On April 24, 2025, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a contract provision restricting liability for willful injury was unenforceable under California Civil Code section 1668. This decision was in response to...more
On April 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) announced new measures to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from the U.S. food supply....more
On April 10, 2025, the FDA held a public webinar on the updated criteria for companies to use the “healthy” nutrient content claim. This webinar tracked the final rule issued on December 27, 2024....more
On January 25, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) announced a new website listing regulations that its Foods Program plans to publish by October 2024 and longer-term regulations it is prioritizing for...more
On September 1, 2023, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill (“AB”) 418, the California Food Safety Act.
If the law is passed, then any person or entity will be prohibited from manufacturing or selling a food...more
On August 9, 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) announced a direct final rule revoking certain uses of partially hydrogenated oils (“PHOs”) in food. The rule will go into effect on December 22, 2023. Any comments...more
On August 14, 2023, a panel of judges for the United State Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a published opinion affirming dismissal of two complaints alleging that food product labels advertising the amount of...more
On July 6, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released an updated list of draft and final topics that the agency anticipates publishing guidance documents for by the end of December 2023....more
On September 15, 2022, the Court of Appeal of California, Fourth Appellate District reversed the lower court and revived false advertising claims involving “white baking” chips or morsels.
Both cases involve the...more
On April 20, 2022, a $15 million class action settlement was approved by the court in Hesse, et al. v. Godiva Chocolatier, Inc., over the objections of multiple State Attorneys General. Plaintiffs alleged that the company’s...more
On March 25, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) announced a public process to update the “health” nutrient content claim for food labeling. This process will include the agency’s review of a voluntary symbol...more
On January 31, 2022, FDA released a list of draft and final guidance topics that are a priority for the FDA Foods Program to complete during the next 12 months.
The guidance topics include several focused on plant-based...more
In January 2022, FDA announced new initiatives focused on food safety, indicating that the agency will continue to prioritize that area. Several of these programs are designed to provide more transparency and more information...more
On December 1, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) issued a final rule establishing the Laboratory Accreditation for Analyses of Food (“LAAF”) program.
FDA will utilize the LAAF program to recognize...more
On September 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (“FSIS”) published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to solicit comments from the public regarding the labeling of meat and...more
On August 4, 2021, Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse and Ed Markey; and Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone, Jr. and Rosa DeLauro introduced the Food Labeling Modernization Act (“FLMA”) in both...more
On June 29, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and Office of Food Policy and Response released a list of draft and final guidance topics that are a priority for...more
On April 6, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) announced agency actions to advance the safety of leafy greens.
First, the FDA announced that it was releasing a report of its investigation on the Fall...more
On February 18, 2021, Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock and Acting USDA Secretary Kevin Shea issued a joint COVID-19 update statement that current epidemiologic and scientific information available to the FDA and USDA...more
On January 12, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) announced two updates to stakeholders regarding the agency’s Food Traceability Proposed Rule. The Proposed Rule was initially announced on September 12, 2020, and...more
On January 4, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would set January 1, 2024 as the uniform compliance date for final food labeling regulations that are issued in calendar years 2021 and 2022.
In its...more
On November 4, 2020, Uber, Lyft and Door Dash secured a victory in their expensive campaign to categorize app-based drivers as independent contractors. 55% of California voters voted in favor of Proposition 22, which means...more
12/2/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Borello Test ,
Delivery Drivers ,
DoorDash ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Lyft ,
New Legislation ,
Restaurant Industry ,
State Labor Laws ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
The FDA recently announced that it would be holding three virtual public meetings entitled “Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods; Proposed Rule.”
The purpose of the public meetings is to...more
On September 21, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration announced a proposed rule to establish additional traceability recordkeeping requirements for companies who manufacture, process, pack, or store foods that the FDA has...more
On September 18, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced additional flexibility for manufacturers to comply with the agency’s updated Nutrition and Supplement Facts labeling requirements. Those requirements go...more