Think you’re being healthy when you reach for that KIND bar in the middle of your workday? We won’t say yes or no—since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has recently declined to opine on what “all...more
When it comes to consumer class action litigation, what type of evidence is required to show that labeling nutrition bars as "all natural" violates false advertising and consumer protection laws? According to the plaintiffs...more
Our weekly roundup aims to keep our readers up to date on recent notable rulings in the food & consumer packaged goods space. - Makiko Fukaya v. Daiso California LLC et al., No. 3:23-cv-00099-JSC (N.D. Cal. – May 11, 2023):...more
Takeaway: In a pair of putative class actions, plaintiffs challenged Fanta’s “Piña Colada” soda’s “100% Natural Flavors” claim and a MiO flavored drink concentrate’s claims of containing Mango and Peach “natural flavor with...more
Distilled spirits manufacturers recently find themselves in proverbial hot water when it comes to incomplete or misleading representations on labels. Recent state and federal court cases highlight that while mere "puffery" –...more
LEGISLATION, REGULATIONS & STANDARDS - Omnibus Spending Bill Includes Congressional Notes to FDA - President Biden has signed a spending bill that includes additional funding for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...more
Pickle maker Grillo's Pickles, Inc. has filed suit against the maker of Wahlburgers pickles, alleging the company makes misleading claims about its pickles' freshness and all natural and preservative-free status. Grillo's...more
In October of this year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals analyzed the issue of federal preemption in the context of poultry product labeling. The plaintiff in Cohen v. ConAgra Brands, Inc., brought a putative class action...more
Health-conscious consumers continue to challenge the sugar content in foods, including sugar appearing in other forms, such as “dehydrated cane juice solids.” But as one recent case shows, calling sugar by another name is not...more
In a recent opinion out of the Southern District of New York, Judge William H. Pauley III certified three classes of plaintiffs in New York, California, and Florida who allege that KIND LLC, the manufacturer of KIND Bars,...more
When consumers make grocery store runs to pick up vanilla ice cream or vanilla almond milk, are they concerned with whether the product is derived solely or primarily from vanilla beans versus being simply vanilla flavored?...more
Judge Beth Freeman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently dismissed with prejudice a putative class action alleging that Mott’s apple-based products were deceptively labeled “Natural” and...more
Schumer Urges USDA To Delay Hemp Rule - U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to “delay the issuance of a U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program final rule until 2022 and...more
The Second Quarter of 2020 has demonstrated increased filings in the food litigation space. Amidst reduced court operations and a significant decrease to general commercial litigation filings attributable to the COVID-19...more
Lawsuits against Tom’s of Maine (Tom’s) and Colgate-Palmolive Co. (Colgate), the parent company of Tom’s, have made news of late and raise concerns over representations about “natural” products on package labeling. ...more
Several pending rulings at the circuit court level have the potential to significantly influence class action law in 2020. Of greatest note, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit may determine the future of...more
A California federal judge recently handed a victory to the Hershey Co. in a suit alleging the company falsely represented that its Brookside chocolate products have no artificial flavors. Clark v. Hershey Co., 18-cv-06113...more
Welcome to the latest edition of the Food & Beverage Digest, our roundup of court cases and settlements affecting the agribusiness, food, beverage, and cosmetics industry. Here you’ll find information about cannabidiol...more
Food and beverage companies doing business in the United States should be aware that lawsuits are being brought against businesses based on small amounts of ingredients and trace amounts of substances that are incidentally in...more
Welcome to the latest edition of the Food & Beverage Digest, our roundup of court cases and settlements affecting the agribusiness, food, beverage, and cosmetics industry. Here you’ll find information about cases buzzing...more
As of August 2019, overall food litigation filings are on pace with those of last year. California and New York remain the two most popular jurisdictions for food litigation matters. While California filings in 2019 are...more
As we have reported in our previous blog posts (“Beware the “Influencer”” and “The Price of Natural Cosmetics”), courts continue to wrestle with challenges to manufacturers’ claims that their products are “all natural.”...more
In recent years, we have tracked numerous cases that claimed food products marketed as “pure” did not have the marketed levels of purity. From water to cheese to honey products, “pure” claims have led to challenges in federal...more
A New York federal court recently dismissed a putative class action alleging that a line of dog food products was improperly labeled as “natural” where the plaintiff alleged that the products contained only trace amounts of...more
With fifteen new cases filed in April, total filings on the year are slightly down from last year—there have been sixty-nine total new filings in 2019 compared with seventy-seven by this time last year. Most new filings were...more