In This Issue:

- Recent Significant Developments and Rulings

..VitaRain “Natural” Caffeine Claims Against Costco Rules Preempted

..Court Refuses To Certify Most “All Natural” Claims Against Kashi and Bear Naked

..New York Appellate Court Affirms Dismissal Of Soda Ban

..Federal Court Stays “All Natural” Case To Allow FDA To Exercise Jurisdiction

..Case Will Proceed Against Organic Milk With Omega-3 Brain Health Claims

..Court Refers Evaporated Cane Juice Claims To The FDA, Then Vacates Order

- Regulatory Updates

..Starbucks Updates Advertising Language for Verisimo Single-Serve System

..FDA Proposes Two New Rules For Foreign Food Supply Safety

- New filings

- Excerpt from VitaRain “Natural” Caffeine Claims Against Costco Rules Preempted:

In Maple v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 12cv5166 (E.D. Wash.), plaintiffs alleged that VitaRain Tropical Mango Vitamin Enhanced Waster Beverage was marketed as a “natural” product but in fact contained large amounts of “synthetic” caffeine in alleged violation of Washington consumer protection statutes. Plaintiffs argued that the products were required to disclose on the front label that the drink contains caffeine and to disclose the relative amount of caffeine in the drink. Costco moved to dismiss, arguing both that the labeling requirements proposed by plaintiff were preempted by federal law and that the complaint failed to satisfy minimum pleading standards. The court agreed, holding that federal regulations expressly covered the labeling requirements plaintiffs sought to impose, ruling that plaintiffs’ efforts to impose additional requirements were expressly preempted. The court also dismissed plaintiffs’ state law claims as inadequately pled, largely based on a lack of causation.