According to news sources, a New York woman is seeking $5 million in damages in a putative class action against General Mills, alleging that the company falsely promotes its Fruit Roll-Ups® and other fruit snacks as nutritious and healthy while failing to properly disclose to consumers that partially hydrogenated oil is a product ingredient. McClure v. General Mills, Inc., No. 10-05015 (S.D.N.Y., filed June 29, 2010). Plaintiff Payton McClure, who reportedly describes herself as a “lifelong consumer” of General Mills products, contends that partially hydrogenated oil is “dangerous” and “unhealthy.” She apparently seeks compensatory and punitive damages, among other remedies. See Reuters and NYDailyNews.com, June 29, 2010.
The attorneys for a woman who recently reportedly sued General Mills for failing to properly disclose that its fruit snack products contain partially hydrogenated oil also represent a man who has filed similar claims against the companies that make and sell Yoo-Hoo®, a chocolate beverage. Dahl v. Mott’s LLP, No. __ (E.D.N.Y., filed June 29, 2010). Information about the General Mills lawsuit appears elsewhere in this Update. According to plaintiff Timothy Dahl, the defendants promote Yoo-Hoo® as a nutritious and healthy product, claiming that it contains vitamins and minerals, has no preservatives and is 99 percent fat free and 99 percent caffeine free. The complaint states, “Unfortunately for consumers and, in certain cases their children, all these claims are false and misleading. Defendants’ healthful claims are misleading since the Product fails to properly disclose they contain a highly unhealthy, non-nutritious ingredient known as partially hydrogenated oil. This partially hydrogenated oil…
A federal court in California has denied defendant’s motion to dismiss a putative class action alleging that the company deceived the public by promoting and labeling its reformulated microwave popcorn as containing “No Added Diacetyl.” Fine v. ConAgra Foods, Inc., No. 10 01848 (D.C. Cal., order entered June 29, 2010). According to the plaintiff, she relied on defendant’s claims about “no added diacetyl” when purchasing its products, yet the popcorn still contains diacetyl. Accepting the plaintiff’s allegations as true for the purpose of ruling on the motion, the court noted that while plaintiff does not have “direct knowledge of the presence of diacetyl in Defendant’s products, Plaintiff relies on the work and statements of several health experts and alleges that ‘[k]nown “substitutes” for diacetyl still contain molecules of diacetyl.’” The defendant sought to dismiss the claims on the grounds that the plaintiff did not allege a cognizable injury and thus lacks…
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has announced a meeting of its Carcinogen Identification Committee (CIC) on September 21-22, 2010, to consider whether to list 1,3-Dichloro-2-propanol (1,3 DCP) and 3-monochloropropane-1,2 diol (3-MCPD) under Proposition 65 (Prop. 65). These chemicals are apparently produced by treating proteins from hydrolyzed vegetables, such as soya, with hydrochloric acid and are commonly found in soy and related sauces that are not produced using traditional fermenting processes. They have also been found in malt products, sausage, minced beef, ham, and battered and fried fish. Public comments on the 1,3 DCP and 3-MCPD documents that OEHHA has prepared on the basis of a recent request for information must be filed by August 24, 2010.
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D) has reportedly announced that the state has reached an agreement with The Humane Society of the United States so that a state constitutional proposal addressing animal-care reforms will not appear on the ballot in the fall. Under the agreement, animal rights interests will work with various state agencies to take action on farm animal care and welfare in exchange for the Humane Society not submitting more than 450,000 signatures to qualify an initiative for inclusion on the November 2, 2010, ballot. The agreement addresses, among other matters, a phase out of hog gestation crates, a transition to group housing for veal calves and the denial of permits to new egg facility applicants based on permitting standards calling for the use of battery cages. Also covered by the agreement are regulations for dog breeding kennels, the possession of dangerous animals and increased penalties on those engaging…
The European Commission’s (EC’s) Joint Research Centre has published a report that explores various definitions for the term “nanomaterial” currently in use around the world in an effort to devise a single definition that could make nanotechnology amenable to regulation. Titled “Considerations on a Definition of Nanomaterial for Regulatory Purposes,” the report observes that nanomaterials are currently being used in food and nutritional ingredients as well as food packaging. The authors call for a single definition of nanomaterial that will be “broadly applicable in EU legislation and policies, legally clear and unambiguous, enforceable through agreed measurement techniques and procedures, and in line with other approaches worldwide.” According to the report, no official definition for the term has yet been adopted in the United States, but the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a definition for “engineered nanoscale material” under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced a trade agreement with Russia that ends a January 2010 ban on chlorine-treated poultry from the United States. In exchange for lifting the ban, USDA has pledged to post on its website information about “which disinfectants/pathogen reductions treatments are known to be approved by Russia for use on processing poultry and on food generally.” U.S. officials will also provide (i) “information . . . on the solutions that companies use on poultry shipped to Russia,” and (ii) “an updated list of poultry processing facilities authorized to ship poultry to Russia.” The accord came after 25 senators reportedly urged President Barack Obama (D) to take up the issue with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. “I am pleased that after several months of negotiations, we have finally reached a breakthrough which will allow for U.S. poultry exports to resume to this important market,” stated U.S.…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced two public meetings with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to hear stakeholder input on collective efforts to reduce illness, harm and death from contaminated food. Extensions of an initial workshop held in March 2010, the meetings will be held July 21, in Chicago, Illinois, and October 20 in Portland, Oregon. Presentations are expected from consumer groups, industry, public health experts, and state and local regulators on recommended measures for assessing food safety performance. CDC, FDA and FSIS will present information on the Food Safety Working Group’s “charge to create meaningful metrics to measure the effectiveness of the nation’s food safety system,” according to USDA. The agencies will also “present current thinking, focusing on how these metrics might be applied to evaluate the success of FDA’s shell…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that its Science Board will hold a public meeting on August 16, 2010, in Bethesda, Maryland. Tasked with advising officials on “specific complex and technical issues, as well as emerging issues within the scientific community in industry and academia,” the board keeps pace with “technical and scientific evolutions in the fields of regulatory science.” At this meeting, it will hear a subcommittee’s final report on research at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), as well as discuss the agency’s nanotechnology research program, among other agenda items. FDA has stated that it intends to make background material available on its website “no later than [two] business days before the meeting.” The agency will also accept written data submissions on or before August 9, 2010, and proposals for formal oral presentations on or before August 2, 2010. See Federal Register, June…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft guidance that urges the “judicious” use of antibiotics in food-producing animals to minimize drug resistance in humans. The guidance recommends limiting “medically important” antimicrobial drugs to uses deemed necessary for animal health on the basis of veterinary oversight or consultation. It supports the theory that “nontheraputic” or “subtherapeutic” antibiotic use for production or growth enhancing purposes “is not in the interest of protecting and promoting the public health.” FDA has requested written comments by August 30, 2010. See FDA News Release, June 28, 2010; Federal Register, June 29, 2010. FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein has called the matter an urgent public health issue, telling news sources that the agency would issue new regulations if farmers do not voluntarily adhere to them. “We’re not handcuffed to the steering wheel of a particular strategy, but I’m not ruling out anything that we…
