© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
A federal court in California ruled Thursday that the Federal Drug Administration would have to determine whether an Irving-based company’s food products were mislabeled as “all natural” since they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The lawsuit involves Gruma Corporation, a United States subsidiary of its parent company, based in Monterrey, Mexico, which is the largest manufacturer of corn flour and tortillas in the world.
Plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit originally filed their complaint in December last year, claiming Gruma made misleading statements “likely to deceive customers” by describing its Mission tortilla chips and other products as ‘all natural’ when “in fact they are not because they contain GMOs in the form of corn and/or corn derivatives.”
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California wrote in her order that “deference to the FDA’s regulatory authority is the appropriate course” since the agency “has not addressed, even informally” whether foods containing GMOs or bioengineered ingredients should be labeled “natural or “all natural” and whether they should be considered “artificial or synthetic.”
She also issued a six-month stay on the case in her order to give the FDA time to address the issue.
Greg Huffman, a partner in Thompson & Knight’s Dallas office, represented Gruma. Huffman focuses his practice on antitrust, complex commercial litigation, criminal investigations and mergers and acquisitions.
Thompson & Knight has represented Gruma in previous class action lawsuits involving the company’s Mission Guacamole Dip products with similar allegations to the current case.
“This case is significant because the FDA, which has a longstanding policy that bioengineered foods need not be labeled as bioengineered foods, will be presented with the opportunity for the first time to decide under what circumstances bioengineered food products may be labeled ‘natural,’ ” Huffman said.
The attorneys for the plaintiffs are Howard Rubenstein and Benjamin Lopatin from the Law Offices of Howard W. Rubenstein.
© 2013 The Texas Lawbook. Content of The Texas Lawbook is controlled and protected by specific licensing agreements with our subscribers and under federal copyright laws. Any distribution of this content without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
If you see any inaccuracy in any article in The Texas Lawbook, please contact us. Our goal is content that is 100% true and accurate. Thank you.