Regenerative agriculture certifications and label claims are on the rise. While USDA "organic" certifications may be familiar to industry and consumers, these newer, private certifications may have less recognition. This post...more
On December 13, 2023, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit overturned the District Court's dismissal of Nestle Healthcare Nutrition Inc.'s consumer false advertising claims and remanded the case to the District Court for...more
SOI sets new requirements for labels and ingredients, including for minimum dairy amount and bacterial cultures; compliance deadline is January 1, 2024
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the availability...more
On Friday, September 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) published a request for comment on the use of dairy-terms in the labeling of plant-based food products. Interested stakeholders can submit comments to the...more
On Friday, September 29, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) proposed to give food manufacturers an additional year and a half to comply with the revised Nutrition Facts regulations that were published in May 2016....more
A tweet last week from Project Nosh set my food-labeling-lawyer-head buzzing: “Consumers are looking for snacks that aren’t just empty calories. Brands are providing everything from protein to anti-nausea properties.” An...more
Everybody wants “clean” labels. But, what does that mean? With no legal definition, “clean” labeling encompasses a wide-range of claims, such as natural, healthy, -free, simple, small-batch, no preservatives, no artificial...more
The term “healthy” as commonly used is quite subjective—meaning different things to different types of consumers. Culturally, there are sometimes fast-changing trends about what is healthy—foods rejected by consumers a few...more
If you are one of those consumers that studies food labels (I’m right there with you) or, more importantly, a packaged food supplier, be prepared: your food labels will be getting a makeover.
On May 20, the FDA released...more
Some folks are feeling a little salty about last week’s turn of events in the New York City sodium labeling ordinance saga.
On May 26, 2016, a New York state appellate court lifted a temporary stay on New York City’s...more
A day before new sodium labeling regulations were set to take effect in New York City, a New York state appeals court granted a temporary stay, pausing the implementation and enforcement of the new requirements. Under the...more
On February 22, a packed room of food technologists and cereal chemists in Minneapolis heard from a panel of speakers about the hot debate surrounding GMO-labeling, an issue that is unlikely to be resolved any time soon....more
In a hearing this morning in the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, committee members voted 14-6, including all Republican members and three Democrats (Klobuchar (MN), Heitkamp (ND), and Donnelly (IN)), to...more
Crises averted in international trade usually make good economics, but unsatisfying politics. They’re a half-loaf of success in which positioning, inertia and self-interest usually win. So it is with the recent repeal of meat...more
If a food is labeled organic, but is not actually organic, can a consumer bring state law claims under consumer protection statutes? In California, it appears that the answer is yes. In a recent case, Quesada v. Herb Thyme...more
On Nov. 12, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a request for information and comments about the use of the term “natural.” Food and beverage companies have been using the term with few...more
Think of that busy mom in a grocery store, standing in front of a wall of granola bars. How does she choose which one to buy? Does she pick the all-natural chocolate peanut butter kind or the not-all-natural chocolate peanut...more
On July 9, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it is extending the date for compliance with its menu labeling requirements by one year. Under the new timeframe, businesses covered by the menu...more