Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: State Courts

  • D.C. Court Dismisses Part of “Extra Virgin” Olive Oil Consumer-Fraud Suit

    A District of Columbia court has determined that a plaintiff who purchased a bottle of Pompeian-brand extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) after learning that testing done in 2010 and 2011 concluded that certain EVOO brands did not satisfy U.S. and international EVOO standards has standing to bring certain consumer-fraud claims despite purportedly believing that the product…

  • State Court Denies Request to Close Hot Sauce Factory

    Telling counsel for Irwindale, California, that it was “asking for a very radical order on 24-hour notice,” a superior court has reportedly denied the city’s request that the maker of an Asian hot sauce cease production until purportedly aggressive odors can be reduced. Irwindale v. Huy Fong Foods, No. ___ (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles…

  • Cantaloupe Growers Sue Safety-Audit Company over Listeria Outbreak

    Jensen Farms has filed a lawsuit against the company that hired the food-safety auditor who gave the cantaloupe grower a “superior” rating during a 2011 audit not long before the grower shipped fruit allegedly contaminated with Listeria to a distributor that required the cantaloupe to be certified by the auditor, giving rise to a nationwide…

  • Non-Profit Sues NYC Mayor, Seeks Food Regulation Documents

    Keep Food Legal, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, has filed a petition under the New York Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), seeking an order compelling the office of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to respond to its allegedly unaddressed requests for “records and documents on various, proposed, or enjoined food-related regulations or policies to which…

  • New York High Court to Review NYC Soda-Size Restrictions

    According to a news source, the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, has agreed to hear New York City’s appeal of a decision striking down a board of health rule that would have imposed caps on the size of sugar-sweetened beverages sold at certain venues. Details about the intermediate appellate court opinion…

  • Prop. 65 Suit Alleging Failure to Warn About Lead in Snack Bars Will Not Be Stayed

    A California state court has denied the defendant’s request that it stay a case alleging that the company failed to warn consumers of the presence of lead in its snack bars in contravention of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop. 65). Envtl. Research Ctr., Inc. v. Clif Bar & Co.,…

  • No Reasonable Consumer Would Be Fooled by Butter Spread Labels, Court Rules

    A California appeals court has affirmed the dismissal with prejudice of a putative class action alleging that Kroger Corp. misled consumers by failing to comply with federal and state law requirements for labeling its Challenge® spreadable butter products. Simpson v. The Kroger Corp., No. B242405 (Cal. App. Ct., decided September 25, 2013). The court found…

  • Inconvenient Forum at Issue Again in Four Loko Death Suit

    An Illinois appeals court has reversed a trial court determination that Illinois would not be an inconvenient forum for the defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of a 15-year-old boy who allegedly drank two cans of the alcohol energy drink Four Loko and was killed on a Virginia highway after becoming…