Conservationist group Oceana has issued a report purportedly finding that 43 percent of salmon samples purchased from U.S. restaurants and grocery stores were mislabeled. As a follow-up to a larger study, Oceana researchers DNA tested 82 salmon samples and compared them to the names under which restaurants and grocers sold them. Of the 32 salmon samples sold as "wild salmon," the tests indicated 69 percent were farmed; "Alaskan" or "Pacific" salmon was also likely to be mislabeled, with five of the nine samples discovered to be farmed Atlantic salmon. Large grocery stores were most likely to advertise their products correctly, while restaurants mislabeled 67 percent of fish offerings. The report further notes that salmon sold out-of-season was much more likely to be mislabeled. “The federal government should provide consumers with assurances that the seafood they purchase is safe, legally caught and honestly labeled,” Beth Lowell, senior campaign director at Oceana,…
Category Archives Issue 583
U.K. medical journal The Lancet has announced establishment of a Commission on Obesity “to provide a multidisciplinary platform to contribute to accounting systems for action and to critically analyze the systemic drivers of, and solutions for, obesity.” The 22-member commission is a partnership among The Lancet, University of Auckland, George Washington University, and World Obesity Foundation. The commission’s activities will reportedly build upon various U.N. initiatives targeting obesity and aim to “stimulate action and strengthen accountability systems for the implementation of agreed recommendations to reduce obesity and its related inequalities at global and national levels” and “develop new understandings of the underlying systems that are driving obesity,” among other things. The group’s first meeting is scheduled for February 2016 at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. See The Lancet, October 31, 2015. Issue 583
Jim Beam Brands Co. has filed a notice of opposition against an application filed by Brown-Forman Corp., maker of Jack Daniels®, to trademark Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, a bourbon product aged in two charred-oak barrels. Jim Beam Brands Co. v. Brown-Forman Corp., Serial No. 86/450,636 (T.T.A.B., notice of opposition filed October 19, 2015). Jim Beam argues that the “Double Oaked” portion of the proposed trademark is generic—or at least descriptive—because it “refers to a process of aging alcoholic beverages in a second oak barrel, which is common in the industry.” The notice cites descriptions on Brown-Forman’s website using the terms “double” and “double oaked” to describe the process of making the product. Jim Beam does not object to the registration of Woodford Reserve but requests that Brown-Forman disclaim trademark control of “Double Oaked.” Issue 583
Whole Foods Market, Inc. and video publisher The Criterion Collection have filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in a trademark dispute over Whole Foods' "Criterion Collection" line of wines. The Criterion Collection v. Whole Foods Mkt., Inc., No. 15-7132 (S.D.N.Y., notice filed October 28, 2015). The parties note that matters have been "amicably settled and adjusted between the parties" and voluntarily dismiss the case with prejudice and without costs to either party. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The September 2015 lawsuit alleged that Whole Foods infringed Criterion's trademarked name for a line of republished classic movies. Additional details appear in Issue 578 of this Update. Issue 583
New York City has appealed a trial court decision overturning a determination that expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) cannot be recycled, which had resulted in a municipal ban on the material. In re Restaurant Action Alliance, NYC, No. 100734 (N.Y. App. Ct., filed October 26, 2015). The appeal argues that the commissioner of the Department of Sanitation of New York conducted an extensive review over six months before reaching the determination that EPS could not feasibly be recycled and, thus, should be banned from commercial use within the city. “City Council prudently left determination of predictive questions about the future feasibility and sustainability of recycling foam waste to the judgement of the Commissioner,” the appeal argues. “[The trial court] was wrong to second guess the Commissioner’s determination based primarily on a short-term recycling plan proposed by the world’s largest foam manufacturer.” Additional information about the lower court’s ruling appears in Issue…
A German court has reportedly ordered the city of Hamburg to compensate a Spanish vegetable grower falsely linked to a 2011 E. coli outbreak that sickened more than 4,000 people in 16 countries. Vegetable cooperative Frunet asserted that it suffered €2.3 million in damages as a result of its incorrect identification as the source of the outbreak, which was later traced to fenugreek sprouts. The amount of the award has not been confirmed. See Think Spain, October 25, 2015. Meanwhile, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a lower court’s decision that the government does not owe tomato growers compensation after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) publicly attributed a 2008 Salmonella outbreak to red tomatoes, then later traced it to jalapeno and serrano peppers. DiMare Fresh, Inc. v. U.S., No. 15-5006 (Fed. Cir., order entered October 28, 2015). “The problem with the Tomato Producers’ contention…
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected as moot an appeal for reconsideration brought by the Shaka Movement in an effort to reestablish a ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) approved by voters in Maui County, Hawaii. Robert Ito Farm v. Cty. Of Maui, No. 15-15641 (9th Cir., order entered October 23, 2015). A federal court invalidated the statute in June 2015, finding that the ban exceeded county authority to impose fines. The unsigned appeals court opinion offered no further discussion beyond that the “motion to dismiss this appeal as moot is granted.” Additional information about the lower court’s ruling appears in Issue 571 of this Update. Issue 583
The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has announced a monograph evaluating the alleged link between red and processed meat consumption and cancer. According to an October 26, 2015, press release, 22 experts from 10 countries reviewed more than 800 epidemiological studies about this association, with the greatest weight given to “prospective cohort studies done in the general population.” Published in The Lancet Oncology with a detailed assessment to follow in volume 114 of the IARC Monographs, the initial summary concludes that red meat—which includes beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse, and goat—is “probably carcinogenic to humans” “based on limited evidence that the consumption of red meat causes cancer in humans and strong mechanistic evidence supporting a carcinogenic effect.” In addition, the meta-analysis purportedly found that meats “transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes” are “carcinogenic to humans” “based on sufficient evidence that the…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has reportedly launched an investigation into the American Egg Board (AEB) following the release of emails that allegedly revealed a concerted campaign against Hampton Creek, the manufacturer of an egg-free mayonnaise-like spread called Just Mayo. According to The Guardian, the announcement comes after calls for a congressional investigation by Hampton Creek CEO Josh Tetrick and others. “Recent news reports have brought to light a series of emails, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, that contain compelling evidence that [American Egg Board] leadership, including the Egg Board’s President and CEO, may have violated the federal laws and administrative regulations governing checkoff programs,” stated U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) in an October 20 letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack about the emails. Additional details about the AEB emails and litigation against Hampton Creek appear in Issues 578 and 549 of this…
Shook, Hardy & Bacon attorneys Frank Cruz-Alvarez, Jennifer Voss, Jared Sherr and Talia Zucker have authored an October 2015 Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) monograph surveying eight years of U.S. Supreme Court rulings to forecast trends in federal preemption analysis for practitioners and policymakers. With a forward by GlaxoSmithKline Senior Vice President and General Counsel Daniel Troy, Federal Preemption: Origins, Types and Trends in the U.S. Supreme Court considers how the doctrine of federal preemption "will continue to challenge the judicial system in light of Congress's increasing desire to enact federal regulatory schemes that implicate many traditional state government powers and functions." To this end, the monograph aims to provide "a guide to the competing views on preemption expressed by the United States Supreme Court and to anticipate what participants in the judicial system can expect in the coming years as new preemption problems find their way to the Court." Examining…
