Perkins Coie is pleased to announce the launch of our sixth annual Food Litigation Year in Review. In recognition of the firm’s practice expansion, this year-in-review report has been broadened to the Food & Consumer Packaged Goods Litigation Year in Review 2021. Accompanying the 2021 report are infographics that highlight key litigation outcomes, filing
Net Weight/Serving Size Disclosures Helpful in Slack-Fill Case
Accurate net weight and serving size disclosures on packaging can be a helpful defense to slack-fill claims, as one Southern District of New York court recently held.
On January 24, 2022, the court in Klausner v. Annie’s granted Annie’s motion to dismiss—with prejudice—in a case alleging the presence of non-functional slack-fill in the defendant’s fruit
Parts Missing: Slack-Fill Case Dismissed for Lack of Particularity
A New Jersey federal court dismissed slack-fill claims against the manufacturer of Junior Mints and Sugar Babies products. Plaintiff Regan Iglesia purchased Junior Mints in 2017 and claimed that the boxes of the challenged products were about forty-five percent empty. He brought suit under a litany of alleged violations related to this area of empty
Food & Consumer Packaged Goods Litigation Year in Review 2020
Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that its fifth annual Food Litigation Year in Review, in coordination with the expansion of the firm’s practice, has been broadened and renamed the Food & Consumer Packaged Goods Litigation Year in Review. In coordination with this rebranding, we have also launched an infographic report that highlights key litigation outcomes, filing data, and industry trends. Despite a tumultuous year, one thing stayed the same: plaintiffs’ class action attorneys continued to file plenty of lawsuits against manufacturers of consumer packaged goods (CPGs).
Continue Reading Food & Consumer Packaged Goods Litigation Year in Review 2020
Food Litigation Year in Review 2019
Perkins Coie is pleased to present its fourth annual Food Litigation Year in Review 2019, offering 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 litigation team in order to track and understand trends in this area, 2019’s Year in Review again reports an increase in class action litigation, with a record-breaking 173 new lawsuits filed. The upward filing trends in the class action landscape are mirrored in other industries and in the prosecution of related claims: putative class actions against the pet food and dietary supplement industries were on the rise in 2019, as were Proposition 65 warning notices.
Continue Reading Food Litigation Year in Review 2019
Food Litigation Year in Review 2018
Perkins Coie is pleased to present its third annual Food Litigation Year in Review, offering a summary of the year’s key litigation outcomes, regulatory developments, and filing data. Last year, pointing to uncertainty at the appellate level, Perkins Coie predicted continued litigation in 2018. Using metrics from our proprietary database, developed by our food
Back to School: Food Litigation Trends Webinar
With summer drawing to an end and the kids going back to school, it’s time to check in on the latest food litigation trends. Please join Perkins Coie on Tuesday, September 18 at 1:00 PM ET/12:00 PM CT/10:00 AM PT for a review of the key developments and trends in food litigation. This 60-minute webcast
PC Food Litigation Index: June 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.
Consumers continued to challenge the “all natural” labels on products that contain the popular ingredient xanthan gum, used as a stabilizer and emulsifier in thousands of common food products. A level of ambiguity survived the FDA’s aging guidance on natural, which requires that “nothing artificial or synthetic . . . has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected to be in that food.” Plaintiffs’ lawyers have argued that the fermentation process through which xanthan gum is manufactured is not natural, but synthetic. The ingredient is at the center of an increasing number of “natural” cases. In Grindel v. LarMar Foods, for example, the plaintiff argues that the defendant’s Garlic Expressions brand vinaigrette, which contains xanthan gum, misleads consumers with its “all natural” label. In attacking the salad dressing’s packaging as misleading, the plaintiff pointed not only to the words “all natural,” but “the overall format and appearance of the label.”
Slack-fill cases were also on the rise in June, beating projections with several new complaints targeting alleged underfilling in everything from ice cream “pints” to candy boxes and cake mix and risotto bags. In Kamal v. Eden Creamery, the plaintiff argues that Eden, the maker of the increasingly popular Halo Top brand, “routinely underfills its pint containers,” “short-changing” members of its “cult-like following.”
Several other false fact cases confronted labeling claims suggesting a product contains an ingredient that is absent from the product. One such case took Walmart to task for the label of its Strawberries & Cream Instant Oatmeal, which the plaintiff alleges includes not real strawberries, but rather “cheap pieces of colored apple, literally disguised to look like more expensive strawberries.” In a suit against the makers of Rx Bar, the plaintiff argues that the bars do not actually contain egg whites, as their label states, “because the foaming properties of egg whites would limit the ability to blend it with the other ingredients.” Instead, the product contains egg white protein powder.
Annual Filing Trends
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. Claims in this category contested the labeling representations on products ranging from eggs and kombucha to quinoa snacks and spring water. As trendy, premium ingredients—like quinoa—make more frequent appearances on product labels, plaintiffs’ counsel are seeking to challenge the quantity of those ingredients in a given product. Several claims continued the trend of targeting food and beverage labels that state or seem to suggest products or their ingredients are sourced from certain locales. Slack-fill lawsuits made up the second largest category of food litigation filings, where candy packaging remains a frequent target. Filings are down slightly from a year ago, though some jurisdiction such as Illinois have seen increased food litigation activity.
Annual Filing Trends
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. Plaintiff alleges that the label on Defendant’s Extra Crunchy “All Natural” Extra Kettle Cooked Potato Chips is false and misleading, representing the chips as “all natural” despite the fact that they contain xanthan gum, a synthetic ingredient.
Continue Reading New Filings – February 7, 2018