Food & Water Watch, a consumer advocacy group, has filed suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service over the agencies’ denial of the group’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests asking for the names of companies that opted to participate in the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS). Food & Water Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of Agric., No. 17-1133 (D.D.C., filed June 9, 2017). USDA implemented the optional NPIS in an effort to reduce rates of foodborne illness attributable to chicken and turkey contaminated with Salmonella and Campylobacter. Food & Water Watch requested the identities of the companies that chose to participate in NPIS, but their FOIA requests were denied on the grounds that “the responsive records consist solely of confidential future business plans.” Alleging violations of FOIA, the plaintiff is seeking an order for disclosure of the requested records and attorney’s…
Tag Archives D.C.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and National Consumers League have filed a lawsuit alleging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) decision to delay implementation of rules requiring chain restaurants and food sellers to display nutritional information violated the Administrative Procedure Act. Ctr. for Sci. in the Pub. Interest v. Price, No. 17-1085 (D.D.C., filed June 7, 2017). The plaintiffs allege that the agency “repeatedly delayed” the compliance date for the nutritional labeling rules, which were originally scheduled to take effect in December 2015. One day before the revised enforcement date in May 2017, FDA announced that compliance would be delayed until May 2018. The plaintiffs request that the court vacate the delay. Additional details on the delay announcement appear in Issue 633 of this Update. “The Trump administration’s delay of menu labeling ill serves consumers, who need and want better information about their food choices,” CSPI Director of Nutrition Policy Margo G. Wootan said in a June…
Consumer advocacy group Beyond Pesticides has filed suit against the maker of Mott’s applesauce products, alleging the term “natural” on its labels misleads consumers because the products contain the pesticide acetamiprid. Beyond Pesticides v. Dr Pepper Snapple Grp., No. 2017 CA 003156 B (D.C. Super. Ct., filed May 5, 2017). The plaintiff asserts that the “natural” and “All Natural Ingredients” labeling on several varieties of Mott’s applesauce mislead consumers who would not expect the products to contain a “synthetic, unnatural chemical.” Claiming violations of the District of Columbia’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act, the plaintiff seeks injunctive and equitable relief—including the establishment of a “community fund” to raise consumer awareness of acetamiprid—and attorney’s fees. Issue 634
A federal court has ruled that three environmental groups lack standing to intervene in a lawsuit to block implementation of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program. Alfa Int’l Seafood v. Ross, No. 170031 (D.D.C., order entered April 17, 2017). The court held that the Natural Resources Defense Council, Oceana and the Center for Biological Diversity failed to establish concrete or particularized injuries “fairly traceable” to the possible vacating of the proposed program, known as the Seafood Traceability Rule. Even if they could, the court found, the groups still had not made a minimal showing that defendant U.S. Department of Commerce was unable to adequately represent their interests in the case. The groups argued that the new administration “might adopt policies that negatively affect the force of the Rule,” but Commerce reported that it supported the program. The court also dismissed the groups’ disagreements with Commerce about the program’s scope and timing…
Three environmental and conservation advocacy groups have moved to intervene in a lawsuit filed by a group of seafood processing, distribution and retail companies to block implementation of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program. Alfa Int’l Seafood, Inc. v. Sullivan, No. 17-0031 (D.D.C., motion filed March 7, 2017). Natural Resources Defense Council, Oceana and the Center for Biological Diversity are asking to defend the oversight program, known as the Seafood Traceability Rule, which gives the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration power over stringent reporting and recordkeeping of fish catches, vessel and species identification, names of buyers and other chain-of-custody information. The National Marine Fisheries Service published the rule in December 2016 to combat U.S. imports of seafood alleged to be the product of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, along with fraudulent practices such as mislabeling of species. Issue 627
