Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Issue 567

  • Putative Class Action Challenges Gerber’s Infant Formula Immunity Benefits Claims

    Two plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit against Gerber Products Co. alleging that the company misrepresented its Gerber® Good Start® infant formula by advertising it as the “first and only formula whose consumption reduces the risk of infants developing allergies.” Hasemann v. Gerber Prods. Co., No. 15-2995 (E.D.N.Y., filed May 21, 2015). The complaint echoes a…

  • Court Refuses to Block Oregon County’s GMO Ban

    A ban on growing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Jackson County, Oregon, took effect on June 5, 2015, after a federal court refused to block the voter-approved statute at the request of alfalfa farmers who have grown GMO crops. Schultz Family Farms LLC v. Jackson Cty., No. 14-1975 (D. Ore., Medford Div., order entered May…

  • Peanut Corp. Convictions Upheld

    A Georgia federal court has upheld the convictions of Stewart Parnell, Michael Parnell and Mary Wilkerson, former Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) executives, after an investigation into the defendants’ claims of jury misconduct. United States v. Parnell, 13-12 (U.S. Dist. Ct., M.D. Ga., order entered May 28, 2015). The three were convicted on charges related…

  • New Hampshire Governor Blocks “Babies on Beer Bottles” Bill

    New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan (D) has reportedly vetoed a bill seeking to allow alcohol beverage labels to depict minors as long as the advertising is not intended to promote underage alcohol consumption. Introduced by Rep. Keith Murphy (R-Hillsborough), the measure (H.B. 122) would have struck language from the state’s rules on alcohol beverage advertising…

  • EFSA Confirms Scientific Opinion on Acrylamide

    The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) has released its final scientific opinion on acrylamide, concluding that dietary exposure to the substance “potentially increases the risk of developing cancer for consumers in all age groups.” Naturally formed in starchy food products during high-temperature cooking, acrylamide is digested and distributed…

  • Food Standards Agency Publishes Five-Year Plan

    The U.K. Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued its Strategic Plan 2015-20 outlining a number of initiatives it plans to undertake with industry and other stakeholders over the next five years. Key activities include (i) implementing campaigns to reduce the incidence of food-borne illness caused by Campylobacter and Listeria infections; (ii) expanding capabilities of the…

  • Freight Policy and Regulatory Developments Among Agenda Topics at Supply Chain Competitiveness Advisory Committee Meeting

    The International Trade Administration’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness will hold a public meeting on June 23-24, 2015, at the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. The 45-member group is charged with providing the Commerce secretary with recommendations for a comprehensive national freight infrastructure and freight policy to support U.S. supply chain and…