The American Medical Association (AMA) has adopted a resolution pressing the federal government to prohibit the use of antibiotics in farm feed for the purpose of growth promotion in response to the rapid development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. David Wallinga, a physician on the Keep Antibiotics Working steering committee, said that overuse of antibiotics has driven resistant bacteria to develop more quickly, and “[a]s much as 70 percent of the use in agriculture is unnecessary or overuse.” Replacing a previous policy that discouraged the use of anti-microbials for non-therapeutic use in agriculture, Resolution 513 states that the AMA will (i) “support federal efforts to ban antibiotic use in food-producing animals for growth promotion purposes, including through regulatory and legislative measures”; (ii) “support a strong federal requirement that antibiotic prescriptions for animals be overseen by a veterinarian”; and (iii) “support efforts to expand [Food and Drug Administration] surveillance and data collection of…
Posts By Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.
A Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) report examining the sodium contents of popular restaurant meals has urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to set “reasonable limits on the amounts of sodium that can be used in various categories of food.” Although the 17 restaurant chains under review reduced sodium in their menu items by an average of 6 percent between 2009 and 2013, the consumer group singled out some companies for allegedly increasing sodium in the sample meals analyzed for the report. In particular, the report names the top 10 “saltiest meals in America” for both adults and children, noting that “79 percent of the 81 adult meals in the study still contained more than 1,500 milligrams (mg) of sodium,” with some meals topping out at 5,000 mg of sodium. “For far too long, the FDA has relied on a voluntary, wait-and-see approach when it comes…
The Union of Concerned Scientists’ Center for Science and Democracy has published a report describing how companies with an interest in promoting sugar consumption have hidden scientific evidence that reportedly reveals sugar to be a serious health threat. Goldman et al., “Added Sugar, Subtracted Science: How Industry Obscures Science and Undermines Public Health Policy on Sugar,” June 2014. Likening sugar interests to the tobacco industry, the report accuses companies of (i) attacking science, including burying data and threatening funding to the World Health Organization; (ii) spreading misinformation through research institutes, trade associations and front groups; (iii) deploying industry scientists to conduct studies and participate in scientific discussions; (iv) influencing academia by paying academic scientists to persuade other scientists of their positions; and (v) undermining policy through lobbying and supporting political candidates. The report urges the media to call out sugar interests’ misrepresentations of science and encourages scientists to disclose all…
Several major food companies have sent a letter to four U.S. senators and representatives urging Congress to direct Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to suspend revised country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules on muscle cuts of meat because they discriminate against Canada and Mexico. The letter argues that if the WTO determines that the rule violates U.S. trade obligations, it could authorize retaliation from Mexico and Canada, which “has already issued a preliminary retaliation list targeting a broad spectrum of commodities and manufactured products that will affect every state in the country.” The new rules dictate that meat producers must disclose where their livestock was born, raised and slaughtered and can no longer commingle livestock from differing origins to ensure COOL accuracy. The food company coalition has also challenged the new U.S. Department of Agriculture rules in federal court, and the case is pending after an en banc rehearing in the D.C.…
A Hawaii state court has reportedly ordered Hawaii County not to publicly disclose the identity and specific location of farms that grow genetically modified (GM) papayas. While the order apparently allows the county to maintain registration information under a December 2013 law that also prohibited open-air use and testing of GM crops, the court agreed with two GM papaya growers that the registration program lacked clear rules as to information that could be released to the public. According to a news source, the growers are concerned about vandalism or other economic harms. The court’s preliminary injunction states that releasing information about specific farm locations would not “protect farmers of nongenetically engineered crops” due to a “limited” cross-pollination risk and because GM papayas are not prohibited. A Kohala councilwoman reportedly expressed satisfaction with the ruling and contended that the general location of farms could still be made public under the injunction.…