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and Beyond Pesticides have filed a complaint against the Sioux Honey Association alleging the company’s Sue Bee® honey products contain the herbicide glyphosate despite being marketed as “Pure” and “Natural.” Organic Consumers Assoc. v. Sioux Honey Assoc. Coop., No. 008012 (D.C. Super. Ct., filed November 1, 2016). The complaint acknowledges that the glyphosate “may be due to the application of glyphosate on crops by neighboring farms and unrelated to beekeeping activities” but argues that the labeling is inaccurate regardless. The plaintiff organizations seek an injunction enjoining the labeling and mandating a corrective advertising campaign as well as costs. “A consumer seeing the words ‘Pure,’ ‘100% Pure’ or ‘Natural’ on a honey product would reasonably expect that product to contain nothing other than honey,” OCA International Director Ronnie Cummins said in a November 1, 2016, press release. “Regardless of how these products came to be contaminated,…
A D.C. federal court has denied McCormick & Co.’s motion to dismiss a competitor’s lawsuit alleging the company’s black pepper packaging contains too much slack fill. In re McCormick & Co., Inc., Pepper Prods. Mktg. & Sales Practices Litig., No. 15-1825 (D.D.C., order entered October 17, 2016). The lawsuit is part of multidistrict litigation joining several consumer class actions with similar allegations. McCormick challenged Watkins Inc.’s standing to sue and asserted that the company failed to state a claim under the Lanham Act, arguing that its packaging does not constitute advertising. The court disagreed, noting, “McCormick argues that size of its pepper tins is not commercial speech, but it is difficult to understand how the size of a package or container could possibly not be considered a form of ‘advertising or promotion.’ [] The size of a package signals to the consumer vital information about a product and is as…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to act on the organization’s 2012 citizen petition seeking establishment of a performance standard for controlling Vibrio vulnificus, bacteria responsible for several deaths related to seafood consumption. Ctr. for Sci. in Pub. Interest v. FDA, No. 16-0995 (D.D.C., filed May 25, 2016). CSPI argues that FDA has violated the Administrative Procedure Act by delaying its response to CSPI’s citizen petition urging the agency “to establish a performance standard of nondetectable for V. vulnificus in raw molluscan shellfish” under the Food Safety Modernization Act. “Every year, people are getting sick and some are dying from what is a completely preventable disease,” CSPI Senior Food Safety Attorney David Plunkett said in a May 26, 2016, press release. “For too long the FDA has observed these illnesses and deaths from…
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has filed lawsuits against The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. and The Honest Co., Inc. alleging the companies’ “organic” infant formula products contain multiple substances prohibited for use in organic food by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Organic Consumers Assoc. v. Hain Celestial Grp., Inc., No. 16-2533 (D.C. Super. Ct., filed April 5, 2016); Organic Consumers Assoc. v. Honest Co., Inc., No. SC125655 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed April 6, 2016). The lawsuit against Hain Celestial challenges the label claims of its Earth’s Best products, which the complaint argues are all labeled organic despite none meeting federal organic regulations. “Behind the picturesque red barn of the Earth’s Best logo displayed on each of the Falsely Labeled Products lies a chemical soup of synthetic, toxic, and hazardous ingredients,” the complaint argues. “For example, of the 48 ingredients in Earth’s Best Organic Infant Formula, more than…
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has consolidated three putative consumer class actions and a competitor lawsuit challenging McCormick’s alleged under-filling of its non-transparent black pepper containers. In re McCormick & Co. Inc. Pepper Prods. Mktg. & Sales Practices Litig., MDL No. 2665 (D.D.C., transfer order filed December 8, 2015). The court found that the actions involved common factual questions “about the propriety of McCormick’s pricing and packaging of its pepper products under various federal and state laws.” The transfer order notes that the plaintiffs of one consumer suit argued the competitor action be excluded, but the court found the action had a “clear factual overlap with the other cases.” The cases will continue in the District of District of Columbia and may involve additional tag-along actions as well. Additional information about the competitor action, brought by Minnesota-based Watkins Inc., appears in Issue 568 of this Update; details about a putative…
