On May 28, 2024, Chief Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, certified a class of consumers in an action against Barilla Foods....more
6/20/2024
/ Advertising ,
Ascertainable Class ,
Barilla ,
Class Certification ,
CLRA ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Country of Origin ,
False Advertising ,
Food Labeling ,
Food Manufacturers ,
FRCP 23 ,
Marketing ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Product Packaging ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL)
Over the past several years, federal courts have rarely allowed slack-fill class actions to survive beyond the motion to dismiss phase. Whether the plaintiffs allege that the packaging is misleading or that the slack-fill is...more
1/19/2022
/ Breach of Warranty ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Fraud ,
False Advertising ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Misrepresentation ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Product Packaging ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Slack-Fill Suits
Federal courts continue to demonstrate lacking patience for nationwide product labeling class actions premised on purported label misstatements regarding the sourcing of vanilla flavoring....more
On June 8, 2020, Judge Katherine Polk Failla in the Southern District of New York dismissed a putative class action against TGI Friday’s (“Friday’s”) for alleged deceptive advertising....more
On May 20, 2020, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a proposed class action against General Mills for its alleged failure to disclose the presence of a harmful chemical in its Cheerios cereal....more
5/28/2020
/ Article III ,
Breach of Warranty ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Food Contamination ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Safety ,
General Mills ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Monsanto ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Standing ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Unjust Enrichment
Last week U.S. District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton granted Ghirardelli’s Motion to Dismiss a proposed class action involving the chocolatier’s packaging of its white baking chips....more
The rapid spread of COVID-19 (also commonly referred to as “novel coronavirus”) has caused nations and organizations across the world to take emergency action in the interest of public health. Most companies are issuing...more
3/11/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Brick-and-Mortar Stores ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Food Contamination ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Safety ,
Food Service Workers ,
Food Supply ,
Foreign Manufacturers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
On-Demand Services ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Risk Management ,
Sick Leave ,
Supply Chain ,
Workplace Safety
This month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) opened a criminal investigation into collusive behavior among some of the largest producers of Atlantic salmon. This inquiry follows the DOJ’s June announcement of its separate...more
11/27/2019
/ Antitrust Conspiracies ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Class Action ,
Collusion ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
European Commission ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Price-Fixing ,
Subsidiaries
Eager to curb foodborne-illness outbreaks, retail giants like Walmart and Albertsons are turning to blockchain technology to track exactly where their foods are coming from. Blockchain, as compared to the eye-straining,...more
8/21/2019
/ Beverage Manufacturers ,
Blockchain ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Data Management ,
Food Contamination ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Safety ,
Grocery Stores ,
Retail Market ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain
The active ingredient in popular weed killers, glyphosate, has gotten bad press lately. Thousands of plaintiffs have alleged that exposure to it caused their cancers. Jurors have responded by invoking punitive damages and...more
8/16/2019
/ Article III ,
Cancer ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Public Health ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
What started out as a proposed merger between two of the largest packaged seafood manufacturers spawned a lengthy criminal investigation into antitrust violations in the tuna industry by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and...more
8/2/2019
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Class Certification ,
Competition ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Price-Fixing ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Seafood
Capitalizing on an increasingly health and environmentally conscious era, plant-based meat substitute companies are positioning themselves as the future of protein. On May 2, 2019, Beyond Meat became the first plant-based...more
Price-fixing cases over the past decade have read like a virtual electronics product materials list. Government investigators and civil plaintiffs have pursued actions involving a wide array of electronic parts ranging from...more
5/7/2019
/ Amnesty ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Conspiracies ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Criminal Liability ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Supply ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Price-Fixing ,
Retail Market ,
Seafood
In the Wake of Monsanto, All Eyes are on the Cheerios Glyphosate Case -
Doss v. General Mills, No. 18-cv-61924 (S.D. Fla Aug.17, 2018) -
The Skinny: Last fall, a jury in California awarded $289 million to a plaintiff...more
4/26/2019
/ Beverage Manufacturers ,
Children's Products ,
False Advertising ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Marketing ,
General Mills ,
Monsanto ,
Pesticides ,
Product Labels ,
Standing ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
Malic Acid: Newest Culprit in “Natural” Marketing Case Trend -
Hilsley v. Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., No. 17-cv-2335, 2018 WL 6245894 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 29, 2018) -
The Skinny: Malic acid is a common food ingredient...more
When people think about this year’s food industry trends, they may envision app-based grocery delivery services, the Keto diet, and restaurants that serve all locally-sourced ingredients....more
At a recent Politico event, Federal Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb signaled the agency’s shift to a new era of more stringent enforcement in the dairy business. Gottlieb did so with an amusing quote:...more
8/17/2018
/ False Advertising ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Food Labeling ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Marketing ,
Food Supply ,
Misbranding ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Nutrition Facts Labels ,
Plant Based Products ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards
Have you ever taken a sip of your Grande Starbucks latte and thought to yourself with disgust, “I can’t believe that barista topped off my latte with milk foam!” Or polished off an eight-piece bucket of Kentucky Fried...more