Category: Issue
-
Hip-Hop-Listening Cheese Tastes Better, Swiss Researchers Report
Swiss researchers have reportedly found that cheese exposed to hip-hop music during production had enhanced flavors compared to cheese exposed to opera, rock, techno or ambient music. The researchers apparently used mini-transmitters to “conduct the energy of the music” into nine 22-pound wheels of Emmental cheese. The wheels were separated and exposed to music by…
-
Restaurant Owners Sue San Diego Over Polystyrene Ban
Three restaurant owners, along with the California Restaurant Association (CRA) and Dart Cardboard Corp. of California, have reportedly filed a lawsuit challenging San Diego’s ban on polystyrene food containers, alleging that the city failed to conduct an environmental review before instituting the ban. “The CRA has filed a legal challenge to hold city government accountable…
-
FDA Announces Webinar on Genome Editing in Animals
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced an April 25, 2019, public webinar about “genome editing in animals, an innovative and rapidly evolving technology that offers significant public health benefits.” The webinar will focus on “current scientific evidence, promising uses of this technology in animals, and the potential risks.” FDA intends the webinar to…
-
WHO Report Again Recommends Limits on Marketing “Unhealthy Products” to Children
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a report calling for “greater monitoring” of “unhealthy food products, especially those high in salt, sugar and fat.” The report asserts that “exposure of children to the online marketing of unhealthy food products” remains “commonplace”—despite the organization’s 2010 recommendations on limiting such exposure—and “urgently calls for developing and…
-
NOSB Issues Call for Nominations
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that it will accept nominations for five vacancies on the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). Each position on the board is categorized under the Organic Foods Production Act. USDA will accept nominations for: “One individual with expertise in areas of environmental protection and resource conservation”; “one individual…
-
Shook Attorneys to Join Panel on Food Litigation Trends at ABA Conference
Shook Partner Greg Wu will join “Recent Trends in Food and Beverage Labeling Litigation,” a panel moderated by Partner Amir Nassihi, at the American Bar Association’s (ABA’s) Hot Topics in Toxic Torts and Environmental Law conference in Coronado, California, on April 6, 2019. The panelists will “take a broad look at the types of cases…
-
Court Dismisses Part of Malic Acid Lawsuit
A California federal court has dismissed part of a putative class action alleging Bai Brands misleads consumers as to its ingredients because it does not label “malic acid” as “d-l malic acid.” Branca v. Bai Brands, No. 18-0757 (S.D. Cal., entered March 7, 2019). The court first refused to dismiss the plaintiff’s allegation that Bai…
-
Tootsie Rolls Packaging Enjoined in Trade Dress Suit
An Ohio federal court has granted Spangler Candy Co. a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit alleging that Tootsie Roll Industries copied the packaging of its Dum Dums candy. Spangler Candy Co. v. Tootsie Roll Indus., No. 18-1146 (N.D. Ohio, entered March 13, 2019). The court found the Dum Dums red bag not inherently distinctive, instead…