Category: Issue 587
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Alleged Climate Change Threats Target of Upcoming Harvard Webcast
“Climate Change: Health and Disease Threats” is the focus of an upcoming live webcast from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health slated for December 16, 2015. According to promotional materials for the program, health impacts have not featured prominently in international climate change discussions. “Yet, droughts, floods, heat waves, and air pollution related…
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U.S. and Japanese Consumer Groups Denounce GE Salmon
The Center for Food Safety and the Seikatsu Club Consumers Cooperative have joined to jointly decry the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recent determination that genetically engineered (GE) salmon produced by AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. is as safe to eat as conventional salmon and will have little effect on the environment. At the time of…
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Rudd Center Survey Finds Support for Laws Against Weight Discrimination
The University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has conducted a study assessing public support for policies and laws that would prohibit discrimination based on weight. Rebecca M. Puhl, et al., “Potential Policies and Laws to Prohibit Weight Discrimination: Public Views from 4 Countries,” The Milbank Quarterly, December 2015. In an online…
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Clean Air Act Rehearing Request Denied in Whiskey Fungus Suit
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a request for an en banc rehearing in a lawsuit alleging that the distilleries of two Diageo Americas Supply Inc. brands, J&B® and Johnnie Walker®, caused the growth of a black fungus on outdoor surfaces near the plants. Merrick v. Diageo Ams. Supply Inc., No. 14-6198 (6th…
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California Federal Court Dismisses Trader Joe’s Soy Milk Mislabeling Suit
A California federal court has dismissed a lawsuit against Trader Joe’s Co. alleging the retailer’s soy milk is mislabeled because it does not contain cow’s milk, which the plaintiffs argued amounts to a violation of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and California’s consumer protection statute. Gitson v. Trader Joe’s Co., No. 13-1333 (N.D.…
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Safeway Grocery Markup Dispute Concludes with $41.9 Million Settlement
Safeway Inc. will pay $41.9 million to customers who ordered groceries online and were charged a 10 percent markup on the items they ordered compared to the prices charged in-store, a court has confirmed. Rodman v. Safeway Inc., No. 11-3003 (N.D. Cal., order entered November 30, 2015). A California federal court approved the settlement amount…
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Black Pepper Slack-Fill Cases Consolidated
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has consolidated three putative consumer class actions and a competitor lawsuit challenging McCormick’s alleged under-filling of its non-transparent black pepper containers. In re McCormick & Co. Inc. Pepper Prods. Mktg. & Sales Practices Litig., MDL No. 2665 (D.D.C., transfer order filed December 8, 2015). The court found that the actions…
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Slave Labor Suit Against Nestlé Dismissed
A California federal court has dismissed a putative class action alleging Nestlé USA Inc. violates state laws about notifying consumers of products sourced from forced labor because of Nestlé’s partnership with a company accused of using slave labor to catch and supply its fish. Barber v. Nestlé USA Inc., No. 15-1364 (C.D. Cal., order entered…