Our notable ruling roundup aims to keep our readers up to date on recent rulings in the food & consumer packaged goods space. Lindsay Finster v. Sephora USA Inc., No. 6:22-cv-01187 (N.D.N.Y. – March 15, 2024): The Northern District of New York dismissed a putative class action alleging that the marketing and labeling of defendant’s “Clean at Sephora” campaign leads consumers to believe that cosmetics bearing the representation did not contain any ingredients that were synthetic or connected to causing physical harm. The court concluded that plaintiff failed to plausibly allege that d ..read more

Our notable ruling roundup aims to keep our readers up to date on recent rulings in the food & consumer packaged goods space. Selina Valencia v. Snapple Beverage Corp., No. 23-cv-1399 (CS) (S.D.N.Y. – March 18, 2024): The Southern District of New York dismissed a challenge to multiple varieties of beverage products bearing an “All Natural” claim. Plaintiff alleged that the “All Natural” representation was false or misleading because the beverage products also contained vegetable and fruit juice concentrates for color as well as citric acid. The court dismissed, reasoning that plainti ..read more

Our notable ruling roundup aims to keep our readers up to date on recent rulings in the food & consumer packaged goods space. John Wertymer v. Walmart, Inc., No. 1:23-cv-14700 (N.D. Ill. – February 22, 2024): The Northern District of Illinois dismissed a putative class action lawsuit challenging defendant’s honey labeled “Organic Raw Honey” and “Raw Honey” as deceptively marketed. Plaintiff claimed that the products are not “Organic,” “Raw,” or “Honey” based on chemical analysis, overheating during processing, and the addition of other sugars. The court found that plaintiff failed to ..read more

Our notable ruling roundup aims to keep our readers up to date on recent rulings in the food & consumer packaged goods space. Nancy McCoy v. Nestlé USA, Inc., No. 3:23-cv-02218-MCR-HTC (N.D. Fla. – February 1, 2024): The Northern District of Florida dismissed a complaint with prejudice in putative class action alleging the labeling of defendant’s lime flavored carbonated mineral water misleads consumersinto expecting the water would contain an appreciable amount of lime juice because the label depicts two wedges of fresh lime and the word ‘lime,’ in a green-tinted bottle, when in fac ..read more

Our notable ruling roundup aims to keep our readers up to date on recent rulings in the food & consumer packaged goods space. Anne de Lacour, et al. v. Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Tom’s of Maine Inc., No. 1:16-cv-08364-KMW (S.D.N.Y. – January 3, 2024): The Southern District of New York granted defendants’ summary judgment and motion for class de-certification in a class action challenging the use of the word “natural” by defendants on the labels of their toothpaste and deodorant products because the products allegedly contain artificial and/or chemically processed ingredients. The cou ..read more

Our weekly roundup aims to keep our readers up to date on recent notable rulings in the food & consumer packaged goods space. Zaida Hicks, et al. v. L’Oreal USA, Inc., No. 1:22-cv-03926-JPC (S.D.N.Y. – September 30, 2023): The Southern District of New York dismissed an amended complaint in a putative class action. The amended complaint had alleged defendant misled consumers by representing that the company’s waterproof mascaras “were safe, effective, high quality, and appropriate for use on consumers’ eyelashes and around their eyes.” Plaintiffs alleged that this representation was false ..read more

On February 15, a bipartisan group of five Congressional Representatives introduced the Pet Food Uniform Regulatory Reform Act of 2024 (the PURR Act) in the U.S. House. Currently, the FDA’s regulation of pet foods is similar to that of other animal foods. The federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) requires that all animal foods are safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and are truthfully labeled. The current regulatory framework around pet food manufacture and sale is a two-tiered system, with both federal and state requirements addressin ..read more

Perkins Coie is pleased to announce the launch of our eighth annual Food & Consumer Packaged Goods Litigation Year in Review. Accompanying the 2023 report are infographics that highlight key litigation outcomes, filing data, and industry trends. As always, the report offers a summary of the past year’s key litigation outcomes, regulatory developments, and filing data using metrics from our proprietary database, developed by our food and consumer packaged goods (CPG) litigation team in order to track and understand trends in this growing area. Attorneys in Perkins Coie’s Foo ..read more

Our notable ruling roundup aims to keep our readers up to date on recent rulings in the food & consumer packaged goods space. Terri Little v. Naturestar North America, LLC, et al., No. 1:22-cv-00232-JLT-EPG (E.D. Cal. – November 29, 2023): The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California dismissed a putative class action challenging the labeling and marketing of defendants’ single-use tableware and food storage bagsas “compostable.” Specifically, the plaintiff alleged that the products contained significant amounts of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), wh ..read more

We are pleased to publish the latest version our quarterly Food and CPG Legal Trends report. This report is a bite-sized version of our annual year in review, providing timely insights on legal trends in the space. In Q4 2023, the CPG industry continued to face a meaningful threat of class-action activity, with continued filings against companies in the food, beverage, and personal care space. Recent months have also seen significant regulatory developments relevant to food, beverage, and CPG companies on both a federal and state levels. Read the full report here ..read more