According to a news source, U.K. High Court Justice Michael Briggs has ordered New York-based Chobani to change its “Greek” yogurt labels, finding that they mislead more than 50 percent of British consumers into believing that it was made in Greece. Company rival Fage brought the lawsuit to “restrain Chobani from passing off its American-made yoghurt in England and Wales under the description Greek yoghurt.” The court apparently determined that “the very small print used on the rear of Chobani’s pots” stating that the products are made in the United States was “nowhere near sufficient” to alert people to their true origin. Chobani claimed that the “Greek” designation was a reference to how the product is made and not to its country of origin. Danone, which also makes the thickened, strained yogurt products, reportedly indicated that it was considering the implications of the ruling; it was temporarily barred in the…
Category Archives Global Courts
According to a press report, the U.K. High Court has ordered Danone to remove any reference to “Greek yogurt” on the packaging for its newly launched product Danio®. The matter is currently before the court in litigation involving Greece-based yogurt maker Fage, which sued U.S.-based Chobani Inc. in November 2012 after that company launched its “Greek yogurt” product line in the United Kingdom. While Danone is not apparently required to remove offending products already on store shelves under the injunction, it began complying with the January 30, 2013, court order on products made after that date. In a statement Danone said, “This ruling is in place until the High Court has determined, as part of a separate case with another manufacturer, whether the use of ‘Greek yogurt’ is only possible for yogurt produced in Greece or if it refers to a particular type of yogurt made using a specific process.…
In a long-running dispute between Anheuser-Busch LLC and Budějovický Budvar, národini podnik, the European Union’s (EU’s) General Court has determined that a Czech brewery cannot stop the St. Louis-based company from using the “Bud” mark in a number of EU member nations. Budějovický Budvar, národini podnik v. Anheuser-Busch LLC, Nos. T-225/06 RENV, T-255/06 RENV, T-257/06 RENV, & T 309/06 RENV (Gen. Ct., decided January 22, 2013). The matter was before the court on remand from the Court of Justice. The court found that the Czech brewery’s evidence of sales in France and Austria were so small that the company could not show “trade of a sign of more than mere local significance.” The parties were ordered to pay their own costs.
A World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitrator has determined that the United States must conform its country-of-origin-labeling (COOL) rules in accordance with an earlier ruling by May 23, 2013, finding that 10 months was a reasonable time for implementation. Additional details about the dispute, which involved a challenge brought by Canada and Mexico over 2008 COOL provisions for beef and pork products, appear in Issue 446 of this Update. According to a news source, the labeling program has sharply reduced U.S. imports of Canadian pigs and cattle, because it purportedly raised U.S. packers’ costs by requiring them to segregate imported animals from U.S. livestock. COOL supporters contend that such labeling provides consumers with important information about food origins. Canada’s International Trade Minister Ed Fast and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz reportedly said, “We are particularly pleased that the arbitrator determined a reasonable period of time close to that proposed by Canada and…
The General Court of the European Union (EU) has dismissed an annulment action brought by Hungary, seeking to overturn a protected Slovakian designation of origin for wine produced in the Tokaj region which both countries share. Hungary v. Commission, Case T-194/10 (Gen. Ct., decided November 8, 2012). Hungary will have two months to bring an appeal to the Court of Justice, as to points of law only. The European Commission registered the protected designation of origin ‘Vinohradnicka oblast’ Tokaj’ on Slovakia’s behalf in the 2006 and 2007 lists of quality wines produced in specified regions (QWPSR). On July 31, 2009, the day before the EU established the E-Bacchus database to publish the QWPSR lists, Slovakia requested a modified designation— ‘Tokajská/Tokajské/Tokajsky vinohradnicka oblast’—which became the new protected designation on the electronic database. Several months later, Slovakia requested that the Commission revert to the original designation of origin, and the Commission amended the…
According to University of Oklahoma College of Law Professor Drew Kershen, writing for the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics publication Agricultural and Resource Economics, if California voters approve Proposition 37 (Prop. 37) in November 2012, it could be vulnerable to challenge under World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. As Kershen notes, the ballot proposition would “impose mandatory labeling on a broad range of raw and processed foods.” Those produced “entirely or partially” through genetic engineering would be required to state that fact on product labels, and no processed food could be marketed as “natural,” “naturally made,” “naturally grown,” or “all natural.” Kershen focuses on the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). While the United States, but not California, is a member state under the agreements, Kershen argues that they nevertheless apply to California’s Prop. 37. He contends that…
Two British Columbia residents have reportedly filed individual and putative class action suits against the Canadian meat processor that was forced to recall 1,800 ground beef products in an E. coli contamination outbreak that involved retail chains in the United States and Canada. The class action, filed October 12, 2012, by Erin Thornton in B.C. Supreme Court, names XL Foods Inc. and its owner Nilsson Bros., Inc. as defendants. She alleges that XL Foods was negligent and that both defendants breached disclosure obligations and mishandled the recall. According to news sources, at least 15 people in four provinces have been sickened by the E. coli strain linked to the defendants’ Brooks, Alberta-based plant. Class actions have also apparently been filed in other provinces. U.S. officials reportedly discovered E. coli O157 at the plant on September 3, and the recall began September 16. See The Canadian Press and The Province, October 17,…
An Edmonton, Alberta, resident has filed a putative class action against a beef processor with operations in Alberta and Nebraska, alleging that he became severely ill from consuming the company’s beef, which was recalled in September 2012 due to an E. coli outbreak. Harrison v. XL Foods Inc., No. 1203-14727 (Can. Alta. Q.B., filed October 2, 2012). Seeking to certify province-wide and nationwide classes of plaintiffs “who purchased and/or consumed the Recalled Products,” the plaintiff alleges strict liability, breach of the Fair Trading Act, negligence, waiver of tort/disgorgement, and vicarious liability. He requests punitive and actual damages, as well as non-pecuniary general damages, pecuniary damages, disgorgement of revenues, attorney’s fees, costs, and interest. He also seeks a declaration that the recalled products are contaminated. According to news sources, plaintiff Matthew Harrison fell ill after eating allegedly contaminated steak, purchased at a Costco store, at a friend’s house. He was purportedly…
A European Court of Justice panel has determined that a German winemaker may not, under European Union law, place labels on its bottles including the word bekömmlich (meaning digestible, wholesome or nourishing). Deutsches Weintor eG v. Land Rehinland-Pfalz, Case C 544/10 (E.C.J., decided September 6, 2012). According to the court, “[b]y highlighting only the easy digestion of the wine concerned, the claim at issue is likely to encourage its consumption and, ultimately, to increase the risks for consumers’ health inherent in the immoderate consumption of any alcoholic beverage. Consequently, the prohibition of such claims is warranted in light of the requirement to ensure a high level of health protection for consumers.” The matter returns to a German court for final ruling.
According to a news source, a Brazilian court has determined that Nestlé’s strawberry-flavored Bono Cookies® contain genetically modified (GM) soybeans at levels in excess of a 1 percent limit and that the company must thus place a yellow triangle with a “T” in the middle along with the word “transgenic” on its product labels. Failure to do so will apparently result in a fine of nearly $2,500 USD per product found in the market to contravene the order. The European Union and Japan also reportedly require GM foods to be labeled, and California voters will vote on a GM labeling referendum this fall. See Food World News, August 27, 2012.
