Court rejects lawsuit alleging Chipotle’s advertising deceived customers

Posted February 15, 2016

A federal judge in California recently rejected a lawsuit that alleged Chipotle deceived consumers by advertising its menu as GMO-free, concluding that the plaintiff failed to state a specific claim against the fast-food chain.

In Colleen Gallagher v. Chiptle Mexican Grill, Inc., Chipotle avoided a proposed class action claiming the restaurant chain falsely advertised its menu as free of genetically modified ingredients. The court found that the plaintiff’s claims were not specific and did not hold to a consistent definition of “GMO."

The plaintiff contended that Chipotle’s GMO claims were false or misleading because the fast-food chain sells meat and dairy products derived from animals that consume genetically modified food and because Chipotle sells third-party soft drinks containing GMOs.

Per her complaint, Gallagher defined “GMO” as “any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.” The court noted that the plaintiff’s complaint recognized that the term “organic” is used to describe "non-GMO meat and dairy products sourced from animals that did not consume genetically modified feed."

Critically, however, the court determined that the plaintiff never alleged in her complaint that Chipotle represented its ingredients as “organic” or explained “why a reasonable consumer would interpret “non-GMO” to mean the same thing as “organic.” Furthermore, the plaintiff never alleged that she actually purchased any food items containing GMOs and therefore, did not suffer an injury-in-fact.

U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. dismissed the suit, but gave the plaintiff leave to file an updated version clarifying why reasonable consumers would likely be deceived by Chipotle’s GMO claims.

(Image courtesy pixabay.com) 

Chobani ordered to stop running ads against rival yogurt maker Dannon

Posted February 2, 2016

A federal judge ruled last Friday that New York-based yogurt maker Chobani must cease running ads claiming Dannon’s light Greek yogurt contains chlorine and is not safe to eat.

According to the New York Post, Dannon sent a cease-and-desist letter to Chobani after it launched ads attacking Dannon Light and Fit. The ads claim Chobani Simply 100 is the only 100-calorie Greek yogurt with zero preservatives.

One of the Chobani commercials is described as showing a young woman lounging by a pool chair and reaching for a cup of Dannon yogurt. A voiceover states, “Dannon Light & Fit Greek actually uses artificial sweeteners like sucralose. Sucralose? Why? That stuff has chlorine added to it!” The voiceover concludes, “Now, there’s Chobani Simply 100. It’s the only 100-calorie light yogurt sweetened naturally.”  

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge David Hurd concluded that Chobani "is free to continue to spread its message about the value of selecting natural ingredients," but may not disseminate false messages, including that Dannon's or General Mills's products are unsafe because they contain the sweetener sucralose and the preservative potassium sorbate, according to website mediapost.com.

Sucralose and potassium sorbate are generally recognized as safe by U.S. food regulators. Judge Hurd also wrote that "the balance of record evidence reflects that sucralose is an unusually well-studied compound repeatedly determined to be safe for ordinary consumption.”

Per mediapost.com, Hurd reasoned that courts "regularly recognize that even where 'no combination of words' found in the advertisement is untrue, the message conveyed by the advertisement may still be 'literally false' if its clear meaning, considered in context, is false.”

Chobani, for its part, sued Dannon in US District Court in Albany over the attempt to block its advertising. Chobani Chief Marketing and Brand Officer Peter McGuinness told AdAge, "This is not a marketing campaign, it's a mindset campaign, and it outlines the difference between using only natural ingredients versus artificial ingredients.”

Chobani later declared via twitter, “The conversation about how food is made in our country is just beginning.”

More information and clips of the ads are available here.

(Photo courtesy pixabay.com)

Washington Attorney General alleges intentional deception by Grocery Manufacturers Association

Posted January 28, 2016

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson wants to penalize the Grocery Manufacturers Association. His office contends the group violated Washington's campaign finance laws during a 2013 campaign to defeat an initiative that would have required labeling genetically engineered foods. GMA is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association and was the largest single donor to the “No on 522” political committee.

Ferguson’s office sued the group in October 2013, alleging it collected over $11 million from its members. It further alleged that those funds were placed in a special account used to oppose Initiative 522, without disclosing the true source of the contributions.

