Category: Issue
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Court Orders Publicity Plan for Proposed Settlement of Safeway Tuna Cases
A California federal court has postponed issuing a final dismissal order in Safeway Inc.’s proposed settlement with a putative class, ordering the parties to develop a plan for publicizing the settlement to alert other potential plaintiffs that the statute of limitations will begin to run. In re Safeway Tuna Cases, No. 15-5078 (N.D. Cal., order…
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Court Rules Class Action Against Campbell Soup Preempted
A California federal court granted Campbell Soup Co.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action claiming the company “falsely and misleadingly labeled and advertised” one of its soups, ruling that the plaintiff’s claims are expressly preempted by federal law. Brower v. Campbell Soup Co., No. 16-1005 (S.D. Cal., order entered March 21, 2017). The plaintiffs…
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Federal Court Dismisses Part of Wendy’s Data Breach Putative Class Action
A Florida federal court has dismissed part of a data breach complaint against Wendy’s, calling two of the claims “shotgun pleadings” and noting that the plaintiffs “misconstrue the basic legal principles of statutory law.” Torres v. Wendy’s Int’l, LLC, No. 16-0210 (M.D. Fla., order entered March 21, 2017). Additional details on the case appear in…
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Non-Fortified Skim Milk is Skim Milk, Eleventh Circuit Holds
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has overturned a Florida court’s summary judgment against Ocheesee Creamery, finding that the company can sell its milk product as skim milk despite its refusal to follow a Florida law requiring skim milk to be fortified with vitamin A. Ocheesee Creamery LLC v. Putnam, No. 16-12049…
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Proposed Ban on Totalitarian Symbols in Hungary May Criminalize Heineken’s Logo
The Hungarian National Assembly is reportedly considering a proposed ban on Soviet and Nazi symbols that would impose fines of up to $6.97 million and a potential prison sentence on businesses using such marks, likely including Heineken and its red star logo. The ban targets symbols related to Hungary’s years of Nazi occupation and decades…
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DeLauro, Tester Target Brazilian Beef Following Corruption Allegations
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) have urged the federal government to act in response to a Brazilian investigation allegedly finding that more than 100 of the country’s health inspectors allowed the sale of rancid meat, falsified export documents or failed to inspect meatpacking plants. Tester introduced a bill in the U.S.…
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Efforts to Curb Antibiotic Use in Livestock Fall Short, Says GAO
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a March 2017 report noting several oversight gaps in federal agencies’ efforts to track and curtail antibiotic use in food animals. According to GAO, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) have implemented several measures designed to reduce antibiotic resistance by increasing veterinary supervision…
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Study Claims Honeybee Gut Bacteria “Perturbed” by Antibiotics
A study has purportedly suggested that antibiotic treatments for foulbrood and other pathogens can disrupt the gut microbiota of honeybees, increasing their susceptibility to opportunistic bacterial infections. Kasie Raymann, et al., “Antibiotic exposure perturbs the gut microbiota and elevates mortality in honeybees,” PLoS Biology, March 2017. To examine the effects of common bee antibiotics, University…