The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned Nashoba Brook Bakery that it has misbranded its granola by listing “Love” as one of its ingredients. The warning letter informed the company that “'love' is not a common or usual name of an ingredient, and is considered to be intervening material because it is not part of the common or usual name of the ingredient.” “Intervening material” refers to information that is not required in FDA labeling and can distract from required content. The letter also cited the bakery for health and sanitary violations as well as misbranding violations for whole-wheat products that contain corn meal.
A U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study has criticized the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) for their failure to ensure that imported seafood does not contain unsafe levels of antibiotic or other drug residues. According to the GAO, about 90 percent of the seafood eaten in the United States is imported, and about half of imported seafood is raised on fish farms where producers treat fish to prevent infections and foodborne illnesses. GAO makes five main recommendations: (i) FDA should pursue agreements with exporting countries to test for “drugs of concern” and residue levels; (ii) FSIS should conduct onsite audits of fish farms instead of limiting visits to government offices, commercial food processing facilities and food testing labs; (iii) FSIS should require exporting countries to include residue-monitoring plans in equivalence determinations; (iv) FDA and FSIS should collaborate to develop…
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved an ordinance that will require certain grocery stores to report the use of antibiotics in raw meat and poultry. Scheduled to take effect in April 2018, the ordinance requires grocers that own or operate 25 or more stores to submit annual reports that include the purposes for which the antibiotics were used, the number of animals raised, the total volume of antibiotics administered and whether the use was “medically important.” Grocers who violate the ordinance may be subject to fines or imprisonment.
A report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has concluded that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fails to adequately conduct or follow up on food-safety inspections required by the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). OIG reportedly found that while FDA is “on track” to meet inspection timeframes for the initial mandate, future inspection timeframes are two years shorter and FDA may not be able to meet them. The report also stated that FDA did not always take action when it found significant safety violations and that the agency “commonly relied on facilities to voluntarily correct the violations” instead of taking advantage of FSMA administrative tools. FDA “consistently failed to conduct timely followup inspections” to ensure facilities made the necessary corrections, the report noted. In addition, “inaccuracies” in domestic facility data caused FDA to attempt inspections at the…
The Ninth Circuit has upheld California’s ban on force-feeding ducks and geese to produce foie gras, finding the state’s law is not preempted by the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA). Assoc. des Éleveurs de Canards et d’Oies du Québec v. Becerra, No. 15- 55192 (9th Cir., opinion filed September 15, 2017). In 2013, the Ninth Circuit rejected a constitutional challenge to the ban filed by the same plaintiffs. The court reversed a grant of summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, who challenged the state’s ban on sales or production of foie gras made from force-fed birds. First, the court held the ban is not expressly preempted by the PPIA because the federal statute’s “ingredient” requirement addresses the components of poultry products, not husbandry or feeding practices, and California’s law does not ban all foie gras—only that made from force-fed birds. “Nothing in the federal law … limits a state’s…
A plaintiff has filed a proposed class action alleging ACH Food Companies sells its Fleischmann’s® Simply Homemade Baking Mix products in opaque boxes that contain approximately 50 percent slack fill. Buso v. ACH Food Cos., No. 17-1872 (S.D. Cal., filed September 14, 2017). The complaint asserts that the plaintiff would not have purchased the products had he known the container was substantially empty. Alleging violations of California consumer-protection laws, the plaintiff seeks class certification, injunctive relief, exemplary, compensatory and punitive damages, restitution and attorney’s fees.
After a jury unanimously found in May 2017 that two former University of California, Davis professors willfully infringed the university’s patents on a strawberry breed they developed in the school’s program, both sides have agreed on a settlement that will dispose of all other claims against each other. Regents of Univ. of Cal. v. Cal. Berry Cultivars, No. 16-2477 (N.D. Cal., filed September 18, 2017). The professors, who left the university to form a private strawberry-breeding company, have agreed to return breeding materials to the school and relinquish $2.5 million in future royalties related to pre-existing patent-share agreements but will retain interests in some of the varietals they bred. Additional details appear in Issues 604, 633 and 636 of this Update.
A former employee of Shake Shack Inc. has alleged he was fired after complaining about health and safety violations at one of the company’s New York City locations. Via v. Shake Shack Inc., No. 17-7049 (S.D.N.Y., filed September 14, 2017). The plaintiff alleges that managers of one location fired him after he complained that, among other allegations, they (i) failed to train employees about food allergies; (ii) allowed visibly sick workers to prepare food; and (iii) failed to properly clean the kitchen and equipment. Recent New York City health inspections cited the location for the presence of food/refuse/sewage-associated flies found in food and non-food areas, contaminated and cross-contaminated food and food contact surfaces that had not been sanitized. Claiming retaliation in violation of state laws, the plaintiff seeks $1 million in damages.
A consumer has filed a putative class action alleging the Hain Celestial Group's “ColdPressed” juice products are mislabeled because a third-party company, which manufactures some of the product, heats the juice during high-pressure processing, causing a “compositional change." Davis v. Hain Celestial Grp., No. 17- 5191 (E.D.N.Y., filed September 3, 2017). The complaint challenges two product lines, BluePrint ColdPressed Juice and BluePrint Organic fruit drinks, which the plaintiff claims are represented as “raw and organic” and “never heated.” The plaintiff asserts that high-pressure processing heats the juice, causing changes in the “microbial, enzymatic and bacterial activity and intact cellular structures,” resulting in the products no longer being raw or fresh. Claiming violations of New York consumer protection laws along with fraudulent misrepresentation, implied warranty of merchantability and unjust enrichment, the plaintiff seeks class certification, injunctive relief, damages and attorney’s fees.
Following a bench trial, a California federal court has ruled that Fetzer Vineyards, Inc.’s “bourbon barrel aged” 1000 Stories red zinfandel wine, which features a sketch of a buffalo on its label, does not infringe the trademark or trade dress of Sazerac Co.’s Buffalo Trace bourbon. Sazerac Co. v. Fetzer Vineyards, Inc., No. 15-4618 (N.D. Cal., entered September 19, 2017). “This case was not close,” the court said. Sazerac “did not establish that Buffalo Trace’s bourbon trade dress was similar to 1000 Stories wine’s. It did not establish that Fetzer intended to infringe at the creation of its product or in its marketing. There was no evidence of actual confusion between the products … and no indication that consumers of 1000 Stories are even aware of Buffalo Trace.” The court had already limited Sazerac’s potential recovery to attorney’s fees after the company failed to provide damage calculations on a timely…
