One diet promoted by influencers and others over the last few years is a “low-FODMAP” diet, which entails “strict reduction of all slowly absorbed or indigestible short-chain carbohydrates (ie, FODMAPs) followed by reintroduction of specific FODMAPs according to tolerance.” The diet is controversial. FDA regulations prevent food producers from labeling products based on their FODMAP […]
Category Archives: Food and Nutrition
A third appellate decision today about FDCA preemption….it’s definitely clerk turnover season! After studies started casting doubt on the notion that oral phenylephrine (oral PE) was an effective nasal decongestant, consumers across the country and a retail pharmacy sued drug manufacturers under the theory that the manufacturers had produced, marketed, and sold “nasal decongestants containing […]
In what seems to be a matter of happenstance today, two courts of appeals issued decisions today holding that state laws relating to tobacco were not preempted. First, in Iowans for Alternatives to Smoking & Tobacco v. Mosiman, the Eighth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction against an Iowa law that prohibited the manufacture and sale […]
Yogurt company Chobani sold a product it labeled as “sugar free,” even though the yogurt includes four grams per serving of allulose– a naturally occurring sweetener. Consumers sued Chobani for doing so under state consumer protection laws, but an Illinois district court held those claims were preempted by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act–relying […]
In 2023, New York adopted a law prohibiting the sale of over-the-counter diet pills or dietary supplements “for weight loss or muscle building” to anyone under age 18. It defined the covered supplements as those “labeled, marketed, or otherwise presented for the purpose of achieving weight loss or muscle building.” Under the name “Council for […]
Here is the first part of the call for submissions: The Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) is pleased to solicit abstracts for the Food and Drug Law Journal 2024 Symposium, “From Past to Progress: Envisioning the Future of FDA Law and Regulation.” The Symposium will celebrate FDLI’s 75th Anniversary and its enduring contributions to the field […]
In 2015, consumers sued the manufacturers of KIND products –first over the company’s use of the word “healthy” in describing its products, and then over the “All Natural/Non-GMO” claim on product packaging. The class action included claims for violation of several state laws. After class certification and discovery, the district court excluded the testimony of […]
In 2023, a New York district court dismissed three consolidated class actions against Beech-Nut, a baby food manufacturer, alleging that its baby food products contained elevated levels of certain toxic metals. The district court had agreed with Beech-Nut that it should abstain from addressing the plaintiffs’ claims, instead deferring to the FDA under the doctrine […]
“Essential oils” have become very popular over the past few years, in part due to confusion that, in this context, “essential” does not mean “indispensable or necessary,” but rather refers to the means by which they are derived from plants. An essential oil company called Young Living had marketed its products as being “therapeutic-grade,” and […]
FDA regulations set out different “serving sizes” that should be used on nutrition labels for different categories of food. In the “Fats and Oils” category, regulations have different sizes for “Butter, margarine, oil, shortening,” “Butter replacement, Powder,” and “Spray types.” Consumers sued the makers of “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Spray” contending that the […]