Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: U.S. Circuit Courts

  • Consumer Organizations Allege USDA Violated Procedure with Contaminated Compost Rule

    The Center for Food Safety, Center for Environmental Health and Beyond Pesticides have filed a lawsuit against the leaders of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service and National Organic Program (NOP) arguing that USDA failed to allow public comments on a contaminated compost rule before issuing a guidance document on the subject.…

  • Putative Class Action Targets Kind LLC’s “Healthy” Claim

    Days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a March 2015 letter warning Kind LLC against using the word “healthy” to describe several of its products, a consumer filed a class action against the company alleging negligent misrepresentation and violations of California consumer protection statutes. Kaufer v. Kind LLC, No. 15-2878 (C.D. Cal.,…

  • Quinoa Crisps Not “GMO Free” Because of Corn and Soy Content, Lawsuit Claims

    A consumer has filed a purported class action against Natural & Tasty LLC alleging that the company misleads consumers by labeling its Goldbaum Quinoa Crisps® as “All Natural” and free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) despite containing ingredients made from corn and soy because “almost all corn and soy grown in the United States are…

  • Second Putative Class Action Alleging Unsafe Arsenic Levels in California Wine Filed in Louisiana

    A consumer has filed a putative class action in Louisiana federal court against several California wineries alleging that their products contain “dangerously high” levels of arsenic, echoing a similar lawsuit filed in California in March 2015. Crespo-Bithorn v. The Wine Grp. Inc., No. 15-1424 (M.D. La., filed April 20, 2015). The complaint alleges that the…

  • Alcohol Company and Gunmaker Settle over “Tommy Guns Vodka”

    Saeilo Enterprises Inc., and Alphonse Capone Enterprises Inc., have reportedly reached a settlement in a lawsuit alleging trademark and trade dress infringement for a bottle of vodka branded as “Tommy Guns Vodka” and shaped like Saeilo’s Thompson submachine gun. Saeilo Enterprises, Inc. v. Alphonse Capone Enterprises, Inc., No. 13-2306 (N.D. Ill., notification of docket entry filed…

  • Plaintiffs Challenging Gerber’s Probiotic Health Claims Must Provide Medical Records

    A New Jersey federal court has granted Gerber’s motion to compel discovery of medical records in a consumer putative class action alleging that the company misrepresented its probiotic formula as capable of improving infant immune systems. In re Gerber Probiotic Sales Practices Litig., No. 12-835 (D.N.J., order entered April 10, 2015). Gerber requested medical records…

  • U.S. Government Sues Wholesome Soy Products over Listeria Outbreak

    Attorneys in the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have filed a lawsuit against Wholesome Soy Products to permanently enjoin the company, its owner and manager from causing food to become adulterated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) after government agencies allegedly linked the company’s facilities…

  • Groups Challenge Change to Organic Law’s Sunset Provision

    Several policy groups, including Food & Water Watch and the Center for Food Safety, have filed a lawsuit challenging a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) procedural change in how ingredients are removed from the National List, a list of synthetics exempted from the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA). Ctr. for Food Safety v. Vilsack, No.…