A California resident has filed a putative class action in federal court against Kellogg Co., alleging that the company misled consumers by claiming its snack products were healthy and nutritious and met “stringent food safety requirements,” when in fact they contained Salmonella-contaminated peanut paste supplied by the Peanut Corporation of America. Benavides v. Kellogg Co., No. 10-02294 (C.D. Cal., filed March 29, 2010). The Peanut Corp. Salmonella outbreak led to a massive recall of food products, including Kellogg’s Austin® and Keebler® branded sandwich crackers and cookies. The complaint alleges that Kellogg hired unqualified private inspectors to audit its suppliers’ manufacturing plants while claiming that its suppliers met Codex Alimentarius Commission standards. The plaintiff seeks to certify a nationwide class of consumers with alleged monetary injury. He alleges (i) unlawful business acts and practices in violation of California’s Sherman Food, Drug and Cosmetics Law and Consumer Legal Remedies Act; (ii) deceptive marketing and…
A meat manufacturer that recalled more than 1 million pounds of meat products linked to a Salmonella outbreak that purportedly sickened more than 250 consumers in 44 states has reportedly sued the companies that supplied the red and black pepper allegedly identified as the source of the contamination. Daniele Int’l, Inc. v. Wholesome Spice & Seasonings, Inc., No. 10-155 (D.R.I., filed March 30, 2010). Seeking compensatory, punitive and exemplary damages, the plaintiff apparently alleges that it recalled more than 1.2 million pounds of meat, including salami, prosciutto and pancetta, refunded more than $1.5 million to customers, incurred transportation and shipping costs, and lost customers and future profits. The company reportedly purchased more than 50,000 pounds of pepper from one defendant and more than 40,000 pounds of pepper from the other in 2009. According to a news source, public health officials traced the Salmonella strain to the black and crushed red pepper…
Acting on behalf of environmental interest groups, a University of Maryland School of Law student clinic has filed a lawsuit against a chicken farmer and the company that owns and processes the farm’s chickens, alleging that the farm’s poultry waste is being discharged into and polluting navigable waters of the United States in violation of the Clean Water Act. Assateague Coastkeeper v. Alan & Kristin Hudson Farm, No. 10-487 (D. Md., filed March 1, 2010). The plaintiffs purportedly tested downstream waters and found high levels of fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria, as well as nitrogen, phosphorus and ammonia. They allege that the water carried from the farm eventually empties into the Chesapeake Bay. In response to the lawsuit, the Maryland Legislature reportedly approved a measure that requires the clinic to disclose its clients and budgets from the preceding two years. An early version of the bill would have penalized the university…
A federal court in California has dismissed a lawsuit that the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) filed against a company which claimed its multivitamin supplements supported prostate health or reduced the risk of prostate cancer. CSPI v. Bayer Corp., No. 09-05379 (N.D. Cal., decided March 25, 2010). The court determined that CSPI could not bring claims under California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) or its Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA) in a representational capacity on behalf of consumers. The court also found that the organization lacked standing to sue on its own behalf. According to CSPI’s complaint, the company’s conduct interfered with its mission to “provide useful, objective, and safe information to the public.” The court found that these allegations of injury were insufficient to demonstrate cognizable injury for the organization to sue on its own behalf under the UCL, which requires an action to be brought by a…
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted a preliminary injunction that prevented California from enforcing a law adopted after The Humane Society’s video of the mistreatment of downer cattle at a slaughterhouse became public and led to a massive beef recall in 2008. Nat’l Meat Ass’n v. Brown, 09-15483 (9th Cir., decided March 31, 2010). The National Meat Association challenged California’s law, which prohibits slaughterhouses from receiving, processing or selling nonambulatory animals, as preempted by the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), and the district court agreed. The state law also prohibits moving a nonambulatory animal without a sling or other sled-like or wheeled conveyance. According to the Ninth Circuit, the federal law, which contains an express preemption provision, prescribes what is to be done with nonambulatory animals to be slaughtered and sold for human consumption; it does not limit states “in their ability to regulate what types of meat may…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reopened