The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has issued a guidance note for industry discussing general legal requirements for use of the descriptors “artisan/artisanal,” “farmhouse,” “traditional” and “natural.” “Marketing terms are designed to resonate with consumers and are an essential part of business development in the food industry,” said Wayne Anderson, FSAI Director of Food Science and Standards. “Consumers need to be confident that the foods they purchase and consume are accurately and truthfully described on the label. Food businesses should also be confident that genuine descriptions of their food are not diluted in the marketplace by undefined marketing terms.” The labeling guidelines apply to products placed on the market after December 2016. See FSAI News Release, May 14, 2015. Issue 566
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration (GIPSA) is soliciting nominations for individuals to fill five pending vacancies on the USDA Grain Inspection Committee. The 15-member group representing grain producers, processors and exporters, among other stakeholders, meets twice a year to guide GIPSA in delivering its mandates under the U.S. Grain Standards Act. See Federal Register, May 26, 2015. Issue 566
Citing the need to protect the long-term health of children, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Ct.) has introduced legislation (H.R. 2529) that would require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to set a maximum permissible level for inorganic arsenic in rice and rice products within two years. “High levels of inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen, can be found in rice, cereal and other common, everyday foods,” DeLauro said. “The federal government needs to step in to make sure that American families are consuming food that is safe.” The proposal has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and Committee on Agriculture. See Press Release of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, May 21, 2015. Issue 566
A study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Healthy Eating Research Program claims that a decrease in TV food advertisements directed to children is “likely related to a shift in marketing tactics” as advertisers “migrate to new media such as Internet-based advergames and social media.” Dale Kunkel, et al., “Evaluating Industry Self-Regulation of Food Marketing to Children,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, May 2015. After conducting a “systemic content analysis of food advertisements appearing in children’s TV programs on the most popular cable and broadcast channels,” the researchers report a decline of 25 percent in the rate at which food ads appeared during children’s programming. They also note a decrease in the use of licensed characters among signatories of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative. The study opines, however, that the foods and beverages advertised to children still fail to meet stringent nutritional standards. “The lack of significant improvement in…
Big Red, Inc., a beverage company owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Catawissa Bottling Co., alleging that the company packages its Big Ben cream soda too similarly to Big Red’s red cream soda product. Big Red, Inc. v. Catawissa Bottling Co., Inc., No. 15-1423 (N.D. Tex., filed March 6, 2015). Big Red cites as distinctive its “consistent product packaging, which is unified by a central configuration: Two single syllable words, ‘BIG RED,” are featured prominently on the center of a label and positioned between stylized text or small accents. The label is then imposed on a clear, wide shouldered bottle with a tapered neck that angles smoothly towards the collar.” Big Ben “is artificially colored to an identical shade of red,” Big Red argues, and “is marketed in product packaging that is nearly identical.” Big Red alleges federal and state trademark and…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has threatened to bring lawsuits against Plum Organics and Gerber Products Co. for allegedly deceptive trade practices in the marketing and labeling of their food products for babies and toddlers. In its May 11, 2015, letter addressed to Gerber and its parent company Nestlé S.A., CSPI notes that the company labels several of its products in the 2nd Foods, 3rd Foods and Graduates lines “as being composed of certain healthful ingredients, when, in fact, the Products contain substantial amounts of other less healthful, less valuable ingredients, such as apple juice, that are not identified at all on the [principal display panel].” Similar allegations appear in the letter addressed to the heads of Plum Organics concerning the company’s baby food and 4 Essential lines. The letters assert that both companies market the products as containing high amounts of “healthful, high-value ingredients, such…
An Illinois federal court has sentenced the former president of a Wisconsin cheese company to five days in jail, one year of probation and a $750,000 fine for lying to U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors about Queso Cincho de Guerrero cheese imported from Mexico and tainted with E. coli and Salmonella. U.S. v. Zurita, No. 12-0290 (N.D. Ill., sentence entered May 8, 2015). In 2007, Mexican Cheese Producers, Inc. reportedly received tainted cheese returned by retailers. Company workers apparently scraped and washed the cheese, and it was later resold. No illnesses related to the cheese were reported, and the government could not show that company owner Miguel Leal had ordered the workers’ actions, but he pled guilty in 2014 to charges of distributing tainted food and lying about it to federal inspectors. Government prosecutors asked for prison time of 10-16 months. “I don’t think I would have put him…
The General Court of the European Union has upheld a ruling that pomazánkové máslo, a product primarily marketed in the Czech Republic, cannot be labeled as “butter” under the single common market organization (CMO) regulation. Czech Republic v. European Commission, No. T-51/14 (Gen. Ct., order entered May 12, 2015). The product, a spread used in similar ways to butter, has a minimum fat content of 31 percent by weight, a minimum dry nonfat milk-material content of 42 percent, and a water content of up to 58 percent. The court ruled that the product does not meet the regulation’s standards, which require between 80 and 90 percent of milk-fat content, a maximum water content of 16 percent and a maximum dry material content of 2 percent. Further, the court ruled, the Czech Republic cannot circumvent the provisions of the single CMO regulation by claiming to be exempt if the product is…
A California federal court has dismissed the claims in a putative class action alleging that Flowers Bakeries misrepresents its Nature’s Own® bread as natural, healthy and wholesome despite containing synthetic ingredients, including azodicarbonamide, the “yoga mat chemical.” Romero v. Flowers Bakeries, No. 14-5189 (N.D. Cal., San Jose Div., order entered May 6, 2015). The plaintiffs argued that the brand name “Nature’s Own,” pictures of “stalks of wheat and pots of honey” and statements such as “no artificial preservatives, colors and flavors” on the packaging of the products misleads consumers into believing that the products are “a natural food product, therefore connoting that [the products] are somehow more healthy and wholesome.” The court found deficiencies in the plaintiff’s complaint, noting that she failed to clarify which misrepresentation allegations applied to which products. “It is not the task of the Court or of Defendant to diagram the intersection between the challenged products…
A New York federal court has granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Hain Celestial’s Earth’s Best® food and body-care products are deceivingly labeled as “organic,” finding that the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) does not preempt the plaintiffs’ claims. Segedie v. Hain Celestial Grp., No. 14-5029 (S.D.N.Y., order entered May 7, 2015). The plaintiffs challenged 69 food products and 20 body-care products labeled “organic,” “natural” or “all natural,” arguing that they contain ingredients inconsistent with the company’s claims. In assessing precedent on preemption, the court found that a federal agency’s approval of a label does not bar any challenge to that label. The court also determined that the plaintiffs’ claims were legally sufficient as to both the “organic” and “natural” challenges. Hain argued that the ingredients in question were subject to an exemption under OFPA because they were nutrient vitamins or…
