Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Issue 598

  • Confectioners Join Advertising Initiative Modeled after CFBAI

    The Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) and the National Confectioners Association have announced the Children’s Confection Advertising Initiative (CCAI), “a new self-regulatory initiative that promotes responsible advertising to children.” Modeled after the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), which includes six major confectioners, CCAI asks participating companies not to advertise to children younger…

  • European Court Finds EU Stance on Sugar Precludes Glucose Health Claims

    The EU General Court has confirmed a European Commission decision finding that German company Dextro Energy’s health claims for its glucose supplements are contrary to the messages of national and international authorities on the health risks associated with sugar consumption. The commission decided the issue in January 2015 despite advice from the European Food Safety…

  • Milano® Trademark Suit Dismissed

    A Connecticut federal court has reportedly approved the dismissal of Pepperidge Farm’s lawsuit against Trader Joe’s Co. alleging the grocery infringed Pepperidge Farm’s trademarked Milano® cookies. Pepperidge Farm v. Trader Joe’s Co., No. 15-1774 (D. Conn., order entered March 9, 2016). The lawsuit challenged Trader Joe’s Crispy Cookies, which Pepperidge Farm asserted were the same…

  • Chipotle GMO False Ad Suits Filed, Refiled

    A consumer has filed a lawsuit alleging that Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. falsely advertised its food as free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) despite serving meat products from animals fed GMOs and soft drinks that contain GMO corn syrup. Pappas v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. 16-0612 (S.D. Cal., filed March 10, 2016). The plaintiff…

  • OEHHA Takes Emergency Measure on Prop. 65 Warnings for BPA Exposure

    The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has proposed an emergency action to temporarily allow the use of standard point-ofsale warning messages for bisphenol A (BPA) exposures from canned and bottled foods and beverages. Under Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) regulations, consumer products that contain any chemical known to the state…

  • UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Unveils Levy on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

    The U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has announced a new levy on soft drink companies to be assessed “on the volume of sugar-sweetened drinks they produce or import.” In a budget presentation before Parliament, Osborne laid out a two-tiered tax scheme slated to take effect in April 2018, “to give companies plenty of space…

  • NOP Releases National List Petition Guidelines

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has published revised National List Petition Guidelines for requesting amendments to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List). According to NOP, the National List not only identifies “the synthetic substances that may be used and the non-synthetic (natural) substances that may not be…

  • U.S. Codex Delegates to Address Food Labeling Issues

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are holding an April 13, 2016, public meeting in College Park, Maryland, to discuss U.S. draft positions for consideration at the 43rd Session of the Codex Committee on Labeling in Foods (CCFL) in Ottawa, Canada,…