California agricultural employers must be mindful of the federal, state, and local laws on the books, many of which pose traps for the unwary. Here are some of the most important employment and labor legal issues warranting particular vigilance by agricultural employers.
Use of Farm Labor Contractors and Joint Employment. Employers in California are … Continue Reading
Immigration site visits are on the rise and can occur without notice. The most common involve paperwork audits. In some cases, certain employees are targeted. Below is a guide that can help you prepare for and appropriately respond to a visit from the Department of Homeland Security.
Enforcement Agencies under the Department of Homeland Security… Continue Reading
Giselle Waters, Mad Fish Digital
Last week, we hosted the first session of a three-part workshop series with Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) entitled “Recipe For Success—Starting and Scaling Your Food & Beverage Business.” Session #1 focused on building your brand through digital promotion and protecting your brand through trademarks … Continue Reading
So you’ve got an idea for a food or beverage product or maybe even a product ready to go – but do you know how to build your brand? And better yet, how to protect that brand? This week we hosted the first of a three-part workshop series with Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) designed to help food and beverage companies answer these tricky yet critical questions.… Continue Reading
On Friday, September 29, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) proposed to give food manufacturers an additional year and a half to comply with the revised Nutrition Facts regulations that were published in May 2016. Earlier this year, the FDA announced it would delay enforcement of the revised Nutrition Facts regulations, but did not give a specific… Continue Reading
Mid-year reports have shown that there has been a resurgence in “all natural” litigation against food product companies in 2017 – an expected 30% increase in filings as compared to 2016. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. These filings waned a bit in 2015 after the FDA indicated that it might be looking to define the term. But since seeking public … Continue Reading
With the recent announcement that Amazon is buying Whole Foods, issues of channel disruption — that is, the ways consumers purchase food — have been on the forefront of people’s minds. On June 1, at DWT’s annual food and beverage executive summit, Farm to Label, we discussed this very issue. We were joined by panelists Madeline Haydon, founder of … Continue Reading
Some conversations are just uncomfortable. And if you are talking about diversity in the workplace in an honest way, it probably should be uncomfortable. It is a topic that is likely going to disrupt the “norm” of your workplace culture in the best ways.
Some panelists embraced the disruptive topic of diversifying the work force at a recent panel discussion… Continue Reading
At Farm to Label, I presented a panel called “ABCs of Distribution to Grocery” with Brittany Sienia, Trade Analyst at Tillamook, Chris Tjersland, Partner Brands Development Manager at New Seasons and Ray VanWetten, Vice President-PNW Sales of Unified Grocers, Inc. We had a lively discussion on all aspects of the brand-distributor-grocery spectrum,… Continue Reading
We were honored to welcome more than 350 executives, investors, and entrepreneurs to our annual Farm to Label (F2L) food and beverage summit, in Portland, Oregon, on June 1st. Now in its fifth year, F2L has grown into a much anticipated annual gathering for idea-sharing, pragmatic business conversations, and networking for guests from throughout the West… Continue Reading
A tweet last week from Project Nosh set my food-labeling-lawyer-head buzzing: “Consumers are looking for snacks that aren’t just empty calories. Brands are providing everything from protein to anti-nausea properties.” An anti-nausea claim on a food label – can they say that?
As consumers more fully embrace the idea of food as medicine, and food … Continue Reading
Now that the FDA has (yet again) decided to delay enforcement of its menu labeling regulations for another year (and possibly to change the regulations entirely), one question seems to be on everyone’s minds: will we need to comply with state and local menu labeling laws? The answer is thorny and may be the subject of future dispute.
According to the FDA, its… Continue Reading
UPDATE (May 3, 2017): The FDA announced on May 1 that enforcement of the menu labeling rule is delayed until May 7, 2018. In addition, FDA is seeking comments “on the implementation of the menu labeling requirements, such as approaches to reduce regulatory burden or increase flexibility related to (a) calorie disclosure signage for self-service foods,… Continue Reading
Everybody wants “clean” labels. But, what does that mean? With no legal definition, “clean” labeling encompasses a wide-range of claims, such as natural, healthy, -free, simple, small-batch, no preservatives, no artificial colors or flavors, made from nature, made from kitchen ingredients, and pasture-raised. Underlying the “clean” … Continue Reading
Quick Bite:
The FDA is seeking comment until July 17, 2017, on draft guidance about recommended practices to control Listeria monocytogenes in food facilities.
The Details:
The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) recently published draft guidance articulating recommended practices to control Listeria monocytogenes (“L. mono”) in Ready-to-Eat… Continue Reading
Last month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals revered (in part) a lower court decision finding that Dole’s “all natural” labeling was not deceptive to consumers – reviving a four-year-old litigation, Brazil v. Dole Packaged Foods LLC.
Although the decision was not a total win for consumers (and was not a published decision and therefore not binding… Continue Reading
Chase Purdy at Quartz recently published an article with the following headline: “To lure people put off by the freakiness of lab-made meat, this is what the industry wants to call it.” It got me thinking about the importance of names and narratives in the food world, and how this is not the first time we’ve wrestled with the naming and framing of a food item.… Continue Reading
Remember last month when we said to DOCUMENT EVERYTHING under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)? Well, here’s some more context for that recommendation.
For one, FSMA adds a substantial amount of documentation and record-keeping requirements for food companies that are covered by any one or more of FSMA’s new regulations. For example:
The term “healthy” as commonly used is quite subjective—meaning different things to different types of consumers. Culturally, there are sometimes fast-changing trends about what is healthy—foods rejected by consumers a few years ago are now regaining popularity and vice versa. Nevertheless, the FDA defines “healthy” and regulates how … Continue Reading
We wrote earlier this week about the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and what it means, from a 30,000 foot perspective, for food companies. Today we are going to dig in a little deeper to one issue that we’ve seen clients wrestle with recently.
One core FSMA requirement is a new process that requires identification and prevention of all reasonably foreseeable… Continue Reading
Today, Sept. 19, 2016, is a big day for the food industry. It is the first compliance deadline[1] for regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) – the law we’ve been talking about since 2011, the law touted as the most sweeping reform of food safety laws in more than 70 years.
So, what’s all the big fuss about?
Yes, “food facilities” (companies… Continue Reading
While you were (hopefully) lounging at the beach or hiking mountains, the FDA was hard at work in Washington D.C. churning out final rules and guidance documents that impact food companies in various, and sometimes substantial, ways.
Some of those updates were expected (e.g., Nutrition Facts updates) and some were a surprise (e.g., a finalized GRAS rule, … Continue Reading
There’s a new federal law governing GMOs, and it preempts the poorly conceived, if well-meaning, state laws that have been pushed for the past decade.
While state GMO bills have tended toward inclusion—concerns over Vermont’s GMO labeling law (when not focused on local protectionism) revolved around the ambiguity of the definition of “genetic … Continue Reading
Transparency is a hot topic in the food world these days. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently finalized an update to the nutrition facts panel for packaged foods. The U.S. Senate last week advanced a bill addressing the labeling of genetically engineered foods, which the U.S. House is expected to vote on today. A federal court in California … Continue Reading
