A Chilean appellate court has ruled that the nation’s National Fisheries and Agricultural Services must issue its data about antibiotics in Chilean salmon, which revealed that 50 salmon firms jointly used 450.7 metric tons of antibiotics in 2013. Chile’s Council for Transparency previously refused to release the information to conservation organization Oceana, arguing that the disaggregated data could be used against individual companies. The court disagreed, reportedly ruling, “The reasons given by the claimed party to refuse the requested information are not consistent with what establish the applicable regulations.” The report comes months after Costco Wholesale Corp. announced it would reduce the proportion of its salmon stock from 90 percent Chilean salmon to 40 percent in favor of salmon from Norway, whose fish-farming companies on average use lower amounts of antibiotics. See Fish Information & Services, September 11, 2015; Undercurrent News, September 21, 2015. Issue 579
Category Archives Litigation
Germany’s highest court has ruled that Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli did not violate German confectioner Haribo’s trademark “Gold Bear” when it began selling a chocolate bear wrapped in gold foil in 2011. Haribo has produced Gold-Bear® gummy bears for several decades, which are sold in gold packages featuring a yellow bear wearing a red ribbon and bow tied around its neck. Lindt’s gold-clad chocolate bear also wears a red ribbon tied in a bow around its neck, styled after the company’s chocolate Easter bunny products. Haribo claimed in 2012 that consumers were likely to be confused by Lindt’s packaging; a trial court agreed, but an intermediate appellate court overturned the ruling. The Federal Court of Justice has affirmed the appellate ruling, reportedly saying in a German-language statement that it wants to avoid the danger of “product design monopolisation.” Information about Haribo’s 2012 complaint appears in Issue 462 of this…
A California state court has approved the settlement agreement in a lawsuit brought by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) alleging that PepsiCo Inc. products contain levels of 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) that exceed the limits imposed by the state’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop. 65). Ctr. for Envtl. Health v. Pepsi Beverages Co., No. 14711020 (Cal. Super. Ct., order entered September 17, 2015). Under the settlement agreement, PepsiCo will pay $385,000 and must ensure by January 1, 2016, that its soft drinks sold in California contain levels of 4-MEI within the safe harbor limits set by Prop. 65. CEH initially filed a notice of violation with the California Office of the Attorney General in January 2012; details appear in Issue 427 of this Update. Meanwhile, the parties to a proposed class action alleging similar facts have agreed to stay the case until December 14, 2015, pending…
A New York state court has vacated a New York City prohibition on expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) after a challenge by several food companies, supermarkets and food-service businesses that used EPS in their food packaging. Dart Container Corp. v. De Blasio, No. 100734/15 (N.Y. Super. Ct., order entered September 21, 2015). The court provides a history of the municipal ban—more specifically, a statute dictating that EPS would be prohibited in favor of recyclable materials unless the commissioner of the Department of Sanitation of New York (DSNY) found it to be recyclable—which went into effect July 1, 2015, with penalties delayed until January 2016. Among the plaintiffs are Dart Container Corp., the largest EPS manufacturer, and Plastics Recycling Inc., an EPS recycler, which offered proposals that would designate EPS as recyclable and thereby permit it under the city statute. “The mandate to the Commissioner was to determine whether EPS should be designated…
Stewart Parnell, former chief executive of Peanut Corp. of America (PCA), has been sentenced to 28 years in prison following a conviction on federal conspiracy and fraud charges for his part in a Salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and sickened more than 700. U.S. v. Parnell, No. 13-cr-0012 (M.D. Ga., Albany Div., order entered September 21, 2015). “Americans should be able to trust that the food we buy for ourselves and our families is safe,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart Delery in a September 21, 2015, press release. “The sentences handed down today to officials associated with the Peanut Corporation of America demonstrate the consequences for those whose criminal actions threaten that trust by introducing contaminated food into the marketplace. Our prosecution is just one more example of the forceful actions that the Department of Justice, with its agency partners, takes against any individual or company who compromises…
