Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: 10th Circuit

  • Class Action Filed Against POM Wonderful for Consumer Fraud

    A Kansas resident has filed a putative class action in state court against POM Wonderful, LLC, alleging that the company’s claims that its pomegranate products have special health benefits are false, deceptive and misleading. Haynes v. POM Wonderful, LLC, No. CV08720 (Kan. Dist. Ct., Johnson Cty., filed September 29, 2010). Seeking to certify a statewide class…

  • Cupcake Battle Underway in Utah

    Mini’s Cupcakes, Inc. has sued LuAnn’s Cupcakes, Inc. in a federal court in Utah, claiming the infringement of trade dress rights by LuAnn’s sale of cupcakes substantially the same in appearance as Mini’s gourmet “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” cupcake. Mini’s Cupcakes, Inc. v. LuAnn’s Cupcakes, Inc., No. 10-457 (D. Utah, filed May 14, 2010). The distinctive design…

  • Court Rules FDA Warning Letter Is Not Final Agency Action

    A federal court in Colorado has dismissed as premature a medical provider’s challenge to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations potentially applicable to its medical procedures because the agency had issued only a warning letter against it, and warning letters are not final. Regenerative Sciences, Inc. v. FDA, No. 09-411 (D. Colo., decided March 26,…

  • RICO Claims Against Applebee’s and Weight Watchers Dismissed

    A federal court in Kansas has dismissed a putative class action filed against Applebee’s International, Inc. and Weight Watchers International, Inc., finding that the claims raised under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) were not sufficiently alleged. Shepard v. Applebee’s Int’l, Inc., No. 08-2416 (D. Kan., decided April 7, 2010). Details about the…

  • Settlement Reached in Diacetyl Case Arising from Popcorn Consumption

    According to a news source, a Denver man who alleged that his habit of consuming two bags of microwave popcorn every day caused his bronchiolitis obliterans, a debilitating lung condition purportedly associated with exposure to the butter flavoring diacetyl, has settled his claims against a flavoring manufacturer. Watson v. Dillon Cos., Inc., (D. Colo.) One of…

  • Tenth Circuit Refuses to Enjoin Use of Poultry Waste as Fertilizer

    The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court’s decision not to enjoin Tyson Foods, Inc. from using poultry litter as fertilizer. Oklahoma v. Tyson Foods, Inc., No. 08-5154 (10th Cir., decided May 13, 2009). Oklahoma’s attorney general sought a preliminary injunction to halt the practice, arguing that poultry litter contains E. coli,…

  • Aurora Dairy Seeks Insurance Coverage for Consumer Class Actions

    Aurora Dairy Corp., which is defending multidistrict litigation involving putative class claims that it sold its products as “organic” without following national organic program standards, has sued one of its insurance carriers in federal court seeking a declaration that the insurer has wrongly failed to provide defense coverage. Aurora Dairy Corp. v. Nationwide Agribusiness Ins. Co.,…