Washington Legal Foundation, Volume 21, Number 5

As one of the deans of the Chicago School of Law and Economics, Judge Richard Posner would no doubt agree that we live in a world of tradeoffs. Speaking on behalf of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Judge Posner late last year applied this tradeoff principle in Turek v. General Mills, 662 F.3d 423 (7th Cir. 2011). Specifically, in enforcing the preemption provisions of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (“NLEA”), the court ruled that when federal legislation tells food
manufacturers what they should disclose about their products, private litigants cannot thereafter sue to require disclosure beyond the federal requirements. The decision stands as a victory for the food industry and should curtail some consumer class actions against food manufacturers.  Read the full article.