by including “no sugar added,” “all natural,” “no artificial flavors,” and “high…

  • D.C. Court Dismisses Humane Society Pork Checkoff Suit

    A federal court in the District of Columbia has dismissed, for lack of standing, a lawsuit filed by the Humane Society of the United States and several other plaintiffs against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), challenging the secretary’s approval of the National Pork Board’s purchase of the slogan “Pork, The Other White Meat” from…

  • Court Says Puréed Fruit Is “Real Fruit,” Dismisses Consumer Fraud Claims

    Calling it “ridiculous to say that consumers would expect snack food ‘made with real fruit’ to contain only ‘actual strawberries or raspberries,’ rather than these fruits in a form amenable to being squeezed inside a Newton,” a federal court in California has dismissed without leave to amend consumer fraud claims against the company that makes…

  • JPML Considers Request to Transfer Monsanto GM Wheat Suits

    The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) recently heard argument on the Center for Food Safety’s motion to transfer to a multidistrict litigation (MDL) court pending lawsuits against Monsanto Co. involving the genetically modified (GM) wheat that appeared in an Oregon farmer’s conventional wheat field and briefly disrupted exports to some of the nation’s…

  • French Safety Agency Warns of Energy Drink Risk

    The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) has released a report that warns of the risks associated with consumption of energy drinks, particularly for children, pregnant women and people with certain genetic predispositions, such as cardiovascular or psychiatric and neurological disorders, kidney failure or liver disease. The agency also recommends…

  • FDA Extends Comment Period on Salmonella Risk from Tree Nuts

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended until December 16, 2013, the period for submission of comments, scientific data and other information related to its risk assessment of human salmonellosis associated with the consumption of tree nuts. Originally published in the July 18 Federal Register, the assessment seeks to quantify the public health risk…