Category: Issue 625
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Study Analyzes Food and Beverage Industry Responses to Product Reformulation
After analyzing food and beverage industry responses to a 2015 consultation by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, researchers with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have claimed that product reformulation—“the process of altering a food or beverage product’s recipe or composition to improve the product’s health profile”—“has been largely voluntary.” C. Scott,…
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Newman’s Own Faces Putative Class Action Litigation over Natural Claims
A consumer has filed a projected class action alleging Newman’s Own, Inc. misleadingly markets its pasta sauce products as natural despite containing citric acid. Wong v. Newman’s Own, Inc., No. 16-6690 (E.D.N.Y., filed November 30, 2016). The complaint asserts the company “deceptively used the term ‘natural’ to describe a product containing ingredients that have been…
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Bumble Bee Foods Exec Pleads Guilty to Price-Fixing Scheme
Walter Scott Cameron, a former senior vice president of sales at Bumble Bee Foods, LLC has pleaded guilty to combination and conspiracy to fix, raise and maintain the prices of packaged seafood, including canned tuna. U. S. v. Cameron, No. 16-CR-0501 (N.D. Cal., information filed December 7, 2016). The criminal information accuses Cameron of conspiring with…
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Court Denies Stay for FDA “Natural” Guidance in Kraft Artificial Coloring Case
A California federal court has denied Kraft Food Group Inc.’s request to stay class action litigation alleging the company’s fat-free cheese product is misleadingly labeled “natural” because it contains artificial coloring, finding that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) expected guidance on the term “natural” does not affect the issues of the case. Morales…
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Brazilian Beverage Co. to Pay Professional Beer Taster for Job-Related Alcoholism
A Brazilian appeals court has reportedly affirmed a lower court’s order to AmBev S/A to pay a former employee about $14,800 for moral damages related to his job as a beer taster, which he alleged led to his alcoholism. AmBev argued that it was not liable because the employee’s beer-tasting activities were voluntary. The court…
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Fourth Circuit Affirms FDA’s Authority to Issue Contamination Warnings
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s determination that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had the discretion to issue an incorrect contamination warning about Salmonella-tainted tomatoes, which devalued a tomato farmer’s crop by $15 million. Seaside Farm v. United States, No. 15-2562 (4th Cir., order entered December 2, 2016).…
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NOP Drafts Guidance for Calculating Percentage of Organic Ingredients
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has proposed guidance “for calculating the percentage of organic ingredients in multi-ingredient products.” Intended for accredited certifying agents and handling operations, the draft guidance responds to a National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) request for correction and clarification of the requirements codified at 7 CFR 205.302(a), which…