Hundreds of individually named Philippine banana plantation workers alleging physical and mental injury from exposure to pesticides have filed suit against a number of agricultural and chemical companies in a California state court seeking compensatory and punitive damages. Macasa v. Dole Food Co., No. BC467134 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed August 8, 2011). The plaintiffs allege that 1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP), sold under the brand names Nemagon® and Fumazone®, is a “highly toxic and poisonous pesticide” that purportedly causes “sterility, testicular atrophy, miscarriages, congenital reproductive outcome, liver damage, asthma and various forms of cancer in humans when absorbed by the skin or inhaled.” They claim that DBCP continued to be used in the Philippines despite being banned in the United States by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979. The complaint alleges that the U.S. Department of Agriculture advised the chemical company defendants as early as 1961 “to place precautionary warning…
A California resident has filed a pair of putative class actions in state court against companies that market their coconut water with purportedly exaggerated nutrient claims and overstated hydrating benefits or as a miracle cure for a host of medical problems. Shenkman v. All Mkt., Inc., No. BC 467166; Shenkman v. One World Enters. LLC, No. BC467165 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed August 8, 2011). Seeking to certify statewide consumer classes, the plaintiff alleges intentional and negligent misrepresentation, fraud, and violations of California’s False Advertising Act and Unfair Business Practices Act. The plaintiff requests compensatory and punitive damages, disgorgement, restitution, payment to a cy pres fund, a corrective advertising campaign, and an apology. Among other matters, the plaintiff claims that One World Enterprises sells “O.N.E. Coconut Water” throughout the United States in more than 18,000 retail outlets and promotes it “as a miracle product, curing various medical problems and…
A California consumer who alleged that he gained weight while using a diet drink has reportedly failed to demonstrate that he has standing to pursue putative class consumer-fraud claims against the manufacturer because he did not keep track of his caloric intake when he used the product. Fletcher v. Celsius Holdings, Inc., No. BC439055 (Cal. Super. Ct., decided August 10, 2011). Granting the manufacturer’s motion for summary judgment, the court apparently determined that, without the caloric intake data, it would be impossible for the plaintiff to prove that the product did not, as advertised, burn up to 100 calories when consumed. According to a news source, the plaintiff alleged that he used the product while training to become a firefighter from October 2009 to January 2010, and gained 10 pounds. He also alleged that he maintained a healthy diet and a rigorous exercise regimen during this period. The court suggested that…
Three lead class attorneys who, for five years or longer, have represented African-American farmers claiming discrimination in government farm loan programs, have filed their fee petition seeking 7.4 percent of the preliminarily approved $1.25 billion settlement, or $90.8 million. In re: Black Farmers Discrimination Litig., Misc. No. 08-0511 (D.D.C., filed August 8, 2011). The petition recites the efforts required to obtain redress for the farmers, who missed the deadline for filing claims under the first such settlement in 1999, including working for congressional approval of laws in 2008 and 2010 establishing a fund to compensate them. According to the petition, the fee award request, to be divided among all class counsel, is “expressly within the range authorized by the Settlement Agreement.”
According to a news source, the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation has sued Sprout Foods, Inc., an Oregon-based organic vegetarian baby food manufacturer, for failing to carry out its obligations to produce an Institute-branded line of products (Janey Baby®) under a 2010 licensing agreement. Jane Goodall Inst. for Wildlife Research, Educ. & Conservation v. Sprout Foods, Inc., No. 11-5554 (S.D.N.Y., filed August 10, 2011). The plaintiff reportedly claims that it decided to license the Janey Baby® name to Sprout Foods after an “extensive search for a suitable licensee that could provide organic and vegetarian products in the infant food category.” Allegedly signed by Sprout Foods CEO Max McKenzie, the August 2010 agreement gave Sprout an exclusive license to use the famous primatologist’s brand and name in exchange for royalties generated by baby food sales. The Institute reportedly alleges that the baby food producer has not sold or…
Seeking either clarification or dismissal of claims alleging that it has violated state law by republishing the product or service preferences (“Likes”) of children younger than age 18 as accompaniments to paid advertisements without first obtaining parental consent, Facebook, Inc. argues that the claims are insufficiently pleaded, fail to state a claim or are preempted by federal law. Dawes ex rel. E.K.D. v. Facebook, Inc., No. 11-00461 (S.D. Ill., motion filed August 1, 2011). Facebook explains that the plaintiffs are teenagers who shared their Internet “Likes” with their friends and that Facebook may then redisplay the preference to the same friends along with an advertisement for the relevant company’s website. According to Facebook, the plaintiffs have failed to indicate how they have been injured because they failed to allege “that their personal information had any ascertainable ‘value’ or any facts supporting the claimed ‘lessening’ of that value.” Facebook also contends…
The Campbell Soup Co. will change its low-sodium tomato soup labels under a settlement with a class of consumers who sued the company in a New Jersey federal court in 2010, alleging that these products cost more while actually containing about the same level of sodium as the company’s regular tomato soup. Smajlaj v. Campbell Soup Co., No. 10-01332 (D.N.J., preliminary approval granted August 9, 2011). The company will also provide a cash fund of $1.05 million for consumers throughout the United States who purchased the products over a two-year period ending in August 2011. Maximum recovery, depending on which soup was purchased and whether receipts are available, is $10 or $.50 for each can that a class member can show she purchased. The agreement would permit class counsel fees of $350,000; the court has scheduled a final settlement approval hearing for November 29. According to court documents, Campbell will…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a proposed rule that would establish regulations to improve the traceability of livestock moving interstate when disease has been identified. According to APHIS, the proposal aims to provide a new “adoptable approach that will help us find animals associated with a disease quickly, focus our efforts on those animals, and minimize harm to producers.” Defining animal disease traceability as “knowing where diseased and at-risk animals are, where they’ve been, and when,” the plan would require livestock moving interstate, unless exempted, to be (i) officially identified by approved forms for each species, such as metal eartags for cattle, and (ii) accompanied by an interstate certificate of veterinary inspection or other documentation, such as owner-shipper statements or brand certificates. Alternative forms of identification, such as brands or tattoos, would be permitted if agreed to by receiving states or…
According to a news source, Chinese officials have arrested about 2,000 people and shut down almost 5,000 food production facilities since April 2011, in an effort to stop the industry’s use of illegal food additives. The initiative apparently followed scandals involving pork so full of bacteria that it allegedly glowed in the dark and milk laced with melamine that led to the deaths of least six infants and sickened more than 300,000 in 2008. The Chinese government claims that nearly 6 million food businesses have been inspected and “underground” food production and storage sites destroyed. See Agence France Presse, August 4, 2011.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) recently sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg urging the agency to act on an April 2005 advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) related to serving-size regulations. According to the letter, CSPI first responded to the ANPR by asking FDA to (i) “take enforcement action against manufacturers that mislabel products as multiple servings when they are typically consumed in one eating occasion,” and (ii) “initiate a rulemaking proceeding to revise the Reference Amounts Currently Consumed (‘RACC’) regulations to reflect consumption patterns that have developed since the data were collected” in the 1970s. In particular, the consumer watchdog has singled out canned soup, ice cream, coffee creamer, and aerosol non-stick cooking sprays as bearing “unrealistic” serving-size labels that “understate the calories, sodium and saturated fat consumers are likely to get from those products.” “Given the prevalence of…
