Tag Archives: LABELING

New York Judge Lifts 2-Year Stay on KIND “All Natural” Suit (subscription to Law360 required)

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A New York federal court ordered a consumer class action against KIND LLC to move forward after a two-year stay. Consumers are suing KIND for allegedly mislabeling its snack products as both “non-GMO” and “all natural,” even though the products purportedly contain synthetic and genetically modified ingredients.  On September 15, 2016, U.S. District Judge William … Continue Reading

Plant-Based Milk Labeling Comment Period Ends; Debate Continues

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As previously reported in September on this blog, FDA requested comments on the use of dairy terms—such as milk, yogurt, and cheese—in the labeling of plant-based products. FDA’s Standards of Identity define milk in part as the “lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows.” The original deadline … Continue Reading

New Nebraska Bill Defining Meat as Derived from Livestock or Poultry

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Last week, we blogged about Nebraska Legislative Bill 14 (LB 14), which would have limited the use of the term “meat” to the edible portions of livestock or poultry carcasses.  It would have specifically excluded insect- or plant-based products as well as lab-grown products from the definition.  Under the proposed bill, engaging in any misleading … Continue Reading

New York City Considers Warnings for Restaurant Foods High in Added Sugar

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Following on its 2015 sodium warning regulation, New York City is considering a bill that would require chain restaurants to display a warning symbol and related text next to menu offerings that are high in added sugar.  “Added sugar” is defined as “sugars and syrups put into foods during preparation or processing.” The bill, which … Continue Reading

FDA Issues Technical Amendments to Final Nutrition and Supplement Facts Rule

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FDA will publish in the December 21, 2018 Federal Register a final rule that makes technical amendments to its 2016 final rule on Nutrition and Supplement Facts labeling.  The amendments, which are not substantive in nature, affect both 21 C.F.R. 101.9 (“Nutrition labeling of food”) and 21 C.F.R. 101.36 (“Nutrition labeling of dietary supplements”). While … Continue Reading

Second Circuit Remands “Whole Grain” Cheez-It Lawsuit

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The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a New York district court erred in ruling that labeling Kellogg’s Cheez-It crackers as “whole grain” was not misleading, despite the fact that the snacks were primarily made from enriched white flour.  Thus, the Second Circuit vacated the decision and remanded the case … Continue Reading

California Proposes Amendments to Proposition 65 Regulation on the Responsibility to Provide Consumer Product Warnings

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In response to confusion regarding Section 25600.2 of the new Article 6 warning regulations, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has proposed amendments to clarify how a product manufacturer—and other parties that may receive the products before the retailer—can pass warning information (and the responsibility to warn) along the supply chain and ultimately … Continue Reading

Stakeholder Comments Reflect Discontent with FDA’s Draft Guidance for Quantitative Labeling of Supplements Containing Live Microbials

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FDA’s regulation on nutrition labeling of dietary supplements requires that dietary ingredients for which a Reference Daily Intake (RDI) or Daily Reference Value (DRV) has not been established must be listed inside the Supplement Facts label along with their quantitative amount by weight per serving in metric units, as described in 21 CFR 101.36(b)(3).  For … Continue Reading

FDA Issues Statement Regarding Labeling Coffee as a Carcinogen Consistent with California Proposition 65

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California Proposition 65 requires manufacturers to provide clear and reasonable warnings to consumers before exposing them to over 950 listed carcinogens, including acrylamide.  As reported in this blog yesterday, California’s regulations for reporting the presence of the carcinogens have changed.  Also as previously reported in this blog, producers of roasted coffee have been sued under … Continue Reading

New Proposition 65 Warning Regulations Take Effect Today

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As previously reported on this blog, in 2016 California passed new regulations redefining what makes a warning “clear and reasonable” under Proposition 65; those regulations become effective today.  Proposition 65 is a right-to-know law that requires manufacturers to provide a clear and reasonable warning to consumers before exposing them to over 950 listed carcinogens and … Continue Reading

Putative Class Action Challenge to Diet Dr. Pepper in California Fails for the Fourth Time

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The Federal District Court for the Northern District of California has granted Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss (available for purchase here) in a putative class action originally filed in October 2017, which alleged that the marketing of Diet Dr. Pepper violated California’s False Advertising Law, Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and Unfair Competition Law, … Continue Reading

Former Director of the FDA’s Office of Biotechnology Pens Op-Ed Criticizing FDA Enforcement on Organic Labeling, FDA Commissioner Pledges to Look at Labeling Claims in Organics

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In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Dr. Henry Miller, the former founding director of the FDA’s Office of Biotechnology, criticizes FDA as giving organic food labeling and advertisement “a complete pass.”  The author calls out FDA’s lack of enforcement on claims that organic foods are grown “without toxic or persistent pesticides,” noting that in fact, … Continue Reading

NGOs Sue USDA Over Delay in Issuing BE Disclosure Rules

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The 2016 National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standards (NBFDS) Act directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop regulations and standards to create mandatory disclosure requirements for bioengineered (BE) foods by July 2018. The Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) filed a lawsuit in the Northern California U.S. District Court on August … Continue Reading

European Union’s Top Court Rules on Gene-Editing Technology

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The European Court of Justice has ruled that all techniques that induce DNA mutagenesis result in products that can be regulated as genetically modified organisms.  GMO regulation had previously been limited to products of genetic engineering where DNA from a separate organism was introduced into the target organism’s genome.  Newly developed gene editing techniques exploit … Continue Reading

FDA Begins Process of Modernizing Standards of Identity with Focus on Use of the Term “Milk” in Labeling Plant-Based Products

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Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., on the process FDA is undertaking for reviewing and modernizing the agency’s standards of identity for dairy products (FDA Statement) As reported on this blog, FDA held a public meeting on July 26, 2018 to discuss the FDA’s Nutrition Innovation Strategy (NIS), which promotes public health through efforts … Continue Reading

Groups Petition FSIS to Change “Product of the USA” Policy

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The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and American Grassfed Association (AGA) have petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to change its standard for making a “Product of the USA” claim on meat and meat products. Currently, FSIS allows the statement “Product of USA” if either (1) the country to which the product is … Continue Reading

Final Comments on USDA’s BE Labeling Rule Debate Disclosure for Highly Refined Foods and Ingredients

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The comment period on USDA’s proposed requirements to implement the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) closed on July 3. As previously reported on this blog, when USDA asked for input prior to drafting the regulation, commenters disagreed on whether highly refined ingredients derived from bioengineered (BE) crops should be disclosed. As a result, in … Continue Reading

Citizen Petition Filed Requesting FDA Allow Eggs to Be Labeled “Healthy”

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As reported previously in the Daily Intake Blog, labeling of foods as “Healthy” has recently elicited strong and varied opinions.  KIND filed a Citizen Petition in December 2015 requesting that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revisit the definition of “healthy” to take into account present-day scientific understanding about the health benefits of many nutrient-dense … Continue Reading
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