The Attorney General filed a motion January 22 seeking summary judgment in the case, State v. Grocery Manufacturers Association. A GMA spokesman told the Associated Press they filed a complaint seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed, saying that the complaint is "an unconstitutional limitation on GMA's freedom to speak on behalf of its members."

In a statement released by his office, Attorney General Ferguson stated, “The crux of this case is transparency. GMA intentionally shielded from public scrutiny the true identity of the companies who donated millions of dollars to this campaign — it was a flagrant violation of state law.”

The initiative was defeated with 51 percent of the vote.

The Washington AG’s official news release is available here.

(Photo courtesy pixabay.com)

Campbell’s to begin disclosing GMO ingredients

Posted January 21, 2016

Campbell Soup Company will become the first major food company to begin disclosing the presence of genetically engineered ingredients like corn, soy and sugar beets in its products.

 

In a letter to the company's employees, posted on Campbell's website, Campbell's CEO Denise Morrison wrote that the company was responding to consumers, but also wanted to avoid conflicting demands for GMO labeling by individual states. "Printing a clear and simple statement on the label is the best solution for consumers and for Campbell," Morrison wrote.
 
Most of the food industry, along with the FDA, has opposed mandatory labeling of GMOs. The FDA contends there is no reason to require such labels because current GMO ingredients are identical, nutritionally, to conventional ingredients.

The food industry's opposition to GMO labels is partly based on fear that some people would avoid products with a GMO label. This assumption about consumer behavior has rarely been tested, and Campbell's may be betting that most consumers of Campbell's soups and Prego pasta sauces may not actually react to a GMO label. The company says that even if the government does not require GMO labels, it will label its products anyway.

Other food companies are printing labels to comply with a new labeling law in Vermont, which is a battleground over labeling that other states have watched closely. Beginning July 1, Vermont will require disclosure of genetically engineered ingredients, a measure opposed by most major food companies, which are seeking to supersede any state’s legislation with a voluntary federal solution.

Campbell's is also calling for federal action to mandate a uniform labeling system of foods that contain such ingredients, commonly known as GMO labeling. Other companies have reformulated a handful of products to replace such ingredients. General Mills now produces non-GMO Cheerios, and others have put labels on some products verifying that they contain no genetically engineered components.

But none have gone as far as Campbell, whose move recalls Whole Foods Markets, which announced it would require all products sold in its stores to have labels disclosing the presence of ingredients from genetically altered crops.

Other grocers like Kroger and Safeway are highlighting their selection of organic products, which by law cannot contain any genetically modified ingredients. The number of products verified by the Non-GMO Project, a nonprofit group that certifies foods that are free of ingredients from genetically engineered sources, is now in the tens of thousands.

More information is available here.

(Photo courtesy U of Arkansas Division of Agriculture)

US food firms continue movement toward cage-free egg supply

Posted January 19, 2016

On Monday, ConAgra Foods joined dozens of other food companies and restaurants committed to sourcing only cage-free eggs. The company announced it would complete the change by 2025.

"This decision is part of ConAgra's ongoing commitment to the humane and safe treatment of animals," said Chris Stockwell, Senior Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer, ConAgra Foods.

In addition, the company encouraged all of its suppliers to purchase only from farms that comply with industry guidelines, including those established by the USDA and the Food Marketing Institute. ConAgra made the move as part of its efforts to ensure "appropriate animal care" under its Supplier Quality Program.

ConAgra is the latest in a number of food firms making the pledge to go cage-free in their US egg supply. Last week snack maker Mondelez International said it would move to cage-free eggs in the US and Canada by 2020. Similarly, last month Nestle pledged to move to cage-free eggs in the US by 2020. Other cmpanies that have set a 2025 deadline include General Mills, who announced the target for its US business in November, and cereal and snack maker Kellogg, who also set out its own targets last year.

The decision comes as the food industry is under pressure from groups such as the Humane Society of the United States, Mercy for Animals and World Animal Protection, which have successfully lobbied many companies to adopt animal welfare practices.

Fast-food companies have made similar announcements. In September 2015, McDonald's Corp said its 16,000 U.S. and Canadian restaurants would serve only eggs laid by cage-free chicken within 10 years, while Burger King is committed to using such eggs by 2017. 

Read more here.

(Photo courtesy Kevin Quinn, University of Arkansas System Division)