A New York federal court has rejected Chobani, LLC’s motion for reconsideration of a preliminary injunction preventing the company from claiming in its advertising that competitor Dannon Co.’s yogurt products contain chlorine and are thereby unhealthy, unsafe and inferior to Chobani yogurt. Chobani, LLC v. Dannon Co., Inc., No. 16-0030 (N.D.N.Y., order entered April 22, 2016). Chobani’s marketing campaign displayed an image of a swimming pool—which is cleaned with calcium hypochlorite, a substance colloquially referred to as “chlorine”—while asserting that Dannon Light & Fit® yogurt contained chlorine, one of four chemical elements that constitute sweetener sucralose. Additional details about the complaint appear in Issue 590 of this Update. According to the court, Chobani argued that the “limitations place it at a competitive disadvantage because it completely precludes usage of the phrase ‘no bad stuff’ in relation to Dannon products regardless of whether or not a safety message is at issue.…
Tag Archives artificial sweetener
Cumberland Packing Corp. and a group of consumers have reached a settlement agreement in a lawsuit alleging that Cumberland Packing Corp. misrepresents its Stevia in the Raw® sweetener products as all natural despite containing genetically modified organisms. Frohberg v. Cumberland Packing Corp., No. 14-0748 (E.D.N.Y., motion filed February 22, 2016). Under the agreement, Cumberland will pay up to $1,547,000 to reimburse class members with $2.00—or 40 percent of the average purchase price—per purchase of Stevia in the Raw®, to a maximum of $16 per person. In addition, Cumberland will remove “100% Natural” or “All Natural” label claims. Issue 595
Chobani has filed a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that its advertisements claiming competitor Dannon’s yogurt contains chlorine are not false or misleading, prompting Dannon to file a counterclaim seeking a preliminary injunction. Chobani v. The Dannon Co., Inc., No. 16-0030 (N.D.N.Y., complaint filed January 8, 2016, counterclaim filed January 11, 2016). Chobani’s complaint details its campaign, launched January 6, 2016, that asserts “Dannon’s Light & Fit Greek Yogurt contains sucralose, an artificial sweetener processed with added chlorine.” The company seeks a declaration that its claims are not false, misleading, disparaging or deceptive under the Lanham Act or New York state law. Dannon’s response argues that the ad campaign “has been misinforming consumers about the health and safety of Dannon’s products while exaggerating the relative health benefits of its own product.” The counterclaim defends sucralose and its use, arguing that it “is not ‘bad’ or harmful.” Further, “Chobani’s campaign falsely…
The U.K. Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced the final results of an aspartame study commissioned by the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT), which peer-reviewed the initial findings in December 2013. Authored by Hull York Medical School researchers, the study relied on data from 48 individuals who self-identified as sensitive to the artificial sweetener aspartame. After examining various factors—including psychological testing, clinical observation and biochemistry, and metabolomics—the authors found that the participants “showed no difference in their responses after consuming a cereal bar, whether it contained aspartame or not,” according to FSA’s March 19, 2015, press release. Additional details about COT’s review of the study data appear in Issue 506 of this Update. Issue 559
Responding to objections submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed its decision to allow the use of advantame as a non-nutritive sweetener and flavor enhancer in foods intended for human consumption. FDA apparently received 12 responses to its May 21, 2014, final rule on advantame, but only NRDC’s submission met the requirements for agency consideration. In particular, NRDC cited five animal studies allegedly showing that aspartame affects the hypothalamus, arguing that aspartame and advantame are “structurally related.” But FDA disagreed with this reasoning, noting that although advantame is structurally related to aspartame, the two substances are “chemically different and metabolized differently in the human body.” As a result, the agency did not consider the health effects of aspartame when reviewing the toxicological data for advantame. As the agency concluded, “NRDC’s objection to the advantame final rule does not provide any…
Researchers with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and two other universities have launched a campaign targeting added sugar consumption. Led by UCSF Health Policy Professor Laura Schmidt, the Sugar-Science Initiative bills itself as “the authoritative source for the science about added sugar and its impact on our health.” The resulting Website features public health messages gleaned from 8,000 scientific papers that the group reportedly vetted for accuracy and conflicts of interest. Among other things, the initiative focuses on the alleged toxicity of fructose and high-fructose corn syrup, arguing that added sugar consumption contributes to liver and cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. As contributor Robert Lustig explained, “It used to be a condiment, now it’s a diet staple. As pediatricians, we had evidence of the connection between sugar and diabetes, heart disease and liver disease for years, but we haven’t had this level of definitive scientific evidence to back up…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has denied two citizen petitions asking the agency to prohibit the use of aspartame as a non-caloric sweetener. Dated July 16, 2002, the first petition argued that the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness Response Act authorizes FDA to recall dangerous chemicals without manufacturer approval. Citing studies conducted by the European Ramazzini Foundation (ERF), the second petition urged FDA to revoke approval for the sweetener under the Delaney Clause in section 409(c)(3)(A) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which provides that “no additive shall be deemed to be safe if it is found to induce cancer when ingested by man or animal, or if it is found, after tests which are appropriate for the evaluation of the safety of food additives, to induce cancer in man or animal.” Responding to these claims, FDA reasoned that the first petition and subsequent comments…
A recent Nature study has reportedly concluded that non-caloric artificial sweeteners (NAS) elevate blood glucose levels and induce glucose intolerance by modifying gut bacteria. Jotham Suez, et al., “Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota,” Nature, September 2014. Noting that mice given drinking water prepared with either saccharin, sucralose or aspartame showed signs of metabolic problems not evident in mice that received only sucrose water, Israeli researchers evidently hypothesized that gut bacteria mediates the effect of NAS on glucose response. To test this theory, they first showed that eradicating the gut microbiota in these mice also leveled the metabolic differences between the two groups. In addition, germ-free mice that received fecal transplants from those on the NAS diet likewise developed a reduced tolerance to glucose. The study’s authors then obtained gut-bacteria samples from seven human volunteers who consumed the maximum recommended amount of saccharin for one week. When given…
A California federal court has dismissed on jurisdictional grounds Quest Nutrition LLC’s lawsuit against Louisiana State University Agricultural Center accusing the school of filing a patent for a sweetener using Quest’s confidential information. Quest Nutrition LLC v. Bd. of Supervisors of LSU Agric. & Mech. Coll., No. 14-2005 (C.D. Cal., order entered July 8, 2014). The court ruled that the majority of Quest’s claims—including those for unfair competition and breach of contract—arose under state law so the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, and the court held that state courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have subject matter jurisdiction over Quest’s patent claims. Quest hired LSU Agricultural Center in 2013 to test a potentially new sweetener and bound the information by a confidentiality agreement. The company alleged that the university succeeded in identifying the formula for the sweetener and filed a patent application with the information that did not list Quest…
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources Added to Food (ANS) has published its full risk assessment on aspartame, concluding that the food additive is safe at current levels of exposure. In addition to noting that aspartame’s breakdown products— phenylalanine, methanol and aspartic acid—occur naturally in other foods, EFSA’s experts found that aspartame’s acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 40 mg/kg bw/day “is protective for the general population,” with the exception of those individuals with phenylketonuria, a medical condition that necessitates a diet low in phenylalanine. At the request of the European Commission, the ANS Panel analyzed “all available information” in an effort to resolve uncertainties related to the re-evaluation of aspartame as a food additive. In particular, the panel’s final scientific opinion assessed both human and animal studies submitted in response to public calls for data; previous evaluations; and additional literature that became available during…
