Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Issue

  • Hy-Vee Denied Trademark for “Peaceful Piranha” Snacks

    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has denied Hy-Vee Inc.’s application to register the “Peaceful Piranha” mark for a line of snack foods, deeming the mark to be too similar to the mark for an existing line of “Piraña” snack foods. In re Hy-Vee, Inc., No., 87120774 (T.T.A.B., entered February 6, 2018). Finding “piranha” to…

  • FDA Seeks Comment on Foodborne Illness Study in Restaurants

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is soliciting public comment on whether the agency should continue to collect information about foodborne illnesses in restaurants. The proposal would extend studies of risk factors, preparation practices, employee behavior and the effects of regulation and food safety management systems on occurrences and outbreaks. FDA began a study…

  • House Passes Menu Labeling Rule

    The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act that would reduce nutrition- and calorie-labeling requirements on menus and bar civil liability for any restaurant or retail food establishment accused of violating the law’s requirements. The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act would allow restaurants to use average…

  • Werther’s Faces Class Action for Slack Fill, False Labeling

    A consumer has filed a putative class action alleging Storck USA, L.P., maker of Werther’s, packages Original Sugar Free Chewy Caramels with nonfunctional slack fill and misrepresents the effect of maltitol syrup on blood glucose levels. Kpakpoe-Awei v. Storck USA L.P., No. 18-1086 (S.D.N.Y., filed February 7, 2018). The complaint alleges that nontransparent 2.75-ounce bags…

  • Boston Beer Co.’s “Day Party” Trademark Application Challenged by “Darty” Maker

    American Beverage Corp., which sells alcohol cocktails under the “Darty” mark, has filed a notice of opposition to Boston Beer Co.’s application for a “Day Party” mark for beer. Am. Bev. Corp. v. Boston Beer Corp., No. 91239170 (T.T.A.B., notice filed January 29, 2018). The notice asserts that the “colloquial meaning of DARTY is ‘Day…

  • Bumble Bee Agrees To Settle Salmon Labeling Dispute

    Bumble Bee Foods LLC has agreed to settle a proposed class action alleging the company’s labels indicate its Medium Red Smoked Salmon Fillet in Oil product contains wild-caught smoked salmon despite actually containing farm-raised salmon with artificial smoke flavoring. Rodriguez v. Bumble Bee Foods LLC, No. 17-2447 (S.D. Cal., motion for settlement filed February 1, 2018).…

  • Appeals Courts to Review SSB Warning Labels, Taxes

    The Ninth Circuit has granted an en banc rehearing of its September 2017 decision to block a San Francisco ordinance requiring health warnings on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) on the grounds that it unduly burdened and chilled speech protected by the First Amendment. Am. Beverage Ass’n. v. City & Cty. of San Francisco, No. 16-16072 (9th…

  • Canadian Trade Group Files Suit to Quash Plastic Bag Ban

    The Canadian Plastic Bag Association (CPBA) has petitioned a British Columbia court to quash a “checkout bag regulation bylaw” passed by the city of Victoria, arguing the municipality does not have the legal authority to enact the rule. Canadian Plastic Bag Ass’n v. City of Victoria, No. S-180740 (S.C.R. British Columbia, filed January 22, 2018).…