Category: Issue
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Court Adopts EPA’s Language Admitting Failure to Set Perchlorate Limits
In a lawsuit brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) alleging failure to meet a deadline to set limits on perchlorate levels in drinking water, a New York federal court has issued an order adopting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) preferred language to admit the failure. Nat. Res. Def. Council v. EPA, No.…
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Cruz-Alvarez and Rameshwar Detail Dismissal of Challenge to Abbott Labs’ Organic Infant Formula
Shook Partner Frank Cruz-Alvarez and Associate Ravika Rameshwar have authored an article for the Washington Legal Foundation’s Legal Pulse discussing a New York federal court’s dismissal of a class action centered on infant formula marketed as organic. The complaint alleged that Abbott Laboratories, Inc. represented its Similac® Advance® as organic despite containing ingredients prohibited in…
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OEHHA Adds Furfuryl Alcohol to Prop. 65 List
The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has announced the addition of furfuryl alcohol to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer in accordance with Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) regulations. OEHHA describes furfuryl alcohol as “formed in foods during thermal processing and as a result of…
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FDA Consumer Update Clarifies Maple Syrup Labeling
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a September 2016 Consumer Update describing how to determine if a product contains real maple syrup as a flavoring agent. Specifically, the agency urges consumers to look at the ingredient list for the term “maple syrup” and not rely solely on depictions of maple leaves or…
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FDA Issues Industry Guidance on “Healthy” Labeling
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has opened a docket and released industry guidance on the use of the term “healthy” in the labeling of human food products. Responding to Kind LLC’s citizen petition asking the agency to align its nutrient content claim regulations with federal dietary guidance, FDA invites “public comment on the…
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France Bans Plastic Cups, Cutlery
France has reportedly passed a ban on plastic cups, knives, forks and plates as part of an ecological initiative, Energy Transition for Green Growth. The prohibition, which takes effect in 2020, targets the nearly 5 billion plastic cups discarded annually in France. The country is reportedly the first to target plastic dishware. A Brussels-based organization…
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Alcohol Information Partnership Weighs Balanced Approach to New UK Guidelines
Several companies have formed a new group to promote a balanced discussion of alcoholic beverage consumption and address implementation of U.K. labeling recommendations. The Alcohol Information Partnership (AIP) reportedly plans to draw attention to research showing that most adults consume alcohol responsibly and that binge drinking is in decline. In addition, the companies behind the…
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Sugar Industry Allegedly Funded Research Linking Dietary Fats to Heart Disease
Researchers with the University of California, San Francisco, including its Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, published a September 12, 2016, JAMA article claiming that studies funded by the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF) “singled out fat and cholesterol as the dietary causes of CHD [coronary heart disease] and downplayed evidence that sucrose consumption was also…