A consumer has filed a putative class action alleging that Brew Dr. Kombucha misleadingly advertises its products as containing “billions” of probiotic bacteria. Bazer v. Brew Dr. Kombucha, No. 2018-2943 (Ill. Chancery Ct., Cook Cty., filed March 5, 2018). The plaintiff asserts that he bought several bottles of kombucha in different flavors because he heard about the benefits of the beverage and the probiotic bacteria it purportedly contains. According to the complaint, tests showed that the product contained about 50,000 bacterial colonies rather than the "billions" advertised on the bottle’s label. Claiming violations of consumer-protection laws, breach of warranties and unjust enrichment, the plaintiff seeks class certification, disgorgement and attorney’s fees.
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A policy report announced by Public Health England (PHE) and the U.K. Department of Health and Social Care calls on the food industry to cut calorie content of certain foods—including pizza, ready-made meals, packaged sandwiches, meat products and savory snacks—by 20 percent before 2024. The report recommends reduction of calories through product reformulation, portion-size reduction and promotion of lower-calorie products. According to PHE data released March 6, 2018, overweight children consume up to 500 excess calories per day, while overweight adults consume up to 300 excess daily calories. Along with a continuing program of salt and sugar reduction efforts, PHE also plans to launch a campaign to educate consumers on the calorie content of meals and snacks. According to the report, the U.K. National Health Service spends more than $8 million a year treating obesity-related conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and the next step will be to engage…
A California court has denied a motion to dismiss a putative class action alleging the label of Frito-Lay North America Inc.'s Lay's salt-and-vinegar-flavored potato chips fails to specify whether the vinegar flavoring is natural or artificial. Allred v. Frito-Lay N. Am., Inc., No. 17-1345 (S.D. Cal., entered March 7, 2018). The plaintiff couple filed similar lawsuits against Kellogg and Frito-Lay concurrently in July 2017, and Kellogg's motion to dismiss was denied in February 2018. The court held that the suit is not preempted by U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations and found plausible the allegation that a reasonable consumer might be deceived by the Lay's labeling.
With companies creating plant-based foods that look and taste like real meat—and even getting product placement in grocery meat cases—USA Today reports that U.S. cattle ranchers are disputing the categories of the products developed and sold by these companies, including Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. The United States Cattlemen’s Association has filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) calling for the agency to establish beef labeling that would limit the use of the terms “beef” and “meat” to products derived from animal sources and inform consumers about the difference between such products and “alternative protein sources.” The petition is reportedly aimed not only at “plant-based meat” substitutes such as tofu but also at “clean meat” grown in a lab from animal stem cells. The firm Allied Market Research reportedly predicts that plant-based meat businesses could sell $5.2 billion worth of products by 2020. About 60 percent of…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the launch of a “major educational campaign for consumers” about changes to the Nutrition Facts label on food products. The campaign will include educational videos, social media outreach and “user-friendly” websites to help consumers understand the relationship between their daily dietary choices and the risk of chronic disease. FDA will also provide guidance to industry on label updating. The announcement included information on new guidance on added sugars for producers of honey, maple syrup and certain cranberry products; guidance on serving sizes; and final guidance on what evidence FDA reviews on various non-digestible carbohydrates that may be added to food and labeled as fiber. The agency also indicated that it will evaluate industry petitions related to non-digestible carbohydrates.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has asked the New York health department to establish enforceable maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for PFOA and PFOS in public drinking water. In its 65-page petition, NRDC detailed the results of a year-long study of state drinking water sources, including purported findings of elevated levels of the chemicals in eight communities and blood serum concentrations ten times the national average in one city. NRDC argues that “in the absence of federal safeguards,” New York should act to (i) establish a MCL below 10 parts per trillion; (ii) study the potential harms of feeding infants with formula mixed with water or the consumption of contaminated water by breastfeeding mothers or pregnant women; and (iii) conduct comprehensive health assessments of residents in communities found to have elevated PFOA or PFOS concentrations in drinking water sources.
The National Toxicology Program, part of the Public Health Service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has issued for peer review a draft research report of a two-year study of the effects of bisphenol A (BPA) on rats. According to a press release issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the study was conducted by senior scientists at FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research as part of a collaborative effort by FDA and the National Institutes of Health to investigate concerns about possible developmental effects of relatively low exposure to BPA. FDA reports that it found “minimal effects” of BPA on rats but identified areas that “may merit further research, such as the increase in occurrence of mammary gland tumors at one of the five doses.” FDA also noted that its “comprehensive review” of the report supports the agency’s determination that currently authorized uses…
A federal court in California has denied a motion to dismiss a putative class action alleging false advertising of Kellogg Co.'s Pringles Salt & Vinegar chips, finding the plaintiffs adequately pleaded all elements of the complaint, including reasonable customer confusion and claims under state consumer-protection laws. Allred v. Kellogg Co., No. 17-1354 (S.D. Cal., entered February 23, 2018). The court rejected Kellogg’s arguments that the plaintiff failed to prove that the company uses artificial flavoring and that the suit was filed as a means to test whether their “guess” was correct during discovery. The court found that the plaintiffs specified “in great detail the distinction between the natural and artificial versions of the ingredients from how they are made to how they are distinguished on a label. Moreover, Allred did allege which version Kellogg uses in its products.” The court also found that the plaintiffs adequately pleaded a violation of the…
An Illinois federal court has dismissed without prejudice a putative slack-fill class action against chocolatier Fannie May Confections Brands, Inc., ruling the plaintiffs provided only “bare-bones” factual allegations and failed to allege a violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act that would allow their state law claims to avoid preemption. Benson v. Fannie May Confections Brands, Inc., No. 17-3519 (N.D. Ill., entered February 28, 2018). The court also dismissed the plaintiffs’ claim for injunctive relief, finding they lacked standing because they failed to adequately allege a risk of future harm. “[A]lready aware of Fannie May’s alleged deceptive practices, Plaintiffs cannot claim they will be deceived again in the future," the court held. In addition to the products they did purchase—Fannie May’s Pixies and Mint Meltaways—the plaintiffs also alleged that packages of eight other chocolate candies contained slack fill and brought the action on behalf of consumers who purchased…
Preventive Medicine has issued a retraction of a 2012 study conducted by Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, that purported to find that children were more likely to eat vegetables if the foods were given "attractive" names. The journal made corrections to the article in early February 2018 but retracted it after one of the study’s funders identified an additional error in how its grant was cited. The study is reportedly the sixth of Wansink’s publications to be formally retracted. Cornell began a formal investigation into Wansink’s research practices in late 2017.
