Chief Judge Tunheim recently dismissed, with leave to amend, the class complaints in In Re Pork Antitrust Litigation. The Pork case— filed in the District of Minnesota against Tyson, Hormel, JBS and other major pork producers—alleged a conspiracy beginning in 2009 to inflate artificially the price of pork sold in the United States. While the court was “unwilling to force Defendants into significant and costly discovery without plausible allegations that they engaged in the…

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Trouble in Paradise for Bacardi and Winn-Dixie Over New FDUTPA Class Action

By Shalia M. Sakona & Melissa Pallett-Vasquez on September 6, 2019

Eighty-six years after the repeal of Prohibition, Bacardi USA and Winn-Dixie are facing a putative class action predicated on Florida Statute Section 572.455, a 150 year-old remnant of the temperance movement. In Uri Marrache v. Bacardi USA, Inc., et al., Case No. 2019-023668-CA-01 (Miami-Dade Cir. Ct. Aug. 9, 2019), Plaintiff alleges that Bombay Sapphire gin, a Bacardi product sold at Winn-Dixie, is “adulterated” with grains of paradise in violation of Section 572.455 and Florida’s Deceptive…

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Blockchain Will Likely Make a Meaningful Impact on “Big Food” Litigation

By Lori Lustrin & Anthony Sirven on August 20, 2019

Eager to curb foodborne-illness outbreaks, retail giants like Walmart and Albertsons are turning to blockchain technology [1] to track exactly where their foods are coming from. Blockchain, as compared to the eye-straining, paper-heavy tracking systems before it, allows retailers to trace the supply-chain history for a single food item within seconds. For example, in a test case using IBM’s blockchain technology, Walmart traced the supply chain for two off-the-shelf mangoes randomly taken from one of…

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Speculative Claims Sink Cheerios Glyphosate Suit

By Luis M. Reyes, Lori Lustrin & Melissa Pallett-Vasquez on August 15, 2019

The active ingredient in popular weed killers, glyphosate, has gotten bad press lately. Thousands of plaintiffs have alleged that exposure to it caused their cancers. Jurors have responded by invoking punitive damages and awarding billion dollar verdicts. These headline-grabbing results have been subsequently reduced by court on legal grounds. Some advocacy groups are claiming that the chemical’s presence extends beyond weed killers. For example, the Environmental Working Group recently conducted a study that purports to…

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Big Food Price-Fixing Update: Court Certifies Three Putative Classes in Packaged Seafood Litigation

By Jerry Goldsmith & Lori Lustrin on August 2, 2019

What started out as a proposed merger between two of the largest packaged seafood manufacturers spawned a lengthy criminal investigation into antitrust violations in the tuna industry by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and multiple class and individual civil lawsuits. After four years of litigation, a major development in the class action lawsuits occurred– the Court certified three putative classes. In 2015, the Department of Justice investigated a proposed merger between Thai Union Group P.C.L.…

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Big Food and Plant-Based Protein: Potential MEATing of the Minds?

By Jennifer Junger & Lori Lustrin on July 1, 2019

Capitalizing on an increasingly health and environmentally conscious era, plant-based meat substitute companies are positioning themselves as the future of protein. On May 2, 2019, Beyond Meat became the first plant-based product company to go public. Its stock skyrocketed to become the highest performing first-day public offering in nearly two decades. Impossible Foods is also performing well. While the company is in no rush to go public, they just secured $300 million in their latest …

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Beef Industry Reeks of Collusion, Plaintiffs Allege

By Luis M. Reyes & Lori Lustrin on May 23, 2019

When it rains, it pours—and for the country’s largest protein producers, the downpour is coming in the form of high-profile antitrust lawsuits. Over the past few years, food giants like Tyson and JBS (majority owner of Pilgrim’s Pride) have been named as a defendant in price-fixing cases relating to chicken and pork. Now, Tyson, JBS and Cargill face claims asserted by both consumers and suppliers of beef. According to these new claims, the beef producers…

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‘Big Food’ Takes Its Turn In The Price-Fixing Spotlight

By Lori Lustrin & Scott N. Wagner on May 7, 2019

Scott Wagner and Lori Lustrin discuss with Law360 the new wave of antitrust cases emerging in the food and beverage industry. Price-fixing cases over the past decade have read like a virtual electronics product materials list. Government investigators and civil plaintiffs have pursued actions involving a wide array of electronic parts ranging from passive components like capacitors and inverters to large, high-cost components such as LCDs and cathode ray tubes. Recently, however, a new wave…

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Mislabeling Claims Against Poland Spring Water Survive Dismissal

By Luis M. Reyes & Melissa Pallett-Vasquez on April 30, 2019

Water: two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. It seems simple enough, but for companies selling bottled water, liability lurks below the surface. According to a recent lawsuit, consumers care not only about what is in their water; they care about from where it comes from. Perhaps more importantly, according to the plaintiffs—so do regulators. In Patane v. Nestle Waters N. Am. Inc., 314 F.Supp.3d 375 (D.Conn. 2018), Nestle faces allegations that it made millions…

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FDA to Consider Regulation of CBD in Food

By Stefan Segall, Lori Lustrin & Melissa Pallett-Vasquez on April 29, 2019

Historically, all forms of cannabis—both hemp and marijuana—have been federally designated as illegal substances. That all changed this past December when the President signed the Agricultural Improvement Act (2018 Farm Bill) into law, declassifying hemp as a Schedule 1 substance. As a result, cannabidiol (CBD)—the non-psychoactive compound found in hemp known for its relaxing and healing properties—has been catapulted into the national spotlight. With the green light from Congress, hemp-derived CBD oils, lotions, and gummies…

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Pork Price-Fixing Complaint Dismissed: Class Plaintiffs Will Amend

Trouble in Paradise for Bacardi and Winn-Dixie Over New FDUTPA Class Action

Blockchain Will Likely Make a Meaningful Impact on “Big Food” Litigation

Speculative Claims Sink Cheerios Glyphosate Suit

Big Food Price-Fixing Update: Court Certifies Three Putative Classes in Packaged Seafood Litigation

Big Food and Plant-Based Protein: Potential MEATing of the Minds?

Beef Industry Reeks of Collusion, Plaintiffs Allege

‘Big Food’ Takes Its Turn In The Price-Fixing Spotlight

Mislabeling Claims Against Poland Spring Water Survive Dismissal

FDA to Consider Regulation of CBD in Food

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