The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have announced a series of public workshops “to explore the competition issues affecting the agricultural sector in the 21st century and the appropriate role for antitrust and regulatory enforcement in that sector.” Organized in response to “concerns about changes in the agricultural marketplace, including increasing processor concentration in some commodities,” these meetings will focus on “the dynamics of competition in agricultural markets, including, among other issues, buyer power (also known as monopsony) and vertical integration.” The workshops will also address (i) “the impact of agricultural concentration on food costs”; (ii) “the effect of agricultural regulatory status and other applicable laws and programs on competition”; (iii) “issues relating to patent and intellectual property affecting agricultural marketing and production”; and (iv) “market practices such as price spreads, forward contracts, packer ownership of livestock before slaughter, market transparency, and increasing retailer…
Category Archives Department of Justice
Acting on behalf of an apparently energized Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a complaint for injunction against a New Jersey company and its owner seeking to halt the manufacture and sale of their dietary supplement products, in part, for failure to comply with good manufacturing practice requirements. U.S. v. Quality Formulation Labs., Inc., No. 09-03211 (D.N.J., filed July 1, 2009). The complaint alleges that the defendants have caused their protein powders and other dietary supplements to be adulterated “in that they have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have become contaminated with filth (as a result of rodent activity) or may have been rendered injurious to health (as a result of cross-contamination with a major food allergen).” The allergen at issue is milk. The complaint also alleges that one of the defendants’ articles of food is adulterated “in…
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking to enjoin the operation of a cheese-processing facility in New York due to the Listeria monocytogene (L. mono) contamination of its Queso Hebra, Queso Fresco and Queso Cotija Molido cheeses. U.S. v. Peregrina Cheese, Inc., No. 09-2888 (E.D.N.Y., filed July 7, 2009). According to DOJ, state and federal inspections of the facility since at least 2004 have revealed serious sanitation problems. Because product samples and equipment surfaces tested positive for the same L. mono strain, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) analysts concluded that “the strain has formed a niche at Peregrina Cheese’s facility.” The owners have apparently refused to shut down the plant to properly sanitize it, claiming that the state food safety agency approved the “use of an antimicrobial agent as an additive in Peregrina Cheese’s Queso Fresco product.” The owners did not, however, provide “any information as to the level of use”…
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has intervened in a qui tam, or whistleblower, lawsuit filed in California by the Humane Society of the United States against two former suppliers to the National School Lunch Program. The suit alleges that Hallmark Meat Packing Co. and Westland Meat Co., Inc. knowingly and falsely represented that cattle at their slaughtering facility were treated humanely and that beef supplied to the schools did not include meat from disabled, non-ambulatory animals. Videotape of employees abusing non-ambulatory animals at the slaughterhouse resulted in the recall of 143 million pounds of beef in February 2008. Under the False Claims Act, private parties, or “relators,” may file claims on behalf of the U.S. government and may recover a portion of any recovery. The government, which will file an amended complaint now that it is a party to the action, is entitled to treble damages and civil penalties of…
An independent special litigation committee (SLC) recently filed a comprehensive report detailing the actions of Chiquita Brands International executives, directors and counsel that led to the $25 million settlement of a Justice Department investigation into the company’s illegal payments to Colombian terrorist groups. The SLC recommends that shareholder litigation stemming from the payments, settlement and purported “fire sale” of the company’s Colombian banana business be dismissed because the SLC found no evidence that any defendant acted in bad faith. The SLC also found that the litigation will inflict “substantial further damage on the Company,” the costs outweigh any potential recovery, “an event of this nature is unlikely to recur,” and the shareholder litigation “would serve to further divert management from its core mission.” The report explains that payments were made to both right-wing and left-wing groups in Colombia to protect the company’s workers and property. Until the recipients were declared…
