Three consumer groups have filed suit against the U.S. government urging action on a nearly two-decade-old petition seeking greater transparency in alcohol labeling. Center for Science in the Public Interest v. U.S. Dep’t of Treasury, No. 22-2975 (D.D.C., filed October 3, 2022). The plaintiffs—the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Federation of America and National Consumers League—are suing the U.S. Department of Treasury and Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), calling on them to require alcohol labeling “with the same basic transparency consumers expect in foods,” such as alcohol content, calorie and ingredient information. The groups initially filed a 2003 petition along with 66 other organizations and eight individuals, including four deans of schools of public health. “Enhanced transparency in alcohol labeling is a commonsense step that can help address the health and safety concerns related to the consumption of alcohol and would allow consumers to…
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A federal appeals court has ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is not clearly required by federal law to issue a regulation barring hydroponic growers from labeling their goods as organic. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Vilsack, No. 21-15883 (9th Cir., entered September 22, 2022). A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously held in an unsigned, unpublished opinion that the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990 does not clearly bar hydroponic production. The ruling comes in an appeal brought by consumer and organic farming industry groups in their suit against USDA filed in 2020 after the agency rejected their 2019 petition to issue regulations prohibiting organic certification of hydroponic agricultural production. They argued that hydroponic operations fail to satisfy the tenets of organic farming and do not meet the statutory and regulatory requirements of OFPA. The district court disagreed, granting the…
A Florida consumer has filed a proposed class action against biscotti maker Nonni’s Foods LLC, alleging the company misleads consumers as to how much lemon the company’s limone-flavored biscotti contains. Goldstein v. Nonni’s Foods LLC, No. 22-81462 (S.D. Fla., filed September 21, 2022). The plaintiff's suit specifically targets representations on the product's label including “Limone (Lemon) Biscotti,” “Made with Real Sugar, Butter and Lemon Zest Oil,” “Real Ingredients” and “No Artificial Flavors.” She also notes images of lemon rind and peel on the product’s packaging. “The representations are false, deceptive, and misleading, because the Product contains a de minimis amount of lemon,” the plaintiff alleges. She asserts the company was required to provide a designation on the product's packaging that the product’s lemon taste is not from lemons, but from non-lemon sources, but failed to do so. The plaintiff’s claims include allegations of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, as well…
A federal court in California has ruled that solely using QR codes on food packaging is not enough to disclose a product’s bioengineered status to consumers. Natural Grocers v. Vilsack, No. 20-5151 (N.D. Cal., entered September 13, 2022). The ruling was in a suit brought by retailers and non-profit organizations against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The plaintiffs challenged a USDA regulation that took effect in January that required food manufacturers to disclose, on product packaging, bioengineered foods and foods made with bioengineered ingredients. The rule required all such products to include either a text, symbol or electronic or digital link to disclosure information. USDA also allowed food manufacturers to pair a text message hotline with a QR code on product packaging so that consumers could text the number or scan the code to receive the product’s disclosure information. The court determined that USDA’s decision to allow for electronic…
Three consumers have filed a putative class action against alternative-meat manufacturer Beyond Meat, Inc., alleging the company misled consumers as to the amount of protein in its products. Garcia v. Beyond Meat, Inc., No. 22-297 (S.D. Iowa, filed on September 9, 2022). The plaintiffs—who live in Colorado, Iowa and Florida—allege they relied on representations regarding the percent daily value of protein in the products, as well as labeling stating the amount of protein contained in the products. They assert that Beyond Meat products’ stated protein amount and percent daily value claims are false and misleading, and that they chose to pay a premium price for the product based on the company’s representations. “Simply put, Defendant’s protein amount and/or protein DV% for the Products are a farce,” the plaintiffs assert in the complaint. “Defendant knowingly prepared the material on their website and product labels to misrepresent the true protein amount and/or…
