Food & Consumer Packaged Goods Litigation
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Food & Consumer Packaged Goods Litigation

Food & Consumer Packaged Goods Litigation shares timely insights into litigation developments, emerging arguments and challenges facing food and consumer packaged goods manufacturers and related industries. 
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May 25, 2018

Industry Insights: FDA Extends Deadline for Eliminating PHOs

 The U.S. Food & Drug Administration determined in 2015 that Partially Hydrogenated Oils (PHOs) are not "Generally Recognized as Safe," or GRAS. PHOs are the leading source of trans fats in the human diet. In the nutrition industry, much is disputed, but the unhealthy nature of trans fats, a form of unsaturated fat, is not. View blog post
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May 18, 2018

Notable Ruling: Another Motion to Dismiss for Diet Soda

 Just two and a half months after the Northern District of California ruled that a reasonable consumer would not be misled to believe "Diet Coke" aids in weight loss, a similar suit against Pepsi-Cola for its Diet Pepsi product has been dis View blog post
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May 10, 2018

Industry Insights: The Ongoing Circuit Split Over Ascertainability

 Over the past several years, there has been a deepening circuit split over a key issue in class action litigation: whether a class must be "ascertainable" before it can be certified. View blog post
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May 10, 2018

PC Food Litigation Index: April 2018

 Each month we will be sharing the PC Food Litigation Index, a summary of latest class action filings in the food and beverage industry.  This data is compiled by Perkins Coie based on a review of dockets from courts nationwide. In April, "natural" and its opposite, "artificial," continued to be legally-contested territory in the food world. View blog post
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May 7, 2018

Industry Insights: GMO Labeling Update

 The USDA and the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) have set forth the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard ("the Rule") for labeling food products that have been genetically modified. The Rule requires food companies to disclose information about bioengineered food and food ingredient content by labeling such food as "BE" (bioengineered). View blog post
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April 26, 2018

Industry Insights: Doing Business in the Cannabis Industry

 The cannabis industry is growing rapidly (by one estimate, the market for recreational cannabis was $9.2 billion in 2017, and is expected to grow as large as $47.3 billion by 2027). Many companies are seriously assessing the potential profit of indirect involvement in the industry by providing services to or investing in businesses that distribute, market, or otherwise sell cannabis. View blog post
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April 3, 2018

PC Food Litigation Index: March 2018

 Each month we will be sharing the PC Food Litigation Index, a summary of latest class action filings in the food and beverage industry.  This data is compiled by Perkins Coie based on a review of dockets from courts nationwide. In March, plaintiffs challenged a variety of food labeling and marketing claims, with most filings falling into the general false fact category. View blog post
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March 29, 2018

Industry Insights: FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb Provides Comments on "Natural"

 In a speech at the National Food Policy Conference today, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb suggested that long-awaited guidance on the food and beverage industry's marketing use of the term "natural" may be on the horizon. Gottlieb's speech noted the more than 7,600 comments that landed at the FDA following its 2015 request for feedback on the "natural" label. View blog post
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March 7, 2018

Industry Insights: When will the FDA define ‘natural’? Sooner than you might think…

 In November 2015, the FDA announced that it was opening regulatory proceedings to define the term "natural" for food and beverage labeling. View blog post
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March 7, 2018

PC Food Litigation Index: February 2018

 Each month we will be sharing the PC Food Litigation Index, a summary of latest class action filings in the food and beverage industry.  This data is compiled by Perkins Coie based on a review of dockets from courts nationwide. California and New York continue to be the preferred jurisdictions for food and beverage class action filings.  The majority of the new filings in Febru View blog post
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March 6, 2018

New Human Rights Case Alleging Deception of Consumers Filed Against Food Companies (This Time on the East Coast)

 In the wake of the 2016 dismissal of human rights cases filed against food companies in California, a new class action case was filed on February 26, 2018 in Massachusetts federal court (Tomasella v. View blog post
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March 2, 2018

Industry Insights: Key Takeaways From The GMA Legal Conference

 Earlier this week, attorneys in the Perkins Coie Food Litigation team joined top in-house counsel, defense attorneys and regulatory experts at the GMA Legal Conference which took place in New Orleans, LA. View blog post
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March 2, 2018

Notable Ruling: A Swift Win for Coca-Cola in Becerra v. Coca-Cola (N.D. Cal.)

In yet another Rule 12 decision tied to the "reasonable consumer" standard, Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California dismissed a putative class action against Coca-Cola challenging the name "Diet Coke" as misleading.

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February 7, 2018

New Filings – February 7, 2018

 Newman v. Dierbergs Markets, Inc., No. 1822-CC00194 (Mo. Cir. Ct. – St. Louis): Putative class action asserting violations of Missouri's Merchandising Practices Act, and raising a claim for unjust enrichment. View blog post
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January 30, 2018

Rulings, Orders, Settlements – January 30, 2018

 Parties Settle Kombucha False Advertising Action Retta, et al. v. Millennium Products, Inc., No. 2:15-cv-01801 (C.D. View blog post
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