The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has found that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting a preliminary injunction blocking a requirement to warn California consumers about the presence of acrylamide in food and beverage products. Cal. Chamber of Com. v. Council for Education and Research on Toxics, No. 19-2019 (9th Cir., entered March 17, 2022). Filed by the California Chamber of Commerce, the suit alleges that requiring the warning for products containing chemicals listed under the state's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop. 65) on products with acrylamide would violate the organization's members' "First Amendment rights to not be compelled to place false and misleading acrylamide warnings on their food products." The district court held that the state did not show the Prop. 65 acrylamide warning was "purely factual and uncontroversial." "[D]ozens of epidemiological studies have failed to tie human cancer to…
Category Archives Issue 775
An Illinois federal court has dismissed a lawsuit alleging Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Inc. misled consumers by describing its ice cream bars as coated in milk chocolate when the chocolate contained coconut oil. Zurliene v. Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Inc., No. 21-0747 (S.D. Ill., entered March 17, 2022). The complaint, brought under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, asserted that the Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars' label confused the plaintiff because she understood the term "milk chocolate" to describe "a product made from the cacao bean without chocolate substitutes, such as coconut oil." The claim "is preempted by the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA)," the court held. "The FDCA prohibits states from 'directly or indirectly establish[ing] under any authority . . . any requirement for a food which is the subject of a standard of identity . . . that is not identical to such standard identity or…
Shook Of Counsel John Johnson III will co-present "Food and Dietary Supplement Regulation Year-in-Review" on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, at the Food and Dietary Supplement Safety and Regulation Conference. The conference, which takes place March 30-31, will be presented virtually by the Food and Drug Law Institute. "This session will recap the most significant recent developments in food and dietary supplement regulation and enforcement, including updates on FDA and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspections, FDA and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warning letters and enforcement, and compliance challenges faced by manufacturers and retailers," according to the conference agenda. "Panelists will also discuss the extent to which federal regulation and enforcement may have impacted private litigation over the past year."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will conduct quantitative consumer research on the use of "voluntary symbols that could be used in the future to convey the nutrient content claim 'healthy.'" The agency is simultaneously "developing a proposed rule that would update when manufacturers may use the 'healthy' nutrient content claim on food packages." "Updating labeling and making it more accessible helps empower consumers," the constituent update states. "In particular, claims and symbols can help consumers better understand nutrition information and identify foods that contribute to a healthy eating pattern. Manufacturers may also reformulate products to improve their nutritional value so they can use the claim."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule amending the acceptable qualities of food labeled as yogurt. Under the rule, the standards of identity for lowfat and nonfat yogurt will be combined with the general definition; in addition, the list of allowable ingredients has expanded to include additional substances such as agave. "Additionally, the final rule supports the many innovations that have already been made in the yogurt marketplace, including continuing to allow manufacturers to fortify yogurts, such as adding vitamins A and D, as long as they meet fortification requirements," according to the constituent update. "The rule also allows various styles or textures of yogurt as long as they meet requirements in the standard of identity."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a public meeting scheduled for April 19, 2022, to discuss U.S. positions for the meeting of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Issues to be discussed include: "Maximum level for cadmium in cocoa powder (100% total cocoa solids on a dry matter basis)"; "Code of practice for the prevention and reduction of cadmium contamination in cocoa beans"; "Maximum levels for lead in certain food categories"; "Maximum levels for total aflatoxins in certain cereals and cereal-based products including foods for infants and young children"; "Sampling plans and performance criteria for total aflatoxins in certain cereals and cereal-based products including foods for infants and young children"; "Maximum level for total aflatoxins in ready-to-eat peanuts and associated sampling plan"; "Maximum levels for total aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in nutmeg, dried chili and paprika, ginger, pepper and turmeric and associated sampling…
