Category: Issue 525
-
Quality Egg to Pay $6.8 Million Fine in Salmonella Outbreak
As anticipated, Quality Egg LLC and its former owners, Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son Peter, have entered guilty pleas to charges of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. Additional information about the plea agreement appears in Issue 524 of this Update. They admitted that the company’s shell eggs, shipped to buyers in states throughout the…
-
CSPI Seeks Action on Pathogen Petition
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has filed a complaint against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food Safety and Inspection Service, seeking a declaration that the agencies have unreasonably delayed taking action on its May 2011 petition requesting that certain strains of antibiotic-resistant (ABR) Salmonella in ground meat and poultry be…
-
Statewide Class Certification Granted in Almond Milk “All Natural” and ECJ Labeling Suit
A California federal court has certified a class of California consumers who allege that Blue Diamond Growers’ almond milk is mislabeled as “All Natural” and hides its added sugar content by listing “evaporated cane juice” (ECJ) on its label instead. Werdebaugh v. Blue Diamond Growers, No. 5:12-cv-2724 (N.D. Cal., order entered May 23, 2014). The…
-
All Natural” Claims Trimmed in Whole Foods Litigation
A federal court in California has granted in part and denied in part the motion to dismiss in a putative class action alleging that Whole Foods Market Group misleads consumers by labeling certain food products containing sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP) as “All Natural.” Garrison v. Whole Foods Mkt. Group, Inc., No. 13-5222 (N.D. Cal., order entered…
-
Court Limits Class Certification Grant in “All Natural” Litigation
A federal court in California has certified a nationwide class of consumers as to the injunctive relief requested in litigation against Dole Packaged Foods regarding its labeling claims that certain fruit products are “All Natural” despite the presence of ascorbic acid and citric acid, but limited the damages class to California consumers and the number…
-
Proposed “All Natural” Mislabeling Class Action Against Diamond Foods Dismissed
A California federal court has dismissed a putative class action against Diamond Foods Inc. alleging that its Kettle tortilla chips are mislabeled as “All Natural” despite containing synthetic ingredients. Surzyn v. Diamond Foods Inc., No. 14-cv-136 (N.D. Cal., order entered May 28, 2014). Citing a lack of basic factual assertions such as which product was the…
-
Watered-Down Beer MDL Dismissed with Prejudice
A multidistrict litigation (MDL) court in Ohio has dismissed with prejudice six putative class actions involving plaintiffs from California, Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, alleging that Anheuser-Busch “routinely and intentionally adds extra water to its finished product to produce malt beverages that ‘consistently have significantly lower alcohol content than the percentages displayed…
-
California Senate Rejects GM Food Labeling Legislation
A California bill requiring labels to disclose genetically modified (GM) ingredients in food recently failed to pass after a close vote in the state senate. Opponents argued that it would cost the average consumer as much as $400 per year for labeling a category of food that presents no risk to the public. Vermont became…