Category: Issue 623

  • Bean Product Labeling Misled Consumers, Slack-Fill Putative Class Action Alleges

    Two consumers have filed a projected class action against Arizona Canning Co. alleging that the image of a bowl full of beans on its Sun Vista products misleads consumers into believing the can is filled completely with beans rather than filled with some beans and a large amount of water. Beckman v. Ariz. Canning Co.,…

  • DOJ Sues Potato Company for Alleged Discrimination Against Immigrants

    The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against two Washington companies—Washington Potato and Pasco Processing—for allegedly discriminating against immigrants during the employment eligibility verification process. United States v. Wash. Potato Co., No. 16-1320 (D.O.J., filed November 14, 2016). The complaint alleges the companies required non-U.S. citizens to submit specific documentation to process the…

  • Food Manufacturer Sentenced to Prison for Selling Contaminated Cheese

    Christian Rivas, owner of Oasis Brands Inc., has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for two charges that he sold cheese contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) instructed the company to stop distribution until it remedied its practices. FDA inspected Oasis in August 2014, found several violations and…

  • Ninth Circuit Finds No Standing in Six States’ Challenge to California Egg Production Laws

    The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the attorneys general of six states—Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky and Iowa—do not have standing to sue California AG Kamala Harris in an attempt to block enforcement of a law requiring egg-production facilities to provide hens enough space to fully extend their limbs and turn around freely…

  • NOSB Opts to Remove Carrageenan from List of Substances Allowed in Organic Products

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) has reportedly voted 10-3, with one abstention, to remove carrageenan from the national list of substances allowed in organic processing and handling. Held November 16-18, 2016, in St. Louis, Missouri, the NOSB’s semi-annual meeting included a review of carrageenan on the National List of Allowed…

  • U.S. Surgeon General Tackles Alcohol Misuse in Addiction Report

    The U.S. Surgeon General has issued a landmark report intended “to address substance use disorders and the wider range of health problems and consequences related to alcohol and drug misuse in the United States.” Seeking “to galvanize the public, policymakers, and health care systems,” the report claims, among other things, that more than 25 percent…