A putative statewide consumer-fraud class action has been filed in a Florida state court against Living Harvest Foods, Inc. over use of the term “evaporated cane juice” (ECJ) on food product labels rather than sugar. Miller v. Living Harvest Foods Inc., No. __ (Fla. Cir. Ct., Miami-Dade Cty., filed January 30, 2014). While the specific products at issue are not named, the plaintiff contends that the defendant “conceals the fact that its Products have added sugar by referring to the sugar as ECJ, a ‘healthy’ sounding name made up by the sugar industry years ago to sell sugar to ‘healthy’ food manufacturers to use in their consumer products. ECJ is not the common or usual name of any type of sweetener, or even any type of juice, and the use of such a name is false and misleading. Defendant uniformly lists ECJ as an ingredient on its Products, as well as…
Category Archives State Courts
A California resident has filed a putative statewide class action against Ralphs Grocery Co., alleging that it misleads consumers by labeling its decaffeinated coffee products as “without caffeine” when they are actually, according to labeling fine print, “99.7% caffeine free.” Kopalian v. Ralphs Grocery Co., No. BC533846 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed January 22, 2014). The plaintiff invokes no state or federal law labeling violations, but instead claims that the labeling and packaging are “likely to confuse and mislead consumers.” He contends that he relied on the “without caffeine” labeling to make his purchase, believing that the product was 100 percent caffeine free, and chose it over other brands for this reason. Alleging breach of express warranty and violations of the state’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act, the plaintiff seeks injunctive relief, including a corrective advertising campaign, actual and punitive damages, restitution,…
Food activist and blogger Nancy Huehnergarth has reportedly filed a complaint with the New York attorney general (AG) over a purportedly deceptive “viral advertising campaign” from 2013 featuring a mobile game that promoted Gatorade® as a performance enhancer while denigrating water as “the enemy of performance.” According to a news source, gamers using the app navigated an avatar through an obstacle course and picked up bottles of Gatorade® to increase his speed while avoiding drops of water that slowed him down. Huehnergarth, who co-founded the New York State Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Alliance and was instrumental in getting “junk” food removed from school vending machines in her community, apparently filed the complaint because she believed the campaign provided an inaccurate message to children. “It’s preying on youth while slipping past parents who don’t necessarily police a mobile device quite as carefully as they do a computer. I think it’s…
Oregon Attorney General (AG) Ellen Rosenblum has reportedly filed an action in state court against the companies that make and promote 5-hour ENERGY®, a drink purportedly linked to adverse incidents including fatalities, seeking to enforce her demand for information about the product. The lawsuit against Innovation Ventures, Living Essentials and Microdose Sales, filed in Multnomah County Court, apparently seeks enforcement of the AG’s Civil Investigative Demand for information under the state’s Unlawful Trade Practices Act (UTPA). According to a news source, the AG says she has “reason to believe that respondents have made misleading statements regarding 5-hour Energy in three issue areas: (1) whether users experience ‘no crash’ when using the product; (2) a ‘Doctors Recommend’ advertising campaign; and (3) the product’s suitability for children, all potentially in violation of . . . the UTPA.” She seeks an order requiring the respondents to respond to her demand with unredacted documents,…
Addressing a question of first impression, a California appeals court has dismissed a putative class action alleging that Herb Thyme Farms mislabeled its certified organically grown herbs as “USDA Organic” because the contents included a mix of organically and conventionally grown herbs. Quesada v. Herb Thyme Farms, Inc., No. B239602 (Cal. Ct. App., 2d Dist., Div. 3, decided December 23, 2013). According to the court, on appeal, the plaintiff changed her theory of liability from alleged violations of state consumer protection laws to violation of the California Organic Products Act of 2003, a federally approved state organic program. She cited Farm Raised Salmon Cases, 42 Cal. 4th 1077 (2008), to counter the trial court’s conclusion that her claims were preempted under federal law. Distinguishing Farm Raised Salmon Cases, the court was guided instead by Aurora Dairy Corp. Organic Milk Marketing & Sales Practices Litigation v. Aurora Organic Dairy, 621 F.3d 781…
The Environmental Research Center (ERC) has reportedly filed a lawsuit under Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) against a company that allegedly sells “meal replacement” shakes and “hunger blocker” bars containing lead, a chemical known to California as a reproductive toxicant and cause of cancer. ERC v. Ideal Shape LLC, No. __ (Cal. Super. Ct., Alameda Cty.). Under Prop. 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, private litigants such as ERC may bring enforcement actions after notifying an alleged violator that it has failed to provide warnings with products containing listed chemicals. ERC sent such a letter to Ideal Shape on May 17, 2013, alleging Prop. 65 violations every day since at least May 17, 2010. See Courthouse News Service, November 25, 2013.
