Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Issue 592

  • Food Addiction Beliefs Drive Support for Obesity-Related Initiatives

    New research reportedly suggests that belief in food addiction translates into support for obesity-related policies, “even when accounting for the significant associations of age, gender and political party.” Erica Schulte, et al., “Belief in Food Addiction and Obesity-Related Policy Support,” PLoS One, January 2016. Relying on the responses of 200 individuals recruited through Amazon Mechanical…

  • Consumers Union Campaign Hopes to Elicit FDA Action on “Natural”

    An online campaign launched by Consumers Union asks, “Have you ever quickly selected one box of crackers over another because the box said it was ‘natural’? Food companies know you probably have. They also know they can slap the word ‘natural’ on just about anything.” The advocacy group urges consumers to sign its petition urging…

  • WHO Report Advocates “Life-Course Approach” to End Childhood Obesity

    The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO) has issued a January 25, 2016, report that recommends, among other things, a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), context-specific dietary guidelines, and “interpretive” front-of-pack labeling. Taking “a life-course approach” that focuses on what it describes as an obesogenic environment, the report urges WHO, member…

  • Manhattan Institute Issues 2016 Trial Lawyers Inc. Report

    The Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C., has published its annual survey of plaintiffs’ bar activities. Focusing on class action and mass tort litigation, the survey addresses consumer fraud allegations, labor and employment claims, and securities actions, among others, reporting that 29 percent of corporate counsel expect data privacy lawsuits “to…

  • Ads Implied Quorn® Is a Mushroom, Proposed Class Action Alleges

    A consumer has filed a putative class action against Quorn Foods, Inc. alleging the term “mycoprotein,” which the company uses in its advertising, implies the product is “the same or substantially similar to a mushroom, truffle or morel” but Quorn products “are actually made of mold.” Birbrower v. Quorn Foods, Inc., No. 608107 (Cal. Super.…

  • California Lawsuit Challenges Use of Trans Fat in Kellogg’s Mother’s Cookies®

    A consumer has filed a putative class action against Kellogg Co. alleging the company produces Mother’s Cookies® with partially hydrogenated oil (PHO), which contains trans fat, in violation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) ban on the ingredient. Hawkins v. Kellogg Co., No. 16-0147 (S.D. Cal., filed January 21, 2016). The plaintiff asserts…

  • Cheese Company Pleads Guilty to Food Adulteration Charge

    A Delaware cheese company and two individual defendants have pled guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for distributing adulterated ricotta, queso fresco and fresh cheese curds in several neighboring states. U.S. v. Roos Foods, Inc., No. 16-0013 (D. Del., information filed January 22, 2016). Roos’ cheese was connected…

  • ANA Files Amicus Brief in San Francisco Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Warning Litigation

    The Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA) has filed an amicus brief in a case challenging San Francisco’s health code provisions requiring advertisements on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) to notify the public of alleged health risks associated with SSB consumption. Am. Beverage Ass’n v. City of San Francisco, No. 15-3415 (N.D. Cal., San Francisco Div., amicus…