Category: Issue
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“Unnatural” Ingredients
While food companies and consumer advocacy groups agree that Americans have the right to know the contents of their food, the ideal level of transparency has been debated in legislatures, before courts and in comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Consumers have been attracted to foods labeled as “natural,” but they can…
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Proposition 65
After California voters approved the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop. 65), the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) began publishing a list of chemicals “known to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm.” Under the statute, companies must warn consumers about potential exposure to a listed chemical…
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Tracing the Trends Through 15 Years of the Food and Beverage Litigation Update
For our final edition of 2017, the Food and Beverage Litigation Update is highlighting stories that have changed the industry over the Update‘s first 15 years. With help from our archives, we have tracked how these stories have evolved and continue to affect food and beverage companies. Thank you for joining us each week—we hope…
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Five Guys Faces Allegations of Gender-Based Pay Discrimination
A former employee has filed a discrimination lawsuit alleging Five Guys Operations paid female employees less than similarly situated male employees, echoing a similar lawsuit she filed in 2016. Finefrock v. Five Guys Operations, LLC, No. 17-2214 (M.D. Pa., filed December 1, 2017). The plaintiff asserts that after she and two other female general managers confronted…
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Sonic Data Breach Cases Transferred to Northern District of Ohio
The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has transferred five class actions related to a data breach at Sonic restaurants to the Northern District of Ohio, where the assigned court is presiding over a potential tag-along case. In re Sonic Corp. Customer Data Sec. Breach Litig., MDL No. 2807 (entered December 6, 2017). Sonic…
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Utz Settles “Natural” Class Action for $1.25 Million
Utz Quality Foods Inc. has agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle a putative class action alleging that some products were labeled “natural” despite containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and synthetic ingredients. DiFrancesco v. Utz Quality Foods, Inc., 14-14744 (D. Mass., settlement agreement filed December 6, 2017). The complaint alleged the snacks contained GMO grains…
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Proposed Ban on SSB Taxes in Pennsylvania Forthcoming
A state senator in Pennsylvania has reportedly announced plans to introduce a bill that would bar any municipality in the state from levying a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). If enacted, the bill could invalidate the 1.5-cent-per-ounce tax that took effect in Philadelphia in January 2017 after a failed challenge in court. Although Rep. Mark…
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Plaintiff Seeks Class Action Over Bumble Bee Smoked Salmon Labeling
A plaintiff has filed a lawsuit alleging Bumble Bee Foods’ Medium Red Smoked Salmon Fillet in Oil is neither medium red wild coho salmon nor smoked. Rodriguez v. Bumble Bee Foods Inc., No. 17-2447 (S.D. Cal., filed December 6, 2017). The complaint asserts that the term “medium red” is commonly used to describe wild coho salmon,…