A California federal court has dismissed on jurisdictional grounds Quest Nutrition LLC’s lawsuit against Louisiana State University Agricultural Center accusing the school of filing a patent for a sweetener using Quest’s confidential information. Quest Nutrition LLC v. Bd. of Supervisors of LSU Agric. & Mech. Coll., No. 14-2005 (C.D. Cal., order entered July 8, 2014). The court ruled that the majority of Quest’s claims—including those for unfair competition and breach of contract—arose under state law so the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, and the court held that state courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have subject matter jurisdiction over Quest’s patent claims. Quest hired LSU Agricultural Center in 2013 to test a potentially new sweetener and bound the information by a confidentiality agreement. The company alleged that the university succeeded in identifying the formula for the sweetener and filed a patent application with the information that did not list Quest…
Category Archives Issue 530
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the settlement of class actions alleging consumer fraud in ads portraying Nutella as a healthy breakfast food. In re Ferrero Litigation, No. 12-56469 (9th Cir., decided July 16, 2014) (unpublished). Three members of the certified statewide class objected to the settlement, which provided $550,000 to reimburse class members, required ad-campaign and product-labeling revisions and awarded $985,920 in attorney’s fees. The objectors claimed inadequate notice of the attorney’s fee request, lack of justification or explanation for the fee award and the district court’s failure to consider whether class counsel adequately represented the class. The court found no basis for the objections, noting in part that the district court properly applied the lodestar method to the attorney’s fee calculation and that no indicia of collusion were present. Issue 530
Briefing has been completed before the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on a petition seeking review of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholding California’s prohibition on the sale of food produced by force feeding birds to enlarge the liver beyond normal size. Association des Éleveur de Canards des d’Oies du Québec v. Harris, No. 13-1313 (U.S., distributed for Sept. 29, 2014, conference on July 16). Additional details about the Ninth Circuit’s ruling appear in Issue 497 of this Update. Joining the Canadian and New York foie gras producers that filed the certiorari petition are the attorneys general (AGs) of 13 states. Their amici curiae brief claims that the petition presents an issue of “exceptional importance to the preservation of state sovereignty,” namely, that the lower court’s decision “allows the states to engage in economic isolationism, set themselves against one another, and balkanize the nation, thus giving rise to trade wars…
The District of Columbia City Council this week overrode Mayor Vincent Gray’s veto of the 2015 budget, which includes a directive for the issuance of “healthy food and beverage standards” for vending machine and other concession offerings sold or served on District government property. Encouraging fare that includes fruits, vegetables and other offerings low in calories and sodium, the Workplace Wellness Emergency Act of 2014 standards will “apply to foods and beverages purchased or served by District agencies, including at meetings, events, in vending machines, and through on-site vendors, with the exception of food served by the Department of Corrections and the Department of Behavioral Health to persons who reside at their institutions or are in their direct custody.” The council also reportedly approved a proposal to prohibit polystyrene foam food and beverage containers beginning in 2016; meat trays will be exempt from the ban. See The Washington Post, July…
The Mexican Ministry of Health has reportedly announced new restrictions on food and beverage advertisements aired during TV programs and movies viewed by children. Part of its National Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Overweight, Obesity and Diabetes, the new rules will prohibit the marketing of sugar-sweetened beverages, snacks, confectionery, and chocolate on both terrestrial and cable television from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. during the week and from 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekends. Eliminating 40 percent of ads across these four product categories, the strategy will also ban these promotions in movies rated A or AA, which covers those targeted at all ages. See Ministry of Health Press Release and BBC News, July 15, 2014. Issue 530
After revisiting a prior safety assessment, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has established an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 4 mg/kg bw/day for the food coloring known as Sunset Yellow. EFSA’s Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources Added to Food (ANS) recommended raising the ADI—previously set at 1 mg/kg bw/day—in light of a 28-day study report, a 2011 evaluation conducted by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and additional toxicological information made available since the 2009 assessment. “Exposure estimates for Sunset Yellow FCF based both on the currently authorized MPLs [Maximum Permitted Levels] and reported use levels are well below the new ADI of 4 mg/kg bw/day for all population groups,” noted the ANS Panel. “Overall, the Panel concluded that, using data provided by the food industry and Member States, the reported uses and use levels of Sunset Yellow FCF (E 110) would not be of…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched an open consultation on a discussion paper titled “Transformation to an Open EFSA,” which sets forth “a conceptual framework, a step-by-step methodology and a plan for the transformation of the [agency] into an Open Science organization over the next five years.” Launched in January 2013 after the Corporate European Observatory (CEO) raised concerns about the agency’s ties to industry, the Open EFSA initiative seeks to ensure that citizens can participate in a decision-making process that is “clear, obvious and understandable without doubt or ambiguity.” Additional details about the CEO report and its aftermath appear in Issues 399 and 439 of this Update. More specifically, notes the discussion paper, the advent of societal trends such as crowd sourcing and open innovation—coupled with technological advances that foster the growth of global information networks—have presented new opportunities and challenges for civic engagement within EFSA’s current…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has proposed a rule requiring that “all makers of raw ground beef products keep records” that would allow FSIS to conduct timelier recalls of potentially contaminated meat. The proposed rule would require retailers that mix meats from multiple sources to keep more detailed records identifying the source. According to a July 16, 2014, press release, previous FSIS efforts to encourage raw ground beef retailers’ maintenance of clear records have been insufficient in aiding the service in tracing the source of contaminated meat. “The improved traceback capabilities that would result from this proposal will prevent foodborne illness by allowing FSIS to conduct recalls of potentially contaminated raw ground products in a timelier manner,” said USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Brian Ronholm. FSIS will accept comments on its proposed rule for 60 days following publication in the Federal…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a final rule clarifying “the roles and responsibilities of USDA’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (OASCR) and USDA agencies in enforcing nondiscrimination in programs or activities conducted by USDA.” Intended to “strengthen the agency’s civil rights compliance and complaint processing activities to better protect the rights of USDA customers,” the final rule requires OASCR and other USDA agencies to “collect, maintain and annually compile data on the race, ethnicity and gender (REG) of all conducted program applicants and participants by county and State.” To facilitate early resolution of complaints, the agency also stipulates that “OASCR shall offer Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services to complainants where appropriate.” In addition, the final rule establishes two new protected bases: political beliefs and gender identity. “This amendment is meant to make explicit protections against discrimination based on USDA program customers’ political beliefs or…
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