Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: evaporated cane juice

  • FDA Guidance on ECJ Labeling to Appear in 2016

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has told a California federal court that the agency will not issue guidance until 2016 about the use of “evaporated cane juice” (ECJ)—which plaintiffs nationwide assert is merely sugar—on food and beverage labeling. Swearingen v. Late July Snacks LLC, No. 13-4324 (N.D. Cal., agency letter filed July 13,…

  • Listing ECJ on Cookie Label Misleads About Sugar Content, Putative Class Action Against Whole Foods Alleges

    A consumer has filed a proposed class action against Whole Foods Market Group Inc. alleging that the company’s Gluten Free All-Natural Nutmeal Raisin Cookies list evaporated cane juice (ECJ) as an ingredient to mislead consumers about the amount of sugar contained in the product. Bryant v. Whole Foods Mkt. Grp. Inc., No. 15-1001 (E.D. Mo.,…

  • Kind “No Refined Sugar” Claims Fail Reasonable Consumer Test, Court Finds

    An Illinois federal court has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Kind misleadingly labeled its Vanilla Blueberry Clusters as having “no refined sugars” despite containing evaporated cane juice (ECJ) and molasses. Ibarrola v. Kind, LLC, No. 12-50377 (N.D. Ill., order entered March 12, 2015). The plaintiff had alleged that ECJ and molasses result from refining sugar cane—albeit…

  • Federal Court Reopens and Stays Attune ECJ Case

    A California federal court has granted plaintiffs’ motion to vacate the judgment and reopened a proposed class action against Attune Foods Inc., finding that the delay in guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on whether “sugar” is the “common or usual name” for “evaporated cane juice” (ECJ), an ingredient that appears on…

  • Class Decertified in Blue Diamond ECJ Almond-Milk Labeling Case

    A California federal court has granted Blue Diamond’s motion to decertify a statewide class of consumers who alleged that the company’s almond milk product labels were misleading because they cited “evaporated cane juice” on the ingredient list rather than the alleged common name for the substance, sugar. Werdebaugh v. Blue Diamond Growers, No. 12-2724 (N.D.…

  • ECJ Suits Stayed Awaiting FDA Guidance

    A California federal court has granted a motion for reconsideration in a case alleging that Wallaby Yogurt Co. includes “evaporated cane juice” (ECJ) on its ingredient lists rather than what plaintiffs allege is the more common name, sugar. Morgan v. Wallaby Yogurt Co., No. 13-296 (N.D. Cal, order entered November 5, 2014). Wallaby had moved…

  • Shook Authors Discuss U.S. Regulatory and Litigation Landmines in IBA Newsletter

    Global Product Liability Partners Gregory Fowler and Marc Shelley have co-authored an article titled “Food and beverage labelling and advertising in the United States: Regulatory and litigation landmines,” appearing in the September 2014 issue of the International Bar Association’s Product Law and Advertising Newsletter. The article considers the public and private challenges facing U.S. food and…

  • Parties Reach Settlement in Yerba Mate ECJ Labeling Putative Class Action

    A California federal court has approved a settlement in a case accusing Guayaki Sustainable Rainforest Products Inc. of misleading its customers by listing “organic evaporated cane juice” (ECJ) as an ingredient of its yerba mate products. Cowan v. Guayaki Sustainable Rainforest Prods. Inc., No. 14-1248 (U.S. Dist. Ct., N.D. Cal., order entered September 16, 2014).…