Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Issue 729

  • Advocacy Group Sues Hemp Co. in Prop. 65 Complaint

    The Environmental Research Center has filed a lawsuit alleging that Manitoba Harvest USA LLC Corp.’s food products contain lead and cadmium levels exceeding the amounts permitted by California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act (Prop. 65). Envtl. Research Ctr. Inc. v. Manitoba Harvest USA LLC Corp., No. RG19038961 (Cal. Super. Ct., Alameda Cty., filed…

  • Putative Class Action Challenges Sanderson Farms “100% Natural” Chicken

    Following the August 2019 dismissal of a lawsuit brought by advocacy groups alleging similar facts, a group of consumers has filed a putative class action alleging that Sanderson Farms Inc. misleads consumers by marketing its chicken as “100% Natural.” Lentz v. Sanderson Farms Inc., No. 19-6570 (N.D. Cal., filed October 11, 2019). The complaint alleges…

  • Study Compares Menu Items in U.K. Restaurants With and Without Calorie Labels

    U.K. researchers have published the findings of a comparison of calorie counts on menu items in restaurants that feature labeling of those counts and in restaurants without such labeling. Dolly R.Z. Theis & Jean Adams, “Differences in energy and nutritional content of menu items served by popular UK chain restaurants with versus without voluntary menu…

  • Additional Vanilla Lawsuits Filed

    Joining a number of pending putative class actions, a New York plaintiff’s firm has filed three lawsuits alleging that Wegmans Food Markets Inc., Whole Foods Market Group Inc. and Moran Foods LLC mislead consumers by marketing their products as vanilla-flavored while using artificial flavors. As with similar cases previously filed, the complaints target dairy and…

  • Advertising Complaint Upheld Against U.K. Hemp Rum Co.

    The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against The Cornish Rum Co. against its ads marketing Dead Man’s Fingers Hemp Rum. The complainant asserted that two Instagram posts and an ad in a trade magazine used language linking the hemp-infused rum to cannabis, including “Delicious mixed with coke or ginger ale—serve chilled,…

  • Proposed D.C. SSB Tax Would Shift Burden to Manufacturers

    A Washington, D.C., Council member, with the support of seven other members, has introduced a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) that would replace a sales tax that took effect in early October 2019 with an excise tax applied to SSB manufacturers. According to a press release, the Healthy Beverage Choices Act of 2019 “repeals the…

  • Report Purportedly Finds Toxic Chemicals in 95% of Baby Food

    Healthy Babies Bright Futures has released a report describing tests it commissioned on 168 varieties of baby food from 61 brands reportedly finding that 95% of the products contained traces of arsenic, lead, cadmium or mercury, with 26% of products containing all four heavy metals. The organization asserts that rice puff snacks, teething biscuits, infant…