The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) National Organic Program (NOP) has issued final guidance on the use of “Made with Organic” claims on product labeling. According to NOP, the guidance seeks to clarify “the following aspects of products in this labeling category”: (i) “composition”; (ii) “compliant organic labeling claims”; (iii) “organic and nonorganic forms of the same ingredient”; (iv) “percentage of organic ingredients statements”; and (v) “ingredients or food groups in the ‘made with organic’ claim.” Available through “The Program Handbook: Guidance and Instructions for Accredited Certifying Agents and Certified Operations,” the new policies reflect NOP’s current thinking on organic product labeling. In particular, “Made with Organic” products “must contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients, excluding salt and water”; “may contain up to 30 percent nonorganic ingredients,” provided any nonagricultural ingredient is allowed by the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances; and “must not contain any ingredient that was produced…
Category Archives Issue
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a final rule prohibiting statements on food product labels, including dietary supplements, that claim products are “high in,” “rich in,” or an “excellent source of” docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) as well as similar claims for alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). The rule finalizes a proposed rule the agency published in 2007 without any substantive changes. Under the U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act), nutrient-content claims such as “high in” are allowed only for nutrients for which a reference level for the claim has been set, or, in some situations, if the requirements of the Act have been met, such nutrient levels can be based on authoritative statements published by certain types of scientific bodies, such as the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM). FDA apparently received notifications in 2004 and 2005 asserting that IOM had…
A recent study has found that sleep deprivation can lead to unethical behavior, but caffeine can counteract the effect. David T. Welsh, et al., “Building a Self-Regulatory Model of Sleep Deprivation and Deception: The Role of Caffeine and Social Influence,” Journal of Applied Psychology, March 2014. Researchers kept volunteers awake overnight then gave half of the participants a piece of gum laced with 200 mg of caffeine. The researchers then created situations emulating work environments in which a boss or a peer pressured the participants to “cut ethical corners at work” by lying to earn extra money. The caffeinated subjects consistently refused to lie, while the non-caffeinated subjects were significantly more willing to participate in the deception. “Our results support supplying employees with caffeinated products,” the researchers report, although they warn that caffeine consumption is not a replacement for sleep. Issue 521
University of Pittsburgh and Purdue University researchers have purportedly found that pomegranate juice (PJ) heightened neurodegeneration in an animal model of Parkinson’s disease (PD) by increasing nigrostriatal terminal depletion, dopamine neuron loss, the inflammatory response, and caspase activation. Victor Tapias, et al., “Pomegranate Juice Exacerbates Oxidative Stress and Nigrostriatal Degeneration in Parkinson’s Disease,” Neurobiology of Aging, May 2014. Designed to examine the beverage’s potential neuroprotective effects, the study instead suggested that the polyphenols present in pomegranate juice exacerbated the nigrostriatal degeneration of rats with a rotenone-induced syndrome similar to PD. “Several studies have demonstrated the efficacy of different types of polyphenols to attenuate or block neuronal death in animal models of neurodegeneration,” reported the study’s authors. “Although differences between PD models could explain a lack of beneficial efficacy of PJ in the rotenone model, the question remains as to why PJ would exacerbate rotenone toxicity—similarly to melatonin. A possible answer could…
After the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) reportedly granted and then rescinded labeling approval for a powdered alcohol product created by Lipsmark LLC, the company has fielded a number of consumer and media questions about Palcohol’s® marketing, safety and availability. Created by wine critic Mark Phillips, Palcohol® is described as “a powder version of vodka, rum and four cocktails” meant to be mixed with water or other liquids prior to consumption. Although it received approval for the new product “some time ago,” the manufacturer was apparently “caught off guard by [TTB] making some of our approved labels public which we now know is standard procedure.” According to the product website, the company has since surrendered its TTB-approved labels with the intention of revising and resubmitting them for final authorization. In the interim, however, the media attention has prompted Lipsmark to address concerns over “humorous and edgy”…
To settle claims that it allegedly deceived consumers by advertising and labeling its Dreamfields pasta products as a low-glycemic index and low-carbohydrate alternative to traditional pasta, Dakota Growers Pasta Co. has agreed to establish a $5-million settlement fund and pay an additional $2.9 million to plaintiffs’ counsel. Mirakay v. Dakota Growers Pasta Co., No. 13-4429 (D.N.J., motion for preliminary settlement approval filed April 14, 2014). The company has also agreed to remove the allegedly false or misleading statements from Dreamfields packaging for at least one year. Under the settlement, which requires certification of a nationwide class of consumers and approval by the court, those who purchased the pasta online will automatically receive $1.99 for every box purchased. Class members who purchased the products in stores and submit a valid claim form will be limited to reimbursement for 15 boxes of pasta. Any funds remaining will be used to adjust each…
Four former employees of T.G.I. Friday’s, Inc. have filed a putative class action against the restaurant and its parent company, Carlson Restaurants, Inc., to recover unpaid wages, including overtime compensation and unlawful deductions. Flood v. Carlson Restaurants Inc., No. 14-2740 (S.D.N.Y., filed April 17, 2014). The former employees claim that T.G.I. Friday’s managers required them to work in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. In the complaint, the employees allege that managers required tip-earning workers to do “side work” like rolling silverware, cleaning the restaurant and other tasks that did not merit them tips while the restaurant paid them at the reduced minimum wage reserved for tipped workers. They further allege that managers prevented the employees from receiving their earned overtime pay by lowering the amount of time the employees were on the clock each week to below 40 hours and that the restaurant…
A federal court in Georgia has denied a motion to sever the criminal charges filed against the former owner of the Peanut Corp. of America, linked to a 2009 nationwide Salmonella outbreak, from charges filed against other company employees. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-cr-12 (M.D. Ga., order entered April 24, 2014). Information about a hearing conducted to assess the reliability of the defendant’s proffered expert—retained to testify about Stewart Parnell’s purported Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder— appears in Issue 517 of this Update. The court has also continued an April 28 status conference in light of a previous ruling rescheduling the trial. Issue 521
A federal court in Missouri has determined that a man who alleges employment discrimination and retaliation in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on the basis of his severe obesity has sufficiently stated his claims and may proceed with his action. Whittaker v. America’s Car-Mart, Inc., No. 13-0108 (D. Mo., order entered April 24, 2014). The plaintiff allegedly began working for the defendant in August 2005 and was discharged from his general manager position in November 2012, purportedly because of his disability. He claims that the defendant regarded him as having a physical impairment under the ADA and “as being substantially limited in a major life activity, walking, as a result of his obesity.” To support its argument that the alleged disability “is not an actual disability under the ADA unless it is related to an underlying physiological disorder or condition and that plaintiff fails to allege that his…
A federal court in California has denied the motion to certify statewide monetary or injunctive relief classes in litigation alleging that J.M. Smucker’s labels for Uncrustables and Crisco Original and Butter Flavor Shortening products “mislead consumers into believing that they are healthful, when in reality they both contain trans fat and Uncrustables also contain high fructose corn syrup.” Caldera v. The J.M. Smucker Co., No. 12-4936 (C.D. Cal., decided April 15, 2014). As to monetary relief, the court dismissed the motion to certify with prejudice. The court agreed with the defendant that the plaintiff could not satisfy the predominance requirement as to her claims for monetary relief because she failed to identify any method of proving damages on a class-wide basis other than relying on the defendant’s California sales data. According to the court, this is insufficient to support a claim for restitution, because “this is not a case where class…
