Category: Issue 733
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FDA Issues Warning Letters, Consumer Update on CBD, Sparking Litigation Against CBD Cos.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a consumer update on cannabidiol (CBD) products and other products containing ingredients derived from cannabis. The update clarified that FDA “is concerned that people may mistakenly believe that trying CBD ‘can’t hurt’” because the agency has “seen only limited data about CBD’s safety and these data…
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Companies and Owners Plead Guilty to Seafood Fraud
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that Roy Tuccillo, Sr., his son Roy Tuccillo, Jr., and their food processing and distribution companies, Anchor Frozen Foods Inc. and Advanced Frozen Foods Inc., have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The companies reportedly imported 113,000 pounds of squid and sold it as octopus to…
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CFS Petitions USDA on Drug Residues
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) has filed a petition urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide transparency on the levels of drug residue in meat, poultry and egg products found as part of the agency’s National Residue Program (NRP). The advocacy group specifically requests that all approved animal drugs be incorporated in…
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GAO Recommends FDA Establish Sampling Process for Seafood Imports
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a recommendation that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) establish a process that ensures the agency tests at least one shipment of imported seafood before removing it from alert status. GAO reviewed 274 removal decisions between 2011 and 2018 and found that FDA did not conduct audits…
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EU Bans Insecticide Chlorpyrifos
A regulatory committee of the European Union has reportedly voted to prohibit the use of chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl. Member countries voted to withdraw authorization for the insecticide after January 31, 2020, after which companies will have three months to dispose of their stocks of chlorpyrifos. The vote follows an August 2019 determination by the European Food…
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Pork Producers Sue California over Proposition 12
The National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation have filed a lawsuit against the secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture alleging that Proposition 12, which was passed in November 2018 and established minimum requirements for the confinement of farm animals, “has thrown a giant wrench into the workings of the…
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Pringles Salt & Vinegar Lawsuit Denied Certification
A New York federal court has denied class certification to a group of consumers alleging that they were misled by Kellogg Co.’s Pringles Salt & Vinegar chips label into believing the product contained no artificial ingredients. Marotto v. Kellogg Co., No. 18-3545 (S.D.N.Y., entered December 5, 2019). The plaintiff identified himself as a chef who…
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Clif Bar White Chocolate Suit to Continue
A California federal court has denied Clif Bar & Co.’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that its products marketed as containing white chocolate lack the claimed ingredients. Joslin v. Clif Bar & Co., No. 18-4941 (N.D. Cal., entered December 2, 2019). A previous version of the complaint was dismissed for failure to show that…