Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Issue

  • Chipotle Reaches Settlement in Tainted Food Litigation; Hit with New Employment Lawsuit in California

    Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and its customers who consumed tainted food during outbreaks of E. Coli, Salmonella and norovirus have reportedly reached a settlement agreement. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed except for one class member’s request to receive vouchers for free burritos. One case in the litigation is still pending. See The Denver…

  • Beverage Groups Challenge Legal Basis for Philadelphia’s Tax on SSBs

    The American Beverage Association, other industry groups, retailers and distributors have filed a lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia challenging its tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), arguing the statute unlawfully attempts to circumvent Pennsylvania’s taxation supremacy. Williams v. City of Philadelphia, No. 160901452 (Penn. Ct. C.P., Philadelphia Cty., filed September 14, 2016). The plaintiffs assert…

  • Texas Beer-Distribution Restriction Overturned

    A Texas judge has reportedly voided a 2013 law prohibiting Texas craft-beer brewers from selling territorial rights to distribute their beers, finding the state had no compelling state interest in restricting the breweries. The statute was part of a package of other laws benefitting small breweries, but the distribution limitation was apparently inserted at the…

  • Challenge to Organic Sunset Provision to Proceed

    A California federal court has denied the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by several activist groups challenging aspects of the Organic Food Production Act’s sunset provision, which governs when substances are removed from the National List. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Vilsack, No. 15-1590 (N.D. Cal., order entered September…

  • HHS Adds New Anthrax Strain to List of Select Agents and Toxins

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have announced the addition of an emerging Bacillus cereus strain that causes anthrax-like disease to the HHS list of Select Agents and Toxins. “Bacillus cereus Biovar anthracis is a recently recognized, emerging pathogen[] that has all the virulence characteristics…

  • NRDC, CSPI File Citizen Petition on Antibiotic Use in Livestock

    Several consumer-protection groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), have filed a citizen petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the agency to withdraw approval of seven antibiotics for disease prevention and growth-promotion use in livestock and poultry. “The use of…

  • Rudd Center Claims “Smart Snack” Packaging Confuses Students

    The University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has published a study on student and parent perceptions of competitive foods and beverages sold in schools under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Smart Snack nutrition standards. Jennifer Harris, et al., “Effects of Offering Look-Alike Products as Smart Snacks in Schools,” Childhood Obesity, September…

  • Teens Allegedly Influenced by Soft-Drink Warning Labels

    Researchers with the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine’s Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics have authored a study claiming that adolescents are less likely to purchase sugary beverages that carry warning labels. Eric VanEpps and Christina Roberto, “The Influence of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Warnings,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, September 2016. The study…