Category: U.S. Circuit Courts
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Consumer Fraud Claims Against Olive Oil Company Continue
A federal court in New York has denied the motion for summary judgment filed by the defendant in litigation alleging that it mislabeled its industrially processed olive-pomace oil as “100% Pure Olive Oil.” Ebin v. Kangadis Food Inc. d/b/a The Gourmet Factory, No. 13-2311 (S.D.N.Y., order entered February 25, 2014). Details about the court’s grant of…
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Court Imposes Spoliation Sanctions in Wine Infringement Dispute
A federal court in California has granted a motion for sanctions filed by Jackson Family Wines, which brought an infringement action against Diageo North America; an adverse inference instruction will be given to the jury during trial, and the plaintiff will be able to recover the costs of its efforts to secure a Diageo marketing…
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MDL Court Finds Chocolate Cos. Did Not Conspire to Increase Prices
A federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) court in Pennsylvania has determined that individual-purchaser plaintiffs and a direct-purchaser class failed to discover evidence that U.S. chocolate companies conspired to increase prices for immediate-consumption products between 2002 and 2007, and, with “nothing more than speculation as to the who, what, when, where, and how of communications that allegedly…
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Nutrition Bar Class Cannot Be Ascertained, Court Refuses to Certify It
A federal court in California has denied the plaintiff’s request to certify a class of those who purchased ZonePerfect Nutrition bars relying on allegedly deceptive labels representing the products as “All Natural.” Sethavanish v. ZonePerfect Nutrition Co., No. 12-2907 (N.D. Cal., order entered February 13, 2014). The court found that the plaintiff set forth sufficient…
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FDA Enters Consent Decree on FSMA Rulemaking Timeline
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has entered a consent decree with the Center for Food Safety, which sued the agency over its alleged failure to comply with implementation rulemaking deadlines in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Ctr. for Food Safety v. Hamburg, No. 12-4529 (N.D. Cal., decree filed February 20, 2014). Under…
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ECJ and “All Natural” Claims Against Chobani Dismissed
A federal court in California has dismissed with prejudice the third amended complaint filed by named plaintiffs on behalf of a putative class of purchasers of Chobani Greek Yogurt products, alleging violations of state consumer protection laws because the products were mislabeled under federal law by listing evaporated cane juice (ECJ), instead of sugar, as…
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Trader Joe’s Agrees to Settle “All Natural” False Ad Claims
A federal court in California has preliminarily approved a $3.375 million settlement of class-action claims that Trader Joe’s misled consumers throughout the United States by selling a number of food products with “All Natural” labels despite the presence of synthetic or artificial ingredients. Larsen v. Trader Joe’s Co., No. 11-5188 (N.D. Cal., order entered February 6,…
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Single-Serve Coffee Maker Alleges Unfair Competition in Market
TreeHouse Foods, Inc. has filed an antitrust and unfair competition lawsuit against Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. and Keurig, Inc., alleging that they have undertaken a series of unlawful practices that have allowed them to dominate the single-serve coffee market, despite the expiration of their “K-Cup” patents in 2012. TreeHouse Foods, Inc. v. Green Mountain…