JUDICIAL:

Forty Foot Farms, Appellant v. Pennsylvania Tpk. Comm’n, No. 501 C.D. 2018, 2019 WL 1468541 (Pa. Commw. Ct. Apr. 2, 2019)
Before the Court was the appeal of Forty Foot Farms (Condemnee) from two orders of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County (trial court).1 The trial court granted two pretrial motions by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Condemnor) to preclude Condemnee’s proposed expert testimony in an eminent domain proceeding. Condemnee requested that the trial court certify one of the evidentiary rulings for immediate appeal, but the trial court refused. Seeking to circumvent the trial court’s denial of certification, the parties stipulated to entry of judgment as to the difference in value of Condemnee’s real property (the Property) in Towamencin Township, Montgomery County (Township) before and after the condemnation. Both parties contend their stipulation constituted a final judgment, thus rendering both interlocutory evidentiary rulings appealable. The court quashed the appeal as interlocutory and remand to the trial court.
DANIELA QUIROZ, on behalf of herself & others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. BEAVERTON FOODS, INC., Defendant., No. 17CV7348NGGJO, 2019 WL 1473088 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2019)
Plaintiff Daniela Quiroz brings this putative class action against Beaverton Foods, Inc., a food manufacturer based in Oregon, challenging Defendant’s advertising and marketing of its product, the 10 oz. version of Inglehoffer® Original Stone Ground Mustard (the “Product”). Plaintiff alleges that Defendant’s use of labels stating that the Product contains “No Preservatives” is, among other things, misleading. Plaintiff asserts multiple causes of action, including violations of New York General Business Law (“GBL”) and common law fraud.
Defendant moves to dismiss the Plaintiffs amended complaint pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), and arguing that the amended complaint fails to satisfy the pleading standards of Rules 8(a) and 9(b).
Defendant’s motion to dismiss was granted in part and denied in part. Plaintiff’s claim for injunctive relief under N.Y. GBL § 349 (Count I) and her claim for common law fraud (Count IV) are dismissed.
REGULATORY:
Proposed rule: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.; We are proposing to establish standards to allow us to recognize compartments for animal disease status, consistent with World Organization for Animal Health international standards. Under this proposed rule, when a foreign government submits a request for recognition of a compartment, we would conduct a disease risk assessment based on a list of eight factors that closely parallel those we use when conducting regionalization evaluations, and we would provide for public notice of and comment on the risk assessment. We would also add provisions for imposing import restrictions and/or prohibitions when a compartment we have recognized as disease-free experiences an outbreak and for lifting those sanctions once the outbreak has been controlled. These proposed standards would provide a tool that may be used to preserve international trade when regionalization is not feasible. Info HERE
Notice: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.; We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is making available for public comment a draft plant pest risk assessment (PPRA) and draft environmental assessment (EA) for canola designated as event LBFLFK, which has been genetically engineered (GE) to allow for the synthesis of long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, including eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, from oleic acid in canola seed. The GE canola has also been genetically engineered for resistance to an imidazolinone herbicide. We are making the draft PPRA and draft EA available for public review and comment. Info HERE
Final rule: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA; The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending the Federal poultry products inspection regulations to add Honduras to the list of countries eligible to export poultry products to the United States. The FSIS review of Honduras’ laws, regulations, and inspection system demonstrated that its poultry slaughter inspection system is equivalent to the system FSIS has established under the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) and its implementing regulations. Info HERE
Notice: Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services (FNCS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection over a three year period. This collection is a revision of a currently approved three year collection. This notice announces the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion’s (CNPP) intention to request the Office of Management and Budget’s approval of the information collection processes and instruments to be used during consumer research while testing nutrition education messages and products developed for the general public. The purpose of performing consumer research is to identify consumers’ understanding of potential nutrition education messages and obtain their reaction to prototypes of nutrition education products, including internet based tools. The information collected will be used to refine messages and improve the usefulness of products as well as aid consumer understanding of Dietary Guidelines- grounded messages and related materials. Info HERE
Proposed rule: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA; The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS, or the Agency) proposes to make changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) regulations pertaining to the eligibility of certain SNAP retail food stores. These proposed changes are in response to the Consolidated Appropriations Acts of 2017 and 2018, which prohibited the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from implementing two retailer stocking provisions (the “Breadth of Stock” provision and the “Definition of `Variety’ ” provision) of the 2016 final rule titled, “Enhancing Retailer Standards in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)”, until such a time as regulatory modifications to the definition of “variety” are made that would increase the number of food items that count as acceptable staple food varieties for purposes of SNAP retailer eligibility. Using existing authority in the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, the Agency proposes to modify the definition of the term “variety” as it pertains to the stocking requirements for SNAP authorized retail food stores. These proposed changes would provide retailers with more flexibility in meeting the enhanced stocking requirements of the 2016 final rule which were mandated by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the 2014 Farm Bill), and align SNAP regulations with the requirements expressed in the Consolidated Appropriations Acts of 2017 and 2018. This proposed rule does not modify any other provisions or components of the 2016 final rule, “Enhancing Retailer Standards in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).” Info HERE
Proposed rule: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA; The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) proposes to amend the regulations that specify the requirements for CCC-approved warehouses storing and handling cotton. The amendment would change how warehouse operators account for bales made available for shipment (BMAS) and how CCC determines BMAS compliance. The current regulation allows bales that are made available for shipment by the warehouse operator but not picked up (BNPU) by the shipper to count for up to two reporting weeks when calculating and reporting BMAS for the reporting week. This amendment proposes to limit BNPU to be counted for one week, with BMAS to include only bales actually shipped or not picked up for that reporting week. CCC also proposes to allow two additional options for the warehouse operator to meet the 4.5% cotton flow requirement by averaging either the BMAS for the reporting week and the week prior to the reporting week, or by averaging the BMAS for the reporting week and the week after the reporting week. In addition, CCC proposes to amend the regulations to reflect the transfer of warehouse programs and activities from USDA’s Farm Service Agency to AMS in 2018. Info HERE
Final rule: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.; This final rule amends Marketing Order No. 956, which regulates the handling of sweet onions grown in the Walla Walla Valley of Southeast Washington and Northeast Oregon. The three amendments, which were proposed by the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee (Committee), were approved by producers in a referendum. This action also updates the term of office and staggered term limits for producers and handlers. Info HERE
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