Olive Oil Class Voluntarily Dismisses “Extra Virgin” Claims to Pursue “Made in Italy” False Ad Allegations

A California federal court has allowed plaintiffs in a false advertising
putative class action to dismiss their claims of fraud based on the “extra
virgin” quality of Filippo Berio olive oil in favor of pursuing their allegations
that the products are falsely labeled as “made in Italy.” Kumar v.
Salov N. Am. Corp., No. 14-2411 (N.D. Cal., Oakland Div., order entered
January 8, 2016). The plaintiff sought to dismiss the “extra virgin”
portion of the claims after the discovery process revealed the olive oil
was sold in both clear-glass bottles—which the plaintiff asserted could
damage the quality of the oil because of the light allowed through the
glass—and tinted-glass bottles.

Additional details about the claims’ survival of a motion to dismiss
appear in Issue 554 of this Update. In February 2015, Shook Partner Ann
Havelka authored an article for Law360 examining the case, arguing that
it is “an example of a second wave of food labeling litigation” because
of an increase in independent testing for compliance with labeling and
regulatory standards.

Issue 590