A federal court has dismissed a proposed class action claiming Kellogg misled consumers into believing their "veggie" MorningStar Farms products were exclusively or mostly made with vegetables. Kennard v. Kellogg Sales Co., No. 21-7211 (N.D. Cal., entered September 14, 2022). The plaintiff in the suit alleged Kellogg misleadingly and illegally labels MorningStar Farms "veggie" products, in violation of California's Consumer Legal Remedies Act, California's false advertising law and California's unfair competition law. She contended that reasonable consumers understand the term "veggie" to mean that products are made primarily of vegetables and alleged Kellogg's use of the term "veggie" is false or misleading because the ingredients are not primarily vegetables. The court disagreed, finding the allegations "are implausible and do not support a reasonable inference that some significant portion of consumers would be misled into thinking the VEGGIE products are made primarily of vegetables as opposed to being vegetarian meat substitutes…
An Illinois man has sued 7-Eleven, alleging the convenience store chain’s private-label spicy jalapeno-flavored jumbo peanuts misled consumers as to whether they were naturally flavored. Wilim v. 7-Eleven, Inc., No. 22-4886 (N.D. Ill., filed September 9, 2022). The plaintiff said in the suit that he read “Flavored Jumbo Peanuts — Spicy Jalapeño” on the packaging of the 7-Select brand jumbo peanuts and saw pictures of the two jalapeños and jalapeño slices on the packaging and believed the product got its flavor from jalapeños. He accuses 7-Eleven of misrepresenting the flavoring as natural when it is derived instead from artificial flavoring. “Plaintiff is part of the majority of consumers who avoid artificial flavors, based on their beliefs that foods with artificial flavor are less healthy than those without them,” the plaintiff said in the complaint. “Plaintiff did not expect the jalapeño taste was from artificial jalapeño flavoring because, in his experience, this…
A California woman has filed a proposed class action claiming that Gerber Products Co. made improper nutrient claims on its labeling of baby and toddler food products. Howard v. Gerber Products Company, No. 22-4779 (N.D. Cal., filed August 19, 2022). The plaintiff alleges that Gerber makes nutrient content claims on product packaging that are prohibited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Moreover, the nutrient content claims on Defendant’s products mislead purchasers into believing that the products provide physical health benefits for children under two years of age in order to induce parents into purchasing Defendant’s products,” the plaintiff asserts in the complaint. “In fact, the Products are harmful both nutritionally and developmentally for children under two.” The plaintiff highlighted the use of labeling indicating protein content of products, as well as the use of the words “nutritious” and “wonderfoods,” and asserts that some of Gerber’s products contain high amounts…
An Illinois federal court has granted a partial motion to dismiss a putative class action alleging that Kashi Sales L.L.C. misled consumers by making the flavoring of "Ripe Strawberry" cereal bars with pear juice concentrate and apple powder. Johnston v. Kashi Sales L.L.C., No. 21-0441 (S.D. Ill., entered September 8, 2022). The plaintiff alleged that she "expected the filling would contain more strawberry ingredients than other fruit ingredients, but did not expect that the 'filling would contain more pears and apples compared to strawberries.'” The court first disposed of the plaintiff's request for injunctive relief, finding that she did not have standing because she is aware of the allegedly deceptive sales practices. The court discussed a number of decisions centered on similar issues and compared their outcomes. "Like the deceptive advertising cases that survive dismissal—where the words in defendants’ labels were subject to different plausible interpretations—the phrase 'Ripe Strawberry' is…
An Illinois consumer has filed a putative class action against Kellogg Sales Co., alleging it misrepresented the amount of whole grains its Harvest Wheat Toasteds crackers contain. Moore v. Kellogg Sales Co., No. 22-03172 (C.D. Ill., filed September 5, 2022). The plaintiff asserts in the complaint that consumers want to consume more whole grains, but their efforts to do so are stymied by confusing product labels. “One food and nutrition professor stated, ‘Even people with advanced degrees cannot figure out how much whole grain’ is in products represented to consumers as whole grain,” the plaintiff said in the complaint. She asserted that despite the labeling of the crackers at issue as “Harvest Wheat,” and the product’s appearance of having a dark brown color and visible pieces of grains, it “contains a negligible absolute and relative amount of whole grains compared to refined grains.” The plaintiff alleged that the value of the…