A District of Columbia court has determined that a plaintiff who purchased a bottle of Pompeian-brand extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) after learning that testing done in 2010 and 2011 concluded that certain EVOO brands did not satisfy U.S. and international EVOO standards has standing to bring certain consumer-fraud claims despite purportedly believing that the product was defective when purchased. Mostofi v. Mohtaram, Inc., No. 2011 CA 163 B (D.C. Super. Ct., order entered November 12, 2013). Thus the court rejected the defendant’s “manufactured” or “self-inflicted” injury standing argument. According to the court, “The dispositive consideration is that Plaintiff is a consumer who engaged in a consumer transaction.” The court also disagreed with the defendant that the plaintiff lacked expert testimony or that his sampling testing was insufficiently reliable to support two claims of statutory consumer fraud, finding they were matters of fact to be determined by a jury. The court…
Telling counsel for Irwindale, California, that it was “asking for a very radical order on 24-hour notice,” a superior court has reportedly denied the city’s request that the maker of an Asian hot sauce cease production until purportedly aggressive odors can be reduced. Irwindale v. Huy Fong Foods, No. ___ (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed October 28, 2013). A hearing on the city’s motion for preliminary injunction has been scheduled for November 22, 2013. According to news sources, Huy Fong Foods, which makes a popular Sriracha chili sauce, opened its Irwindale plant in 2012 when its Rosemead facility could not keep up with demand. Irwindale residents began complaining of pungent pepper and garlic fumes, burning eyes, irritated throats and headaches, especially when the company crushes the peppers. The city cited the company in October 2013 for violation of an ordinance forbidding noxious manufacturing emissions and filed suit after…
Jensen Farms has filed a lawsuit against the company that hired the food-safety auditor who gave the cantaloupe grower a “superior” rating during a 2011 audit not long before the grower shipped fruit allegedly contaminated with Listeria to a distributor that required the cantaloupe to be certified by the auditor, giving rise to a nationwide outbreak that killed 33 people and hospitalized many others. Jensen Farms v. Primus Group, Inc., No. ___ (Colo. Dist. Ct., filed October 15, 2013). The farm has since ceased operation, and the Jensen brothers have entered guilty pleas to charges of adulteration of food and aiding and abetting. According to the complaint, a Primus auditor indicated in 2010 that the cleaning technology used at the farm could potentially contaminate cantaloupe because it used re-circulating chlorinated water. The 2011 auditor, a different individual, was told about changes to the system made in response to the 2010 concerns,…
Keep Food Legal, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, has filed a petition under the New York Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), seeking an order compelling the office of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to respond to its allegedly unaddressed requests for “records and documents on various, proposed, or enjoined food-related regulations or policies to which the Mayor’s Office had some relationship, influence, or administrative role.” Keep Food Legal v. Office of the Mayor, No. ___ (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. Cty., filed October 4, 2013). The petition outlines the requests that it made under FOIL since July 2012 and alleges that the city failed to respond within statutory deadlines. According to Keep Food Legal’s Website, the materials sought relate to “the development of New York City’s most restrictive food laws and regulations, including the city’s trans fat ban; mandatory menu labeling law; restaurant letter grade system; ban on providing food meant for…
