Our weekly roundup aims to keep our readers up to date on recent notable rulings in the food & consumer packaged goods space.

  • Makiko Fukaya v. Daiso California LLC et al., No. 3:23-cv-00099-JSC (N.D. Cal. – May 11, 2023): The Northern District of California trimmed a putative class action challenging the labeling of the defendant’s cookie and snack products. Specifically, the plaintiff alleged that the products were labeled as not containing tree nut ingredients when, in fact, they did. The court held that the plaintiff did not have standing to pursue injunctive relief under the Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), FAL, and Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and dismissed these claims with leave to amend. The court also granted dismissal of the plaintiff’s express warranty claims as inadequately pleaded. But the court allowed the plaintiff’s request for disgorgement under the FAL and UCL to survive. Opinion linked here.
  • Chris Guerra v. Kind, LLC, No. 3:22-cv-06654-RS (N.D. Cal. – May 11, 2023): The Northern District of California trimmed a putative class action challenging the statements made on the packaging of the defendant’s protein and nut bars, oatmeal, and cereal products regarding the protein content of those products. The court dismissed claims premised on front-label protein claims as being unlawful per se and the omission of a “% Daily Value” for protein in the nutrition facts panel. The court allowed claims to proceed on a misleading-by-omission theory, finding that they “barely” survived preemption. Opinion linked here.
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Photo of David T. Biderman David T. Biderman

David Biderman, a partner in Perkins Coie’s San Francisco and Los Angeles offices, focuses his practice on mass tort litigation and consumer class actions. He heads the firm’s Mass Tort and Consumer Litigation group. He has represented a wide variety of companies in…

David Biderman, a partner in Perkins Coie’s San Francisco and Los Angeles offices, focuses his practice on mass tort litigation and consumer class actions. He heads the firm’s Mass Tort and Consumer Litigation group. He has represented a wide variety of companies in state and federal courts in California for 30 years.

On consumer class actions, David represents packaged food companies, coffee companies, dairy companies, footwear companies and others whose nutritional or health claims have been challenged. He also has represented search engines and other online companies. He has a record of favorable results for clients. He successfully tried a major consumer fraud class action on behalf of one of the world’s major search engines in a case involving online gambling advertisements. For that same client, he negotiated a favorable settlement of a class action challenging its online advertising pricing. He represented a major coffee retailer in defeating a class action on standing grounds. He also has litigated pre-emption defenses arising out of food labeling and obtained a dismissal for a client whose nutritional statements were challenged.

For fifteen years, David managed the firm’s full-service product liability team responsible for defending over 1,000 toxic tort cases pending in Los Angeles and Northern California state courts. These cases entailed ongoing trial activity at various levels for several trials set each month. The highly experienced and well-coordinated team has handled thousands of asbestos toxic tort cases for a variety of clients, including FORTUNE 500 companies from such industries as consumer products, aerospace manufacturing, household goods, dry cleaning and industries that generate electromagnetic fields, such as electric utilities and operators of wireless communications systems.

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Photo of Tommy Tobin Tommy Tobin

Thomas Tobin’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and class action matters involving statutory, constitutional, and regulatory issues in a range of industries, including food and beverage, consumer packaged goods, and cannabis. In the food and beverage sector, Tommy has experience defending false…

Thomas Tobin’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and class action matters involving statutory, constitutional, and regulatory issues in a range of industries, including food and beverage, consumer packaged goods, and cannabis. In the food and beverage sector, Tommy has experience defending false advertising claims and consumer protection claims for well-known international corporations.

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