A California court has denied a motion to dismiss a putative class action alleging the label of Frito-Lay North America Inc.'s Lay's salt-and-vinegar-flavored potato chips fails to specify whether the vinegar flavoring is natural or artificial. Allred v. Frito-Lay N. Am., Inc., No. 17-1345 (S.D. Cal., entered March 7, 2018). The plaintiff couple filed similar lawsuits against Kellogg and Frito-Lay concurrently in July 2017, and Kellogg's motion to dismiss was denied in February 2018. The court held that the suit is not preempted by U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations and found plausible the allegation that a reasonable consumer might be deceived by the Lay's labeling.
Tag Archives vinegar
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended from February 16 to February 22, 2016, the comment period regarding requirements for fermented and hydrolyzed foods or those containing fermented or hydrolyzed ingredients that carry the “gluten-free” claim. The proposed rule would apply to foods such as sauerkraut, yogurt, pickles, cheese, green olives, vinegar, and FDA-regulated beers. Intended to address the uncertainty of interpreting test methods in terms of intact gluten, the finalized rule would mandate manufacturers to maintain records demonstrating: (i) “the food meets the requirements of the gluten-free labeling final rule prior to fermentation or hydrolysis”; (ii) “the manufacturer has adequately evaluated its process for any potential gluten cross-contact”; and (iii) “where a potential for gluten cross-contact has been identified, the manufacturer has implemented measures to prevent the introduction of gluten into the food during the manufacturing process.” The agency also intends to evaluate the compliance of distilled…
Consumer Advocacy Group, Inc. has filed a lawsuit against T.J. Maxx, its parent company and its food supplier alleging that they failed to provide a warning of lead content in a raspberry balsamic vinegar product in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop. 65), the California law that requires warnings on the labels of products that contain substances known to cause cancer or reproductive harm. Consumer Advocacy Grp. Inc. v. Olivier Napa Valley Inc., No. BC580857 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed May 4, 2015). The complaint asserts that because all “[v]inegar contains lead,” the defendants should have known that the product was subject to Prop. 65 labeling requirements. Consumer Advocacy Group argues that it investigated the product and gave notice of the alleged violation to each defendant, the state attorney general, county district attorneys and city attorneys but none of the authorities…
A California resident has filed a putative statewide class action against H.J. Heinz Co. alleging that its Distilled White Vinegar is falsely advertised as “all natural” because it is made with genetically modified (GM) crops. Banafsheha v. H.J. Heinz Co., No. 14-2023 (C.D. Cal., filed March 17, 2014). Alleging that she paid more for the product due to the “all natural” labeling and would not have purchased the product had she known that it contains GM ingredients, the plaintiff claims, “Over 70% of U.S. corn crops are GM. Defendant sources its ingredients from U.S. commodity suppliers who supply GM crops. Large volume food manufacturers who wish to use non-GM ingredients must specifically source their crops, typically from Europe, or undertake the additional step and expense of verifying the supply from non-GM growers through identity preservation programs. In most instances, manufacturers who purchase only non-GM crops for their products specifically label the…
An Environmental Health News (EHN) special report has allegedly identified significant lead levels in aged balsamic and other red wine vinegars, noting that “some vinegars had 8-9 times more lead than recommended” by California’s Proposition 65 regulations. The Environmental Health Sciences Foundation purportedly tested a range of domestic and imported vinegars sold in California in 2002, claiming that “for three imported varieties… people who eat one tablespoon per day would be exposed to seven to 10 times the maximum daily level of lead set by California.” Likewise, according to EHN, “eating one tablespoon a day of some balsamic or red wine vinegars can raise a young child’s lead level by more than 30 percent.” Although EHN noted that lead levels in vinegar can “vary widely,” it suggested that “aged varieties produced by the traditional method, which involved concentration in wood barrels for at least 12 years, have the highest levels.”…
