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
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
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
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
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
LEGISLATION, REGULATIONS & STANDARDS - CBD Banned from New York Restaurants, in Limbo in Idaho - New York City’s health department has reportedly ordered restaurants to stop serving products that contain cannabidiol...more
Two recent contrasting decisions in class action false advertising cases alleging misleading uses of the term “natural” for food products underscore the difficulty in predicting the likelihood of achieving an early stage...more
Consumer class action suits continue to target food products that plaintiffs allege don’t actually contain the ingredients highlighted in their labels. For example, in one such false fact case last month, the plaintiff argued...more
Each month we will be sharing the PC Food Litigation Index, a summary of latest class action filings in the food and beverage industry. This data is compiled by Perkins Coie based on a review of dockets from courts...more
On August 1, plaintiff and putative class representative Markeith Parks sued celebrity chef Rachael Ray’s dog food brand Nutrish® alleging that the products are falsely labeled and marketed as “natural.” The complaint states...more
For years the United States District Court for the Northern District of California has been known as the “Food Court.” It acquired the name because both plaintiffs and defendants viewed it as pro-plaintiff in class action...more
In a review of new class action cases filed against in 2017, we counted at least 11 actions in the food industry alone alleging that a product was not “natural” or “all-natural” as claimed in its advertising or labeling....more
Mid-year reports have shown that there has been a resurgence in “all natural” litigation against food product companies in 2017 – an expected 30% increase in filings as compared to 2016. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. These...more
The food and beverage industry is faced with an onslaught of consumer fraud class actions targeting everything from the use of the terms “all natural,” “healthy,” and “organic,” to the amount of slack-fill in particular...more