A California federal court has denied Vigo Importing Co.’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the company mislabels its products as containing octopus when they are actually composed of jumbo squid. Fonseca v. Vigo Importing Co., No. 16-2055 (N.D. Cal., order entered October 26, 2016). Vigo Importing sought to dismiss the claim on jurisdictional grounds, arguing that based on its sales figures, the amount in controversy could not possibly meet the $5 million threshold required by the Class Action Fairness Act to allow a federal court to consider the case. The court disagreed, noting that the sales price was only part of the calculation; the potential damages determination requires information on the cost of the products as well as the value of the product if composed of jumbo squid. Details on the complaint appear in Issue 602 of this Update. Issue 621
Tag Archives fish
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…
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have determined that AquAdvantage Salmon “is as safe and nutritious for humans and livestock as conventional salmon.” Approving the genetically engineered (GE) salmon for sale in Canada, the two agencies cited a similar decision issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November 2015. “Health Canada requires labelling for food products, including genetically modified foods, where clear, scientifically established health risks or significant changes to the nutritional qualities of the food have been identified and can be mitigated through labelling,” concludes the agency. “In this case, given that no health and safety concerns were identified, there are no special labeling requirements for AquAdvantage Salmon.” See Health Canada News Release, May 19, 2016. Issue 605
Food and Water Watch, the Center for Food Safety, Friends of the Earth and other consumer and environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) arguing the agency approved the use of genetically engineered (GE) salmon AquaBounty for human consumption without properly investigating related environmental risks. Inst. for Fisheries Res. v. Burwell, No. 13-1574 (N.D. Cal., filed March 30, 2016). The complaint alleges that AquaBounty received approval for two facilities only but has told its investors that it will expand in 2016; the organizations assert that FDA should have investigated the environmental effects of AquaBounty’s “necessary outgrowth” rather than limiting its analysis to the effects of two facilities. The complaint further alleges that FDA “failed to consult with the federal fish and wildlife agencies to insure that its approval for AquaBounty’s application was not likely to jeopardize endangered and threatened species or adversely modify…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the import of genetically engineered (GE) salmon just two months after deeming AquaBounty Technologies, Inc.’s AquAdvantage® salmon safe for human consumption. Issued in compliance with the Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act, the January 29, 2016, import alert directs that “any shipment of suspected or known GE salmon or product composed in whole or in part of GE salmon should be promptly forwarded to the District Compliance Branch.” Although AquaBounty Technologies produces GE salmon at fish farms based in Canada and Panama, the company has not yet sold its product in the United States. But after FDA ruled that the salmon posed no environmental or human health risks, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) moved to block confirmation proceedings for the next FDA commissioner until the agency required labeling for all products containing GE salmon. “This is a huge step in our…
The Center for Food Safety and the Seikatsu Club Consumers Cooperative have joined to jointly decry the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recent determination that genetically engineered (GE) salmon produced by AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. is as safe to eat as conventional salmon and will have little effect on the environment. At the time of FDA’s announcement, the Center for Food Safety vowed to file a lawsuit against the agency. “FDA’s decision to approve this GE salmon was irresponsible and unlawful and it will have global repercussions,” said George Kimbrell, a Center for Food Safety attorney. “We are honored to join with our colleagues in Japan in opposing GE fish and the Aquabounty salmon. Together, we will work to stop its expansion in order to preserve our native fisheries and protect the markets so many depend on around the world.” According to the consumer groups, Japan imported $2 billion worth…
A California federal court has dismissed a putative class action alleging Nestlé USA Inc. violates state laws about notifying consumers of products sourced from forced labor because of Nestlé’s partnership with a company accused of using slave labor to catch and supply its fish. Barber v. Nestlé USA Inc., No. 15-1364 (C.D. Cal., order entered December 9, 2015). The plaintiffs asserted that some of Nestlé’s Fancy Feast® cat food products include fish supplied by Thai Union Frozen Products, which acknowledges that some of its smaller fishing boats use forced labor, but “it is virtually impossible to say how pervasive the problem is,” according to the court. Nestlé argued the plaintiffs’ claims were barred by the safe harbor doctrine created by the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010, which “requires any retailer who does business in California and has annual worldwide gross receipts exceeding $100 million to make specific disclosures…
The World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) Appellate Body has affirmed an April 2015 ruling that U.S. tuna regulations discriminate against Mexico by requiring “dolphin-safe” labels reflecting the methods used to catch the fish that protect against capture of the mammal. In response to the appellate ruling, the United States criticized the decision as focusing on points that Mexico had not challenged and were merely “hypothetical” and an “academic exercise.” “Panels and the Appellate Body should not make their conception of the ‘perfect’ measure the enemy of all the possible good ones,” according to the U.S. statement provided during the meeting of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body on December 3, 2015. “In pursuing legitimate objectives, Members should not be held to the impossible standard of designing and applying a measure that corresponds exactly to the one that a panel or the Appellate Body would have designed to achieve the legitimate objective at…
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has launched a Center for Maritime Safety and Health Studies. The new program will reportedly coordinate research and intervention studies across the agency for this “high-risk worker population.” See NIOSH eNews, December 2015. Issue 586
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its determination that genetically engineered (GE) salmon produced by AquaBounty Technologies, Inc., is as safe to eat as conventional salmon and will have little effect on the environment. Containing genes from Pacific Chinook salmon and ocean pout that accelerate growth and maturation, AquAdvantage® salmon is the first GE animal approved for human consumption. After spending more than a decade reviewing data on food safety and environmental impacts, the agency apparently concluded that (i) “the inserted genes remained stable over several generations of fish,” (ii) “food from the GE salmon is safe to eat by humans and animals,” (iii) “the genetic engineering is safe for the fish,” and (iv) “the salmon meets the sponsor’s claim about faster growth.” FDA also found that the multiple containment measures taken by land-based production facilities are sufficient to prevent the fish from mixing with wild populations.…
