Category: Issue
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Appy Juice Drinks’ “Natural” Claim Ruled Unsubstantiated and Misleading
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint about the “About Us” section of its website for Appy Food & Drinks, which contained a claim that all of the advertiser’s juice drinks were “100% natural” despite containing calcium lactate and glucose-fructose syrup. Appy Foods asserted that calcium lactate is a salt obtained through a…
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Bill Addresses Foreign Acquisitions of U.S. Food and Agricultural Businesses
The U.S. Senate is considering a bill that would give food and agriculture officials greater oversight of mergers and acquisitions involving U.S. food companies and foreign entities and includes new criteria to determine whether a transaction could result in control of a U.S. business by a foreign company. The bill would make the Secretary of…
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Stakeholders Voice Opinions About Modernizing “Healthy” at FDA Meeting
Concerns about how or whether the term “healthy” should be used in food labeling and packaging prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to hold a public comment meeting on the issue on March 9, 2017. Current FDA regulations allow the use of the term “healthy,” as well as similar terms, as implied nutrient-content…
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Seafood Company Sentenced to $1 Million in Fines and Community Service Payments
A California-based seafood company has reportedly been sentenced in federal court for knowingly selling mislabeled frozen fish fillets. United States v. Seafood Solutions, Inc., No. 11-297 (C.D. Cal., sentencing February 6, 2012). Seafood Solutions, Inc. agreed to plead guilty to the charge in July 2011, as part of a federal investigation into companies that had been selling…
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Slim-Fast Discontinues Snack Advertorial Content After Ad Board Ruling
Slim-Fast Foods Co. has ended its “100 Calories Snacks” advertisements appearing in Star magazine after the advertising industry’s self-regulation investigative unit, the National Advertising Division, determined that the format of the ads could mislead consumers into believing they were part of the publication’s editorial content. The cover of Star featured “what appeared to be an…
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Rudd Center Examines Food and Beverage TV Advertising to Children
The University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has released a study on TV food advertising viewed by preschoolers, children and adolescents, claiming that “food advertising exposure increased with age for both black and white youth, but black youth viewed approximately 50% or more ads than did white youth of the same…
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“Wine Ponzi Scheme” Perpetrator Sentenced to Six Years
John Fox, former owner of wine shop Premier Cru, has reportedly been sentenced to 6.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and defrauding investors out of at least $45 million. As part of the scheme, Fox sold wine to customers around the world, embezzled the money, then used newer purchasers’ money to…
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Plaintiff in Herr Foods Litigation Seeks Disqualification for Defense Attorney
The plaintiff in a purported class action asserting that Herr Foods Inc. mislabels its packaged snacks as “natural” has filed a motion to disqualify defense counsel, alleging the attorney repeatedly made “extortionate threats” and committed professional misconduct. Whitaker v. Herr Foods, Inc., No. 16-2017 (E.D. Penn., motion filed December 14, 2016). The plaintiff’s motion follows…