A California woman has filed a putative class action against Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. alleging that, despite advertised claims to the contrary, the company’s restaurants do not serve food free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Gallagher v. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., No. 15-3952 (N.D. Cal., filed August 26, 2015). The complaint asserts that although the company advertised in April 2015 that it would remove GMOs from its food, “Chipotle serves meat products that come from animals which feed on GMOs, including corn and soy. Chipotle’s tacos and burritos are also usually served with sour cream and cheese from dairy farms that feed animals with GMOs.” In addition, Chipotle sells soft drinks made with GMO corn syrup, the complaint notes. Colleen Gallagher seeks to represent a California class to obtain damages and an injunction for alleged violations of the state’s consumer protection statutes. Chipotle became the first fast-casual chain to disclose…
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) alleging that the agency has routinely failed to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for records related to genetically engineered (GE) crops. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Animal & Plant Health Inspection Serv., No. 15-1377 (D.D.C., filed August 25, 2015). CFS asserts that APHIS has unlawfully delayed its responses to at least 29 FOIA requests or appeals related to its decision to withdraw proposed regulations that would update existing management of GE crops. “APHIS has a track record of irresponsible and inadequate regulation of GE crops,” CFS Staff Attorney Cristina Stella said in an August 25, 2015, press release. “In the absence of thorough government oversight, public access to information about these crops becomes all the more critical. This lawsuit is necessary to stop…
A California federal court has determined that Safeway is liable for $30 million in damages for claims alleging that the company charged different prices for products sold online despite a contractual agreement that in-store and online prices would be the same. Rodman v. Safeway Inc., No. 11-3003 (N.D. Cal., order entered August 31, 2015). The court granted partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs in December 2014, finding that Safeway breached the contract. Details about the decision appear in Issue 549 of this Update. The court arrived at the damages amount by calculating the sum that Safeway earned from the concealed markup between April 2010 and December 2012. The court also rejected the plaintiffs’ attempt to expand the class to include purchases before 2006, when Safeway switched from paying a third party to manage online sales to running the website in-house. Issue 578
Video publisher The Criterion Collection has filed a trademark dilution suit against Whole Foods and an alcohol supplier alleging that a line of wines introduced in June 2015 infringed on its name. The Criterion Collection v. Whole Foods Mkt., No. 15-7132 (S.D.N.Y., filed September 10, 2015). The Criterion Collection has licensed and published classic films with additional “value added” content since 1984, beginning with Citizen Kane. “To the consuming public, ‘The Criterion Collection’ has become, over time, broadly associated with technical excellence, artistic value and cultural importance,” the complaint asserts. In 2015, Whole Foods and Winery Exchange, Inc. began selling “Criterion Collection” wine purported to be hand-selected by the grocery chain’s master sommelier, Devon Broglie. The Criterion Collection alleges that this use infringes its trademark under the Lanham Act and New York law and seeks a permanent injunction and damages. Issue 578
Deep Ellum Brewing Co. has filed a lawsuit against the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission challenging the constitutionality of Texas Alcohol Beverage Code provisions forbidding brewers from selling their alcohol products on-site for off-premises consumption. Deep Ellum Brewing Co. v. Tex. Alcoholic Beverage Comm’n, No. 15-0821 (W.D. Tex., filed September 14, 2015). Dubbing the campaign “Operation Six Pack To Go,” the brewery argues that distilleries, wineries and brewpubs can sell their products in to-go packaging but breweries cannot, resulting in an unconstitutional distinction in the law. Texas alcohol codes distinguish between manufacturers, distributors and retailers, prohibiting overlapping ownership but creating exceptions for particular conditions, the complaint asserts. One such condition allows manufacturers to act as retailers in certain situations, such as at wineries and brewpubs. Deep Ellum Brewing alleges that because of this provision, it “has lost and continues to lose business (and resulting profits) because it cannot sell its product on-site…
