Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: arsenic

  • Congress Investigates Heavy Metals in Baby Food

    A staff report from a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform has found that several baby foods contain high levels of heavy metals, including inorganic arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury. The report argues that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “has failed to confront the risks of toxic…

  • Report Purportedly Finds Toxic Chemicals in 95% of Baby Food

    Healthy Babies Bright Futures has released a report describing tests it commissioned on 168 varieties of baby food from 61 brands reportedly finding that 95% of the products contained traces of arsenic, lead, cadmium or mercury, with 26% of products containing all four heavy metals. The organization asserts that rice puff snacks, teething biscuits, infant…

  • Whole Foods Water Contains Arsenic, Consumers Argue

    Citing a Consumer Reports piece investigating the arsenic content of several bottled-water brands, three plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit alleging that Whole Foods Market Inc. sells water that “has some of the highest arsenic levels of any bottled water presently being marketed in the United States, with some bottles exceeding the maximum arsenic contamination levels…

  • Plaintiff Cites Consumer Reports and Prop. 65 in Fruit Juice Arsenic Lawsuit

    A consumer has filed a putative class action alleging that Welch Foods Inc.’s grape juices contain excessive levels of lead and arsenic, citing a January 2019 article appearing in Consumer Reports. Labajo v. Welch Foods Inc., No. 19-1306 (C.D. Cal., filed July 16, 2019). The complaint also cites California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement…

  • Consumer Reports Tests Bottled Water for Arsenic

    Consumer Reports has published an article detailing its purported findings from a series of tests on several brands of bottled water, reportedly finding some bottles with levels of arsenic that could be “potentially dangerous to drink over extended periods of time.” Most samples apparently tested below the federal limit of 10 parts per billion (ppb);…

  • Wine Needs No Additional Prop. 65 Warning for Arsenic, Appeals Court Confirms

    A California appeals court has affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit asserting that Sutter Home Winery Inc.’s wine should feature a warning about arsenic content pursuant to the state’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop. 65). Charles v. Sutter Home Winery Inc., No. B275295 (Cal. App. Ct., 2nd Dist.,…

  • GAO Issues Food Safety Reports for Arsenic and Pathogens

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has announced new food safety recommendations for managing the risk of arsenic in rice and efforts to reduce pathogens in meat and poultry products. Following a request to review issues related to arsenic in rice, GAO determined that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not updated its…

  • EFSA Reevaluates Silicon Dioxide Safety

    The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a scientific opinion reevaluating the safety of silicon dioxide used as a food additive, concluding that the available information is insufficient to confirm the current acceptable daily intake. The panel reportedly found no indication of adverse effects or genotoxicity, but it questioned a long-term study indicating silicon dioxide…