Category: Spotlight
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Massachusetts High Court Affirms Mistrial for “Reptile Litigation Tactics”
By Shook Of Counsel Brandon Arber The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has affirmed a lower court’s grant of a mistrial in Fitzpatrick v. Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers of New York, Inc. This was a bone-in-the-hamburger case, causing a broken tooth and multiple surgeries. The lower court had found that the plaintiff’s counsel used “so-called ‘reptile’…
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A Taste of FDA’s 2021 Food Priorities: Undeclared Major Food Allergens
By Associate Anna El-Zein & Of Counsel John Johnson III Recent actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggest that, in 2021, the Agency will sharpen its focus on enforcement efforts to ensure packaged foods appropriately declare the presence of major food allergens. In a series of high-profile warning letters and press releases,…
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Shook Attorneys Provide Guidance on Getting Hand Sanitizers to Market in Multiple Countries
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for hand sanitizer has increased exponentially. Manufacturers of much-needed hand sanitizers face a maze of regulatory rules and restrictions in every country in which their products will be sold. For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has monitored hand sanitizers entering the market, and the agency…
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FDA Enters New Phase of FSVP Enforcement
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has entered a new phase of enforcement for the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) regulation, the legally required due diligence program to review and approve foreign suppliers of imported food. In May 2020, FDA placed two companies on Import Alert 99-41, which is essentially an import ban where…
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COVID-19 Brings Price-Gouging Litigation to California
By Shook Associate Matt Williams California often serves as an incubator for litigation that thereafter sweeps across the country. This phenomenon may hold true for newly minted COVID-19-based price-gouging lawsuits. Indeed, California has quickly become the epicenter of price-gouging enforcement and class action litigation. Food producers, distributors, retailers and online marketplaces such as Amazon have…
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Examining Price-Gouging Allegations During COVID-19 Pandemic
Shook Partner Katie Gates Calderon and Associate Elizabeth Fessler have authored “Best Practices for Food and Beverage Pricing Right Now” for Law360, which discusses how food and beverage companies may face regulatory actions and reputational damage if they are perceived to have raised their prices too much during the COVID-19 pandemic. “With increased demand and…
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What the FDA Requires for Food Safety During the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Shook Of Counsel John Johnson The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulatory requirements for food companies, including manufacturers and importers, remain largely unchanged during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, COVID-19 is disrupting plant operations and supply-chains, which companies must be mindful of as they continue to function within the regulatory requirements: Food safety remains…
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FDA Warning Letters Provide Opportunity for Food-Safety Reminders During Viral and Bacterial Outbreaks
By Partner Lindsey Heinz and Associate Zac Parker The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent warning letters to Jimmy John’s Franchise, LLC and its supplier Sprouts Unlimited Inc. regarding food safety practices after the agency traced an outbreak of E. coli to Jimmy John’s produce, which had previously caused outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. In the…