A federal court in the District of Columbia has issued an order granting preliminary approval of a settlement agreement involving a class of African-American farmers who “submitted late-filing requests under Section 5(g) of the Pigford v. Glickman Consent Decree on or after October 13, 1999, and on or before June 18, 2008,” but had not yet obtained a determination on the merits of their discrimination complaints. In re: Black Farmers Discrimination Litig., No. 08-0511 (D.D.C., filed May 13, 2011). The order certifies the class and sets a “cost cap” of $35 million with payment of up to $3.5 million for class counsel fees and costs. Class members are enjoined from bringing any other claims arising out of section 14012 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. These lawsuits alleged that the U.S. Department of Agriculture systematically discriminated against African-American farmers on the basis of race. The court has scheduled…
Category Archives Issue 395
A federal court in California has reportedly dismissed without prejudice putative class claims filed against General Mills Inc. alleging that the company falsely conveyed to consumers that its Total Blueberry Pomegranate® cereal product contained real fruit. Dvora v. Gen. Mills Inc., No. 11-1074 (C.D. Cal., dismissed May 16, 2011). According to a news source, the court determined that the plaintiff’s state-law claims were preempted by federal product-labeling laws that allow a manufacturer to use a fruit’s name and image to describe a flavor even if the product contains no fruit. The claims were apparently based on allegations that the product was falsely labeled “naturally and artificially flavored” and the packaging was misleading. The court disagreed, saying, “If you look at the ingredients table, blueberry and pomegranate aren’t there. So I don’t understand how a reasonable consumer is somehow tricked into thinking it contains blueberry and pomegranate.” The court also said…
The California Senate’s Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee has reportedly passed a bill (S. 380) that would permit the Medical Board of California to “set content standards for any educational activity concerning a chronic disease that includes appropriate information on the impact, prevention, and cure of the chronic disease by the application of changes in nutrition and lifestyle behavior.” The legislation would amend Section 2190 of the Business and Professions Code that deals with mandatory continuing medical education and authorize the board “to also set content standards for an educational activity concerning chronic disease, as specified.” See John McDougall Press Release, May 16, 2011. Backed by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the bill was evidently authored by John McDougall, a physician known for emphasizing the role of diet in preventing chronic disease. McDougall currently appears in the film “Forks over Knives,”…
The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) Food and Nutrition Board has announced a June 7, 2011, meeting that will focus on the safety of imported foods “with the purposed of engaging science, technology, and policy personnel representing the global food supply chain, government agencies, and academia.” Titled “Food Forum Meeting on Supply Chain and Policy/Regulatory Approaches to Import Safety,” the meeting will include a morning panel featuring actors representing the supply chain “from producer to retailer/food service provider” and an afternoon panel of government officials representing “governance processes from the state to global level.” By focusing on the Food and Drug Administration’s new authority granted under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), including “importer accountability, third party certification, certification for high risk foods, voluntary qualified importer program, and authority to deny entry,” the meeting aims to “provide perspectives and ideas useful for the development and implementation of the multifaceted import tools available…
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report criticizing the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) oversight of imported seafood safety. Noting that about one-half of imported seafood comes from fish farms that may use antibiotics to prevent bacterial infections, the report claims that “residues of some drugs can cause cancer and antibiotic resistance.” Titled “FDA Needs to Improve Oversight of Imported Seafood and Better Leverage Limited Resources,” the report urges FDA to enhance its import sampling program. “FDA’s oversight program to ensure the safety of imported seafood from residues of unapproved drugs is limited, especially as compared with the European Union,” the report states, adding that FDA inspectors “generally do not visit the farms to evaluate drug use or the capabilities, competence, and quality control of laboratories that analyze the seafood.” The report also recommends that FDA (i) “study the feasibility of adopting practices used by other entities to…
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “to clarify its authority to regulate foods that contain additives, such as baked goods that contain high doses of melatonin,” after media reports drew attention to so-called “relaxation brownies” touted for allegedly alleviating stress and easing sleep deprivation. In a May 18, 2011, letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, Durbin argues that melatonin-laced sweets “with names such as Lazy Cakes, Kush Cakes and Lulla Pies” could raise health concerns for consumers who “may not recognize they are consuming a neurohormone, that they should consult a doctor before eating it, and that it may not be appropriate for children, people with auto-immune diseases, or women who are pregnant or breast-feeding.” He notes that these products contain “roughly 8 milligrams of melatonin—almost double the upper limit of a typical dose” set by the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, which advises…
12
