A federal court in California has reportedly approved the settlement of wage-related claims in a class action filed by restaurant managers against Benihana National Corp., which owns and operates a Japanese hibachi steakhouse chain. Akaosugi v. Benihana Nat’l Corp., No. 11-1272 (N.D. Cal., settlement approved January 24, 2103). The company has apparently agreed to pay $660,000, including attorney’s fees and costs, to settle claims that it forfeited managers’ accrued vacation and failed to compensate them for it, forced them to work more than eight hours a day without paying overtime, failed to provide meal and rest breaks, and failed to provide accurate wage statements. See Mealey’s Class Actions, February 1, 2013.
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General Mills has agreed to establish an $8.5 million fund to settle claims that it falsely advertised its Yo-Plus yogurt as a product that helped naturally regulate “digestive health.” Johnson v. General Mills, Inc., No. 10-61 (C.D. Cal., stipulation of settlement filed February 4, 2013). If the court approves the agreement, purchasers throughout the United States will be able to seek $4 for each unit of Yo-Plus purchased, and any unclaimed funds will be distributed to the National Consumer Law Center and Mayo Clinic. The company apparently no longer sells the products. The costs of class notice and administration, attorney’s fees and incentive awards for plaintiffs in several related class lawsuits will be deducted from the settlement fund. Recovery will be capped at 13 units of Yo-Plus yogurt per claimant, unless proof of purchase for more units purchased during the class period can be shown. A hearing for preliminary approval…
A California resident has reportedly filed a putative class action against the company that makes 5-Hour Energy® shots, claiming that “no genuine scientific research” and “no scientifically reliable studies” support the company’s claims that the product provides “any more additional benefits over a caffeine tablet or a cup of coffee.” Soto v. Innovation Ventures, LLC, No. 13-591 (C.D. Cal., filed January 28, 2013). According to a news source, the plaintiff alleges that the company overcharges consumers based on false claims and that some of the product’s ingredients may present serious undisclosed health risks. Seeking to represent a nationwide class and statewide subclass of consumers, the plaintiff apparently alleges violations of the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act and Business and Professions Code, breach of express warranty, unjust enrichment, and fraud (intentional misrepresentation and concealment of fact). See Mealey’s Class Actions, February 1, 2013.
The North American Olive Oil Association has brought an unfair competition and false advertising action against The Gourmet Factory claiming that it sells its Capatriti® brand as “100% Pure Olive Oil” when it is actually made from “leftover olive skins and pits using a combination of chemical solvents and high temperatures.” N. Am. Olive Oil Ass’n v. Kangadis Food Inc., d/b/a The Gourmet Factory, No. 113-868 (S.D.N.Y., filed February 6, 2013). The process apparently creates a byproduct referred to as “pomace,” and the complaint alleges that products containing pomace may not be marketed and labeled as olive oil under “an array of olive-oil making conventions, standard industry practices, international regulations, and federal and state laws.” The association allegedly purchased tins of the defendant’s product from store shelves in New York and New Jersey and shipped them to an expert in Italy for testing, which purportedly confirmed the presence of chemicals and…
A federal court in Wisconsin has dismissed as preempted a putative class action alleging that the company which makes Sue Bee Clover Honey® violates a state honey-labeling standard by failing to disclose that the product does not contain bee pollen. Regan v. Sioux Honey Ass’n Coop., No. 12-758 (E.D. Wis., decided January 31, 2013). The court also dismissed an unjust enrichment claim and a cause of action based on an alleged violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). According to the court, the Wisconsin honey standard is based on a Codex Alimentarius provision that prohibits the removal of pollen from honey “except where this is unavoidable in the removal of foreign inorganic or organic matter.” Because federal law has no standard of identity for honey, under the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA), the label must therefore bear the “common or usual name” of a food contained therein. The…
Russia has reportedly imposed a ban on U.S. turkey imports, effective February 11, 2013, thus extending a ban on pork and beef imports in an ongoing dispute over the use of growth stimulant ractopamine in animal feed. According to a news source, Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (VPSS) made the decision after repeated warnings from Russian authorities about continual breaches of Russian rules banning the presence of the chemical—believed to cause health problems in humans—in food. The Codex Alimentarius Commission has apparently determined that the chemical is not harmful to humans when present in meat at low levels, but that has not stopped some countries, such as Russia and China, from banning it. “Since the violations continue and we are finding ractopamine in meat shipments from the USA, we plan starting February 11 to impose restrictions on the import of this product,” VPSS Chief Sergei Dankvert said. The…
In the wake of a recent investigation conducted by the Food Standards Authority of Ireland that identified horse and pig DNA in beef products, the U.K. Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have published their own protocol for testing “food authenticity in processed meat products.” According to a February 6, 2013, FSA press release, the protocol calls for “specialized analytical techniques to provide information about the possible presence of horse or pig DNA in a range of beef products available to U.K. consumers.” As part of the extended survey, 28 local authorities (LAs) will analyze 224 samples from meat products selected as representative of those on the market. The protocol requires LAs to report screening samples by March 11, 2013, with any confirmatory tests reported by April 8. FSA also intends to identify brand names and describe any formal actions taken when it releases…
The European Parliament has approved a major reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) that aims to return fisheries “to sustainable stock levels” by 2020. According to a February 6, 2013, press release, the reforms will prevent member states “from setting quotas that are too high to be sustainable” and compel fishermen “to respect the ‘maximum sustainable yield’ (MSY), i.e., catch no more than a given stock can reproduce in a given year.” The revised CFP will also address how the industry treats “discards,” that is, “fish thrown back, usually because they are of an unwanted species or size,” by requiring fishing vessels “to land all catches in accordance with a schedule of specific dates for different fisheries, starting from 2014,” and by restricting landed catches of undersized fish “to uses other than human consumption.” In addition, the European Parliament has agreed to take a long-term approach to fishery management…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule that adopts, without change, the interim final rule (IFR) titled “Criteria Used to Order Administrative Detention of Food for Human or Animal Consumption” that was published in the Federal Register on May 5, 2011. Effective February 5, 2013, the final rule affirms IFR’s change to the criteria for ordering administrative detention of human or animal food as required by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Under the new criteria, “FDA can order an administrative detention if there is reason to believe that an article of food is adulterated or misbranded.” See Federal Register, February 5, 2013.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has proposed amending the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances to change annotations pertaining to the use of peracetic acid in organic crop production and the use of potassium hydroxide, silicon dioxide and betacarotene extract color in organic handling. Following the recommendation of the National Organic Standards Board, AMS has also proposed removing non-organic annatto extract color from the list of approved substances for organic handling. In particular, AMS has requested comments that (i) “identify any formulated hydrogen peroxide products labeled for agriculture use that contain more than 5% peracetic acid,” and (ii) “describe whether product reformulation will be necessary to comply with the proposed amendment for silicon dioxide at section 205.605(b) and the proposed removal of annatto extract color from section 206.606.” The agency has requested comments on the proposed amendments by March 7, 2013. See Federal Register, February 5,…
