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
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
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
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
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
On April 8, 2019, a judge in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Civil Division, granted summary judgment to Hormel Food Corporation (Hormel) in a case filed by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) on the grounds...more
“Contains detectable levels of the weed-killer chemical glyphosate.” “Contains limonene, which causes kidney toxicity and tumors, and linalool, a cockroach insecticide.” “Contains a potent biocide and endocrine disruptor,...more
It was another active year in 2018 for class action litigation targeting the food, beverage and supplement industries. A cross-practice team from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has authored a roundup of the most notable...more
Unlike a fine wine, a snack bar does not get better with age. Neither, apparently, does litigation. Last month, Judge William H. Pauley III in the Southern District of New York lifted a years-long stay in a lawsuit against...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
What does “natural” mean in the context of product advertising? Consumers see phrases like “natural,” “all natural,” and “100% natural” over and over again in modern marketing. The trouble is that “natural” may not mean...more
On October 25, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed a consumer class action under Massachusetts law, contending that Wesson vegetable oil is falsely labeled “100% natural” because it allegedly...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
A mini-trend in food litigation last year was the spate of class action cases alleging that foods advertised as “natural” contained trace amounts of the herbicide glyphosate. “Trace” is the operative word; to the extent...more
Food for Thought is a review of significant court decisions affecting the food, beverage, dietary supplements and personal care products industry. Although many cases in this edition focus on class certification, others...more
Food companies have several significant defenses to consumer fraud class actions over product labeling, say attorneys Joshua Briones and Crystal Lopez, and analyst Grace Rosales. The authors focus on damages, an area in which...more