Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: soda/soft drink

  • Big Red Takes on Big Ben in Red Cream Soda Trademark Dispute

    Big Red, Inc., a beverage company owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Catawissa Bottling Co., alleging that the company packages its Big Ben cream soda too similarly to Big Red’s red cream soda product. Big Red, Inc. v. Catawissa Bottling Co., Inc., No. 15-1423 (N.D. Tex., filed…

  • Reduced Daily Soft Drink Consumption Linked to Decreased Diabetes Risk

    University of Cambridge researchers report that replacing one soft drink per day with water or unsweetened coffee/tea reduced the incidence of diabetes by 14 to 25 percent in a prospective cohort of 25,639 adults enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Laura O’Connor, et al., “Prospective associations and population impact of sweet beverage…

  • California Federal Court Dismisses 4-MEI Suit Against PepsiCo Inc.

    A California federal court has dismissed a lawsuit arguing that PepsiCo Inc. should provide medical monitoring for a class of Diet Pepsi or Pepsi One purchasers because the company does not warn consumers that 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI), a compound in caramel coloring, has allegedly been linked to potential health risks in rodent studies. Riva v. PepsiCo,…

  • Consumer Reports Study Assesses Alleged 4-MEI Cancer Risk

    A joint study by Consumer Reports and the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future claims that 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) exposures “associated with average rates of soft drink consumption pose excess cancer risks exceeding one case per 1,000,0000 exposed individuals, which is a common acceptable risk goal used by U.S. federal regulatory agencies.” Tyler Smith, et al.,…

  • Rudd Center Report Targets Advertising Sugar-Sweetened Beverages to Children

    The Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has published Sugary Drink FACTS 2014, a report funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that targets trends in beverage advertising to children. Claiming that companies spent $866 million on advertising for sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) in 2013, the report argues that even though youth-oriented TV programs and…

  • Navajo Nation Council Approves “Junk” Food Tax

    In a 10-4 vote, the Navajo Nation Council has approved a tax on “junk” foods sold on the largest reservation in the United States. If President Ben Shelly signs the measure into law, the Healthy Dine Nation Act of 2014 would apply to items like cookies, chips and soft drinks, and the revenue generated would…

  • Australian Public Health Coalition Advocates National Tax on SSBs

    Calling Berkeley, California, voters’ recent passage of a 1-cent-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) a “victory for the health of Americans,” Australia’s Rethink Sugary Drink Campaign is urging state and local governments to enact comparable measures. The initiative is a partnership among the groups Cancer Council Australia, Diabetes Australia and Heart Foundation (Victoria). “Australia is among…

  • Study Links Sugar-Sweetened Beverages to Accelerated Aging

    A recent study has purportedly linked sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption to accelerated cell aging, estimating that “daily consumption of a 20-ounce soda was associated with 4.6 years of additional biological aging.” Cindy Leung, et al., “Soda and Cell Aging: Associations Between Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Healthy Adults From the National Health…