The Supreme Court ruled that consumers could file lawsuits
under California law alleging food products are falsely labeled “organic,” according
a CBS News article available here.
Denver Post also published the article here
and Fox News here.

The ruling overturned a lower court decision that barred
such suits on the grounds that they were superseded by federal law.

Michelle
Quesada alleged in a lawsuit that Herb Thyme Farms Inc., one of the nation’s
largest herb producers, mixed organic and non-organic herbs then falsely
labeled the product “organic.”

The
company said in court documents it had been authorized by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture to use the organic label. Allowing individual lawsuits
challenging that designation would open the door to a patchwork of standards
for the term “organic” that would defeat the goal of a national organic foods
marketplace, the company said.

“If a lone
consumer can second-guess the USDA’s certification, and a grower cannot rely on
its federal authorization to use the term, the already high cost of production
of such products will skyrocket, or more likely, there will be no organic
products to enjoy,” Mark Kemple, an attorney for Herb Thyme Farms, wrote in a
2014 brief to the California Supreme Court.

For more information on food labeling, please visit the
National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.