the comment period for a proposed rule published August 4, 1993, that would amend the quality standard for bottled water. FDA is seeking further comment on finalizing the allowable level for the chemical di(2 ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) in the bottled water quality standard. In a final rule published March 26, 1996, FDA deferred final action on DEHP’s proposed allowable level of 0.006 milligrams/liter (mg/L) in response to a comment which “maintained that finalizing the proposed allowable level for DEHP would result in a limit on the level of this chemical in bottled water that conflicts with this chemical’s permitted use under the existing food additive regulation for closures with sealing gaskets, and that taking such action would effectively ban the use of this plasticizer.” The comment further stated that “gaskets containing DEHP are permitted for use in packaging food and bottled water under…
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its toxicological review of methanol in early 2010, and comments recently filed by food industry interests have criticized the agency for using “surrogate” chemicals, such as formaldehyde and aspartame, an artificial sweetener, to support listing methanol as a likely human carcinogen. They also challenge the agency’s reliance on controversial studies suggesting a link between aspartame and increased incidence of lymphoma and leukemia. EPA apparently used data involving the surrogate chemicals because they are related to methanol as metabolites. According to the Calorie Control Council, which represents companies that make low-calorie and reduced-fat foods, EPA’s review “reads like an aspartame report and not a methanol report.” Because aspartame’s safety has been studied for many years and the chemical additive has been approved for general use in more than 100 countries, the council argues that it should not be included in the methanol report. The Juice Products…
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published an action plan to address concerns over bisphenol A (BPA), which has purportedly “caused reproductive and developmental effects in animal studies and may also affect the endocrine system.” Intended to strengthen the agency’s chemical management program, the plan focuses on the plasticizer’s environmental impact and proposes (i) adding BPA to the chemical concern list; (ii) gathering information on BPA concentrations in surface, ground and drinking water; (iii) requiring manufacturers to provide EPA with test data related to long-term effects on growth, reproduction and development in aquatic organisms and wildlife; (iv) using EPA’s Design for the Environment program to reduce unnecessary exposures and find acceptable substitutes; and (v) continuing to evaluate “the potential disproportionate impact on children and other sub-populations through exposure from non-food packaging uses.” In addition, EPA has pledged to work with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other federal entities to…
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology has released a report to the president and Congress assessing the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), “which coordinates Federal research and development activities involving the manipulation of matter at scales smaller than 100 billionths of [a] meter.” The third in a decade-long series of assessments, the report lauds the NNI for making the United States a nanotechnology leader but notes that aggressive competitors “such as China, South Korea, and the European Union,” pose a threat to that leadership position. The report makes a number of recommendations, including increased investment in product commercialization and technology transfer and a strengthened commitment to “explore in more orderly fashion environmental, health, and safety issues.” Noting the role that nanotechnology plays in consumer products, including foods, the report also envisions how it can be used in information technology, health care, the development of high-strength materials, energy and…
A recent study has reportedly likened overeating to a drug addiction, concluding that rats given access to high-fat food exhibited a neurochemical dependency similar to the “reward homeostasis induced by cocaine or heroin.” Paul Johnson and Paul Kenny, “Dopamine D2 Receptors in Addiction-Like Reward Dysfunction and Compulsive Eating in Obese Rats,” Nature Neuroscience, March 28, 2010. Researchers monitored the brains of rats divided into three groups: the first allowed unlimited access to high-fat foods; the second given access to high-fat fare for only one hour per day; and the third fed rat chow only. While the rats in the second group acquired a pattern of compulsive binge eating, consuming 66 percent of their daily calories during the one hour when high-fat food was available, the rats with extended access not only grew obese but also displayed “a progressively worsening deficit in neural reward responses.” The obese rats gradually developed an…
