Charles Sipos was quoted in the Food Chemical News* article, "Lawsuits Challenging 'Natural' Labels Decline In 2016, Report Says," commenting on the decline of food class action lawsuits targeted at products or ingredients labeled as "natural" or "all natural". 

Those trends are directly related to FDA’s ongoing efforts in reevaluating the use of the term “natural,” Sipos said.

“I think what you see in terms of that drop off is the plaintiff’s bar correctly recognizing that litigation over the term ‘natural’ is something that federal courts are going to be particularly reluctant to wade into now, in light of those pending FDA proceedings,” Sipos said.

The decline in class action litigation involving the term “natural” is just one of the trends highlighted in the report issued by Sipos’ law firm. The report also highlights a small dip in the overall number of food class action litigation. Class action lawsuits involving food products went down from 158 in 2015 to 145 last year.

Sipos said this is the first year that Perkins Coie has published a formal report that systematically follows key trends and developments in food litigation. The data used in the report reflects the filing of 140 new food class actions and nearly 250 Proposition 65 warning letters aimed at food and beverage companies. The latest data are broken down by category, including cases that target genetically modified organisms (GMOs), slack fill and added sugar.

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