A federal court in California has granted final approval to the nationwide class settlement of claims that the company which makes Muscle Milk® products deceived consumers by labeling them with the terms “Healthy, Sustained Energy” and “Healthy Fats.” Delacruz v. CytoSport, Inc., No. 11-3532 (N.D. Cal., order entered July 1, 2014). Additional information about the litigation and settlement appears in Issues 403, 436, 475, and 505 of this Update. Under the agreement, CytoSport will pay $1 million to eligible class members and cease using the allegedly deceptive terms on all newly printed packaging for certain products. The company may continue to use the designation “Healthy Fats” on the packaging for Muscle Milk® RTD and related products if they contain “fewer than 0.5 grams of saturated fat per serving, or CytoSport also includes the words ‘See nutrition information for saturated fat content’ in connection with the words ‘Healthy Fats.’” The court also awarded…
Poultry manufacturer Foster Farms has filed an amended complaint in its lawsuit against its Lloyd’s of London insurers, which had rejected its $14.2 million claim for economic losses resulting from a government-mandated shutdown of one of its facilities. Foster Poultry Farms Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, No. 14–953 (E.D. Cal., amended complaint filed July 3, 2014). Foster Farms had paid almost $600,000 for a yearlong product contamination policy to three insurers operating on the Lloyd’s of London insurance market, and the company later filed a claim to cover losses from the forced closure, including costs from the 1.3 million pounds of product it destroyed. The insurers rejected the claim because Foster Farms did not initiate the recall of its chicken, arguing instead that the policy covered economic losses associated with a voluntary recall from customers rather than losses from the destruction of products still in its warehouse. In a…
The Beech-Nut Nutrition Co. has filed a complaint against an organic baby-food maker seeking a declaration that Beech-Nut has not infringed any of Plum PBC’s trademarks and that the trademarks Plum has asserted to the word “JUST” and certain phrases are invalid. Beech-Nut Nutrition Co. v. Plum PBC, No. 14-0791 (N.D.N.Y., filed June 30, 2014). According to the complaint, Plum sent Beech-Nut a cease-and-desist letter in June 2014 shortly after Beech-Nut launched a new line of whole fruit and vegetable foods for babies including the word “just” on product labels and advertised them under a promotional campaign “This is not baby food” and “This is real food for babies.” The letter allegedly demanded that Beech-Nut stop infringing Plum’s “JUST” trademark and using the promotional phrases. Beech-Nut contends that (i) the word “just” is simply descriptive and generic; (ii) Plum does not use the trademark symbol beside the word on its product…
A federal court in Georgia has entered a number of orders in criminal proceedings, expected to go to trial July 14, 2014, against the former owner of the Peanut Corp. of America, implicated in a 2008-2009 nationwide Salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds and led to at least nine deaths; among the orders was one denying the prosecution’s request for a psychiatric examination of Stewart Parnell. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-cr-12 (U.S. Dist. Ct., M.D. Ga., Albany Div., order entered July 10, 2014). Details about the criminal indictment appear in Issue 472 of this Update. While Parnell’s expert, whose testimony as to the defendant’s purported ADHD condition has been excluded, described Parnell as “fidgety, restless, excitable,” the court apparently found that this testimony did not otherwise indicate that Parnell would be unable to focus at trial. “Even if Stewart Parnell has an attention deficit disorder, Dr. Conley testified he is…
A federal court in New Jersey has denied without prejudice the motion to certify three classes of multi-state claimants alleging that Beam Global Spirits & Wine falsely markets and sells its “Skinnygirl Margarita” product as “all natural” and a “healthy alternative to other commercial Margarita products.” Stewart v. Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., No. 11-5149 (U.S. Dist. Ct., D.N.J., order entered June 26, 2014). Under Third Circuit Court of Appeals precedent, the court determined that class membership, essentially via affidavit relying on potentially faulty memory, was not sufficiently ascertainable. The plaintiffs will have the opportunity to renew their motion at any appropriate time “specifically taking into account the rulings in Marcus, Hayes, and Carrera.” Among other matters, the court rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that the affidavits could be cross-checked using social media—for example, the “likes” or comments on the defendants’ Skinnygirl Facebook pages, or the companies’ consumer email records—or…
