Tag: milk

  • Advocacy Groups Battle Over Citizen Petition to Define “Milk”

    In the absence of action by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), consumer-advocacy and dairy trade groups are disputing whether plant-based beverages, such as those made from soy or almonds, can be called “milk.” The Good Food Institute (GFI) sent a July 31, 2017, letter to FDA requesting action on a 1997 citizen petition…

  • Plant­-Based Products Cannot Be “Milk, ” ECJ Rules

    The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that plant-­based products cannot use milk­- or dairy-­related terms for product names or in marketing because the terms are “exclusively” reserved for animal-­milk products under EU law. Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb eV v. Tofu Town.com GmbH, Case C­ 422/16 (order entered June 14, 2017). Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb eV,…

  • ASA Blocks Dairy Farm’s Environmental Advertising

    The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint arguing an advertisement for Arla Foods’ organic milk was misleading because it included the statements “Good for the land” and “helping support a more sustainable future.” ASA reviewed evidence the company provided about its organic farming methods but concluded that the dairy had failed to substantiate…

  • Cheese Not “Natural” if Cows Given GMO Feeds, Consumer Alleges

    A consumer has filed a proposed class action alleging Sargento Foods misleadingly advertises its cheese products as “natural” despite containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or animal growth hormones. Stanton v. Sargento Foods, Inc., No. 17­-2881 (N.D. Cal., filed May 19, 2017). The plaintiff asserts that the cows providing milk for the production of Sargento cheeses…

  • Second Circuit Upholds Milk Price-Fixing Settlement

    The Second Circuit has upheld the $50­ million settlement of an alleged milk price-­fixing conspiracy, holding that “[b]y their nature, settlements are compromises that do not provide either side with all that they might have hoped to obtain in litigation.” Haar v. Allen, No. 16­1944 (2d Cir., order entered April 18, 2017). The class action…

  • U.S.-Canada Trade Dispute Centers on Milk

    President Donald Trump has indicated that he will attempt to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement after making several negative comments about Canada’s dairy pricing. The dispute centers on ultra-filtered milk, a product used in the production of cheese that U.S. dairy farmers previously sold to Canadian companies. After Canadian dairy farmers in Ontario…

  • DOJ Reaches Consent Decree with Valley Milk Over Contaminated Milk Powders

    The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has obtained a consent decree against Valley Milk Products LLC prohibiting the sale of more than four million pounds of milk powder products and preventing the company from manufacturing the products in the future. U.S. v. All 50 pound high heat nonfat dry milk powder (Grade A), No. 16-­0076,…

  • Non-­Fortified Skim Milk is Skim Milk, Eleventh Circuit Holds

    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has overturned a Florida court’s summary judgment against Ocheesee Creamery, finding that the company can sell its milk product as skim milk despite its refusal to follow a Florida law requiring skim milk to be fortified with vitamin A. Ocheesee Creamery LLC v. Putnam, No. 16-­12049…