Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: labeling

  • FDA Releases Supplemental Draft Guidance for Menu Labeling

    In accordance with an August 2017 announcement, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released supplemental draft guidance on menu-labeling requirements to address concerns raised by restaurant franchisees, grocery and convenience stores that sell “grab-and-go” food, and others affected by the rule, which is scheduled to take effect in 2018. The guidance provides details…

  • NPR Blog Highlights Efforts to Curb Food Label Proliferation

    A recent post on NPR’s “The Salt” blog has highlighted a sharp increase in the number of food labels designed to signal a product’s nutritional content and environmental status, raising questions about whether “the proliferation of ‘pick me!’ logos has become somewhat overwhelming.” According to the October 29, 2012, post, the International Ecolabel Index has…

  • Consumers Confused By Natural, GMO and Organic Labeling

    Researchers have reportedly found that consumers are unsure what “natural,” “organic” and “Non-GMO Project Verified” mean when the phrases appear on food labels. Konstantinos G. Syrengelas et al., “Is the Natural Label Misleading? Examining Consumer Preferences for Natural Beef,” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, October 2017; Brandon R. McFadden, et al., “Effects of the National Bioengineered Food…

  • Plaintiff Alleges 80 Percent Slack-Fill in Fruit Bliss Packaging

    Penguin Trading, Inc., the maker of Fruit Bliss organic dried fruits, faces a putative class action alleging the company’s products contain as much as 80 percent slack-fill. Buso v. Penguin Trading, Inc., No. 17-7025 (C.D. Cal., filed September 22, 2017). The plaintiff argues that he would not have bought Fruit Bliss’ Organic Deglet Nour Dates,…

  • Delayed Menu Labeling Compliance Date Proposed

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed an additional extension for compliance with the menu labeling rules required by the Affordable Care Act. Under the proposed rule, the current compliance deadline of July 26, 2018, would be extended to January 1, 2020, for manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual food sales;…

  • FDA Warns Granola Company About Listing “Love” Ingredient

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned Nashoba Brook Bakery that it has misbranded its granola by listing “Love” as one of its ingredients. The warning letter informed the company that “’love’ is not a common or usual name of an ingredient, and is considered to be intervening material because it is not…

  • Plaintiff Challenges “ColdPressed” Label Claim

    A consumer has filed a putative class action alleging the Hain Celestial Group’s “ColdPressed” juice products are mislabeled because a third-party company, which manufactures some of the product, heats the juice during high-pressure processing, causing a “compositional change.” Davis v. Hain Celestial Grp., No. 17- 5191 (E.D.N.Y., filed September 3, 2017). The complaint challenges two…

  • FDA, Advocacy Groups Agree to Stay Lawsuit Over Menu Labeling Compliance Delay

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and the National Consumers League have filed a joint motion to stay a lawsuit intended to compel the agency to implement the delayed menu labeling rule required by the Affordable Care Act. Ctr. for Sci. in the Pub. Interest v.…