Category: Issue
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Tofurky Co. Challenges Arkansas Meat Law
Turtle Island Foods, which does business as The Tofurky Co., has filed a civil-rights action alleging an Arkansas law that “prohibits purveyors of plant- or cell-based meats from using the words ‘meat’ and related terms like ‘beef,’ ‘pork,’ ‘roast,’ and ‘sausage’” is “a restriction on commercial speech that prevents companies from sharing truthful and non-misleading…
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Plaintiff Cites Consumer Reports and Prop. 65 in Fruit Juice Arsenic Lawsuit
A consumer has filed a putative class action alleging that Welch Foods Inc.’s grape juices contain excessive levels of lead and arsenic, citing a January 2019 article appearing in Consumer Reports. Labajo v. Welch Foods Inc., No. 19-1306 (C.D. Cal., filed July 16, 2019). The complaint also cites California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement…
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UK Opens Consultation on Health and Nutrition
The U.K. Cabinet Office has begun an open consultation on general health policies, including nutrition initiatives. The consultation includes an announcement that the government will ban the sale of energy drinks to children under 16, with the full policy to be announced “in our consultation response shortly.” The consultation response will also include details of…
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Seafood Processer Guilty on Falsely Labeling “Product of USA” Crab Meat
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that Michael Casey, vice president of Casey’s Seafood Inc., has pleaded guilty to charges of falsely labeling almost 400,000 pounds of crab meat as derived from Atlantic blue crab in the United States despite importing the meat from a number of countries, including Indonesia, China, Thailand and…
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EU Agency Releases Guidance on Use of Insects in Food
The EU International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF) has released guidance intended to assist industry with labeling provisions for insect-based foods. “While specific insect-based products are currently approved by certain Member States, it is foreseen that a number of novel food applications will be authorised by the European Commission in the near…
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EU High Court Affirms BPA as “Substance of Very High Concern”
The General Court of the European Union has confirmed that bisphenol A (BPA) is a substance of very high concern under the EU’s REACH Regulation. PlasticsEurope, which represents four companies that sell BPA-related materials, challenged the categorization. The organization argued that the listing should exclude intermediate uses of BPA, including as an on-site isolated intermediate…
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Consumer Alleges Vanilla in Friendly’s Ice Cream is Artificial
Friendly’s Manufacturing and Retail markets its ice-cream products as “flavored exclusively from vanilla beans” but uses artificial flavors in at least 57 products, including cakes, cartons, cones, bars and sandwiches, according to a consumer’s putative class action. Charles v. Friendly’s Mfg. & Retail LLC, No. 19-6571 (S.D.N.Y., filed July 15, 2019). The complaint asserts that…
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Cereal Misleads on Primary Sweetener, Plaintiff Alleges
A consumer has filed a putative class action alleging that Post Consumer Brands’ Honey Bunches of Oats is misleadingly named because the cereals are sweetened primarily by “sugar, corn syrup, and other refined substances, and contain only miniscule amounts of honey.” Tucker v. Post Consumer Brands LLC, No. 19-3993 (N.D. Cal., filed July 11, 2019).…