Tag: Ohio

  • Teen’s Family Sues Amazon for Wrongful Death After Caffeine Overdose

    The estate of Logan Stiner, an Ohio teenager who died in May 2014 after ingesting pure caffeine powder purchased from Amazon, has filed a lawsuit against the online retailer and the companies that manufacture and market the powder. Stiner v. Amazon.com Inc., No. 15CV185837 (C.P. Lorain Cty., filed March 6, 2015). According to the complaint,…

  • Watered-Down Beer MDL Dismissed with Prejudice

    A multidistrict litigation (MDL) court in Ohio has dismissed with prejudice six putative class actions involving plaintiffs from California, Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, alleging that Anheuser-Busch “routinely and intentionally adds extra water to its finished product to produce malt beverages that ‘consistently have significantly lower alcohol content than the percentages displayed…

  • JPML Centralizes Actions Alleging Beer Maker Diluted Product

    The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has ordered the centralization of six actions claiming that Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC, systematically overstated the alcohol content of its malt beverage products by diluting them with water. In Re: Anheuser-Busch Beer Labeling Mktg. & Sales Practices Litig., MDL No. 2448 (JPML, decided June 10, 2013). The putative class…

  • Ohio Appeals Court Strikes State Bill Preempting City Trans Fat Ban

    An Ohio appeals court has determined that Ohio legislators improperly enacted an appropriations bill rider that was intended to preempt a Cleveland ordinance prohibiting the use of “industrially produced trans fat” in foods prepared by retail food establishments and food service operations, such as fast-food restaurants, unless the foods were served “in a manufacturer’s original sealed…

  • State Court Allows Cleveland to Prohibit Trans Fats in Prepared Meals

    A Cuyahoga County, Ohio, court has reportedly determined that a state law prohibiting municipalities from regulating the ingredients used in prepared foods, such as restaurant meals and grocery or bakery takeout items, does not preempt Cleveland’s ordinance prohibiting retail food establishments from selling foods containing trans fats. Cleveland announced the ban in April 2011, and…

  • New Lawsuits Filed: “Natural” Orange Juice, Mislabeled Butter, City vs. State in Trans Fat Dispute, Lack of FDA Action on Nanotechnology Petition

    Putative class actions have been filed in New Jersey and California federal courts against Tropicana Products, Inc., alleging that the company misleads consumers by labeling and marketing its orange juice as “100% pure and natural,” when it actually “undergoes extensive processing which includes the addition of aromas and flavors.” Lynch v. Tropicana Prods., Inc., No.…

  • Ohio Will Not Pursue Dairy Labeling Restrictions

    According to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), Ohio has decided not to pursue regulations that would prohibit dairy producers from including on their labels statements that organic dairy products are made without antibiotics, pesticides or synthetic hormones. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals determined in September 2010 that those parts of the rule involving hormone-free…

  • Federal Court Certifies Insurance Coverage Question in Meat Recall to State Court

    Finding no clear state precedent, a federal court in Ohio has certified to the state supreme court a question arising in a case involving insurance coverage for Listeria-contaminated meats that led to the destruction of 1 million pounds of meat products in 2006. HoneyBaked Foods, Inc. v. Affiliated FM Ins. Co., No. 08-1686 (N.D. Ohio, order…