Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Issue 704

  • Government Urges Court to Reject Lenny & Larry’s Settlement

    The federal government has filed a statement of interest in a lawsuit alleging that Lenny & Larry’s Inc. misled consumers as to the amount of protein in its cookies. Cowen v. Lenny & Larry’s Inc., No. 17-1530 (N.D. Ill., E. Div., filed February 15, 2019). The statement argues that the settlement is a marketing opportunity…

  • Lawsuit Challenges Certification of “San Marzano” Tomatoes

    A consumer has filed a putative class action alleging that Cento Fine Foods Inc. misleadingly markets its tomatoes as “Certified San Marzano” without having the proper certification. Sibrian v. Cento Fine Foods Inc., No. 19-0974 (E.D.N.Y., filed February 19, 2019). San Marzano tomatoes are grown vertically with supports in San Marzano sul Sarno in Italy,…

  • FDA to Hold CBD Public Hearings

    U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb reportedly said in a February 27, 2019, hearing before the House Appropriations Committee that the agency will hold public hearings on cannabidiol (CBD) in April 2019. Gottlieb reportedly told the committee that FDA is assembling a working group of senior officials to create rules that would…

  • Wendy’s Settles Data Breach Lawsuits

    Wendy’s International Inc. has settled two class actions alleging injuries stemming from a 2016 payment-system breach. Jackson v. Wendy’s Int’l Inc., No. 16-0210 (M.D. Fla., entered February 26, 2019); First Choice Fed. Credit Union v. Wendy’s Co., No. 16-0506 (W.D. Penn., entered February 26, 2019). A Florida federal court approved a $3.4 million settlement between…

  • White Chocolate Content Challenged in Putative Class Action

    A consumer has alleged that Snack Innovations Inc.’s Drizzilicious rice cakes are advertised as containing white chocolate but only contain “imitation flavoring.” Morrison v. Snack Innovations Inc., No. 19-1238 (S.D.N.Y., filed February 8, 2019). The complaint asserts that “white chocolate,” by U.S. regulations, contains cocoa butter, dairy ingredients and sweetener, including 20 percent cocoa butter…

  • FDA Releases Strategy Document on Food Imports

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released “Strategy for the Safety of Imported Food,” which outlines methods the agency is using to ensure that it meets its four goals: (i) ensuring that imported food meets U.S. food safety requirements; (ii) preventing the entry of unsafe foods; (iii) rapidly responding to unsafe imported foods; and…

  • NMPF Submits Petition on “Milk” Labeling

    The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) has submitted a citizen petition urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “[e]nforce existing ‘imitation’ labeling requirements against nutritionally inferior non-dairy substitutes for standardized dairy foods that are named and positioned as forms of ‘milk,’ ‘yogurt,’ ‘cheese,’ ‘ice cream,’ or ‘butter,’ yet fail to provide the ‘imitation’…

  • Europol Arrests Wine Counterfeiters

    Europol announced that it has “dismantled a sophisticated criminal network involved in counterfeiting trademarks and distinctive labels of a famous winery in Florence, Italy, as well as counterfeiting at least 11 000 bottles of red wine.” The agency arrested three people, including two members of the same family, who allegedly “sold sports products online as…