Plaintiffs have made food labeling class actions a rapidly-growing field in recent years, particularly in the Northern District of California. They typically rely on California’s regimen of consumer fraud statutes when bringing those claims. California also has Proposition 65, which requires labeling of substances that a state agency concludes may cause cancer or birth defects. The threshold for labeling is quite low, meaning that even the most mundane items often include—or should include—warnings. Indeed, plaintiffs recently have used the “lack” of a Proposition 65 label on food products as a basis for consumer fraud and other claims even though the Food and Drug Administration finds no health risk from the relevant ingredient and already dictates labeling requirements regarding the ingredient. Such lawsuits are irreconcilable with the purpose of federal food labeling requirements.

Proposition 65 And Its Relationship To 4-MeI In Beverages.

In the past

A recent opinion from the Ninth Circuit may cause considerable confusion regarding what food manufacturers may put on their labels outside of the familiar Nutrition Facts Label. In fact, the opinion filed March 13, 2015, is at odds with earlier unpublished decisions from the Ninth and Third Circuits.

Reid v. Johnson & Johnson, No. 12-56726 (9th Cir. Mar. 13, 2015), is part of the wave of food labeling class actions making its way through the Ninth Circuit. That plaintiff alleged a host of consumer fraud claims based on the defendants’ Benecol vegetable oil-based spread. Benecol’s label prominently states that the product contains “No Trans Fat.” In truth, the product contains small amounts of trans fat, which the plaintiff contends is quite harmful to human health.

The difficulty that Reid presents is that FDA regulations require that the Nutrition Facts Label on Benecol state that

Recent food labeling class actions suggest that plaintiffs’ counsel are broadening the scope of these types of claims. Of course, we are familiar with the more typical food labeling class actions, such as those challenging “all natural” labels or disputing whether a food product complies with federal law when noting it has “no added sugar.” Those traditional claims focus on the ingredients. The recent complaints mentioned in this article, however, suggest that class counsel may now focus on subjective statements regarding the processes used to make foods or beverages.

Social Responsibility Statements.

Jablonowski v. Chiquita Brands, Inc., No. 3:15-cv-00262 (S.D. Cal.), is a complaint filed by the well-known class action firm of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP. It alleges that Chiquita falsely advertises on its website that it requires ecologically friendly farming practices. In “truth,” a Guatemalan company from which Chiquita buys hundreds of millions of pounds of bananas each

Attached is an article from BNA regarding an amicus brief that Bryan Cave prepared for the Washington Legal Foundation, as well as an amicus brief from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in Jones v. ConAgra.  Jones should be an important decision from the Ninth Circuit regarding the implied ascertainability standard in consumer class actions and the standard for evaluating the adequacy of regression analyses proposed as tools to quantify class-wide injury in class actions generally.  A copy of our entire brief is here.

The Ninth Circuit is poised to address the implicit “ascertainability” requirement for class actions in Jones v. ConAgra Foods, Inc., No 14-16327 (9th Cir.). Briefing is underway in that matter in which the district court denied class certification when it concluded that the class wasn’t ascertainable and that the plaintiffs’ proposed damages model wasn’t methodologically sound. I wrote about that district court ruling in a post on June 24, 2014.

The Jones appeal may provide some benefit to other defendants as a basis to stay other food labeling class actions. In Gustavson v. Mars, Inc., No. 13-cv-04537-LHK (N.D. Cal. Dec. 10, 2014), Judge Lucy Koh stayed proceedings pending a decision in Jones: “The appellant in Jones has briefed issues concerning ascertainability and damages that could be material to the Court’s disposition of any class certification motion in the instant action.” Judge Koh concluded that any decision

In what seems likely to become a defining case on appeal, the Northern District of California (Judge Lucy Koh) granted summary judgment in a long-running food labeling class action. I’ve written several times about Brazil v. Dole Packaged Foods, LLC, No. 12-CV-01831-LHK (N. D. Cal.). That plaintiff alleges that many Dole products are misbranded because their labels say the products contain “All Natural Fruit.” Mr. Brazil contends this is false because the products contain ascorbic acid (commonly known as Vitamin C) and citric acid. Both of those ingredients, of course, are naturally occurring compounds found in citrus; many food manufacturers add them because of their natural preservative effects.

On December 8, 2014, Judge Koh granted summary judgment for the defendant, concluding “there is insufficient evidence that the ‘All Natural Fruit’ label statement on the challenged Dole products was likely to mislead reasonable consumers and that the