Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: U.S. Circuit Courts

  • Court Overrides Jury Verdict in Heinz Lead-Tainted Baby Food Insurance Dispute

    Contradicting an advisory jury verdict, a Pennsylvania federal court has allowed Starr Surplus Lines Insurance Co. to void its policy with H.J. Heinz Co. covering damages related to the manufacture and sale of lead-tainted baby cereal. H.J. Heinz Co. v. Starr Surplus Ins. Co., No. 15-0631 (W.D. Penn., order entered February 1, 2016). Surplus sought…

  • California Lawsuit Challenges Use of Trans Fat in Kellogg’s Mother’s Cookies®

    A consumer has filed a putative class action against Kellogg Co. alleging the company produces Mother’s Cookies® with partially hydrogenated oil (PHO), which contains trans fat, in violation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) ban on the ingredient. Hawkins v. Kellogg Co., No. 16-0147 (S.D. Cal., filed January 21, 2016). The plaintiff asserts…

  • Cheese Company Pleads Guilty to Food Adulteration Charge

    A Delaware cheese company and two individual defendants have pled guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for distributing adulterated ricotta, queso fresco and fresh cheese curds in several neighboring states. U.S. v. Roos Foods, Inc., No. 16-0013 (D. Del., information filed January 22, 2016). Roos’ cheese was connected…

  • ANA Files Amicus Brief in San Francisco Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Warning Litigation

    The Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA) has filed an amicus brief in a case challenging San Francisco’s health code provisions requiring advertisements on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) to notify the public of alleged health risks associated with SSB consumption. Am. Beverage Ass’n v. City of San Francisco, No. 15-3415 (N.D. Cal., San Francisco Div., amicus…

  • Jury Holds Peanut Co. Liable for Employee’s Peanut Dust Inhalation

    A jury in Alabama has found Golden Peanut Co. liable for an accident causing an employee welder to inhale peanut dust, resulting in a pneumonia infection and subsequent lung transplant. Smith v. Golden Peanut Co., No. 14-0999 (M.D. Ala., jury verdict filed January 15, 2015). The welder was apparently inside a grain elevator when a truck…

  • Whole Foods Reaches Deal in Price-Labeling Suit

    Whole Foods and a consumer have reached an agreement in a lawsuit alleging the company misrepresented the prices of its products before the point of purchase. Burgos v. Whole Foods Mkt. Grp., No. 15-7357 (D.N.J., stipulation filed January 20, 2016). The plaintiff alleged that some of Whole Foods’ price displays failed to meet the state’s…

  • Costco Shrimp Case Dismissed for Lack of Standing

    A California federal court has dismissed a lawsuit against Costco Wholesale Corp. alleging the company’s shrimp was falsely advertised as adherent to a supplier code of conduct on human rights while the product was allegedly obtained through the use of slave labor. Sud v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 15-3783 (N.D. Cal., order entered January 15,…

  • Government Intervention Pauses Tuna Price-Fixing Lawsuit

    The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has intervened in an ongoing series of lawsuits against Tri-Union Seafoods, StarKist and Bumble Bee Foods alleging the companies conspired to set prices for tuna in the United States. In re Packaged Seafood Prods. Antitrust Litig., 15-2670 (S.D. Cal., order entered January 20, 2015). A California federal court granted…