Category: U.S. Circuit Courts
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Court Denies Dispositive Motion in Licorice Supply Chain Litigation
A federal court in California has denied a motion to dismiss in a contract dispute between the supplier of molasses allegedly contaminated with lead and the company that used the ingredient to make licorice subject to a nationwide recall. Am. Licorice Co. v. Total Sweeteners, Inc., No. 13-1929 (N.D. Cal., order entered August 13, 2013).…
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Court Unsympathetic to FDA Pleas for Delay in FSMA Rulemaking
A federal court in California has determined that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not met the standard for the court to issue an order amending the deadlines set forth in its June 2013 order for promulgating and finalizing implementing regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Ctr. for Food Safety v.…
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Court Allows Most Consumer Fraud Claims to Proceed Against Tea Company
A federal court in California has dismissed several of the claims in a putative nationwide class action alleging that Bromley Tea Co. makes unlawful and deceptive health-related claims on packaging labels and on its website for the company’s green and black teas. Clancy v. The Bromley Tea Co., No. 12-3003 (N.D. Cal., order entered August…
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Second Circuit Interprets Lanham Act in Russian Vodka Trademark Suit
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals, addressing an issue of first impression among the federal appellate courts under the Lanham Act, has affirmed a district court determination that Federal Treasury Enterprise Sojuzplodoimport (FTE) cannot pursue trademark infringement litigation as a “legal representative” of the Russian Federation because while that government designated FTE as its legal…
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Advocates Counter FDA Request for FSMA Rulemaking Deadline Extensions
The Center for Food Safety has filed its reply to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) request that a federal court in California reconsider the Food Safety Modernization Act implementation rulemaking deadlines it established for the agency. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Hamburg, No. 12-4529 (N.D. Cal., filed August 2, 2013). Additional information about FDA’s…
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Consultants Disqualified in Yogurt Litigation, Plaintiffs’ Counsel Cautioned
A federal court in California has determined that EAS Consulting Group LLC and one of its employees, a former acting director in the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Food Labeling, must be barred from discussing issues with plaintiffs’ counsel in litigation against Chobani, Inc. and are disqualified as experts in the case, finding that…
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Claims Narrowed in VitaRain® Beverage Litigation
A federal court in Washington has dismissed without prejudice a number of claims in a putative class action alleging that the producer and seller of a vitamin water product misled consumers by failing to disclose that the product contains caffeine or its relative amount and falsely represents that the product is a “natural tonic” and…
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Federal Court Dismisses Misbranding Claims Against 7-Eleven
A federal court in California has dismissed with prejudice the breach of warranty claims made by a putative class as to purportedly “misbranded food products” sold by 7-Eleven, but dismissed the remaining consumer fraud claims without prejudice to allow the plaintiff to amend the complaint to meet the stringent pleading requirements for fraud-based allegations. Bishop v.…