lawsuit

Miyoko Schinner

©Miyoko's Creamery
People

Miyoko Schinner Responds to News That She Has Left Active Role at Miyoko’s Creamery

Miyoko Schinner, founder of alt dairy brand Miyoko’s Creamery, has responded to a press release announcing that she has departed the company. Published on February 16, the release stated that Schinner had exited as CEO and was “no longer involved in day-to-day operations”. The company said CFO Jon Blair would act as interim president until the search for a new “highly qualified, passionate, and mission-driven leader” was complete. “Looking towards the future and exponential growth of the company, we are excited to continue and expand upon our brand mission and uphold our certified B Corporation of innovating products that only contain plant ingredients that are better for human health. We also plan to make our current portfolio of products more available and to innovate products …

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Beyond Burger

© Beyond Meat
Politics & Law

US Judicial Panel Consolidates Five Beyond Meat Lawsuits Centred on False Advertising

The US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has agreed to consolidate five false advertising lawsuits brought against Beyond Meat, at the request of the company. Plaintiffs include Don Lee Farms, a manufacturer of both plant-based and conventional meat that was formerly the exclusive supplier of Beyond Meat products. Three Beyond customers have also brought a civil class-action lawsuit against the company. The complaints all centre on the alleged misrepresentation of the amount of protein found in Beyond products. Don Lee Farms claims to have had the meat alternatives tested by an independent laboratory, which said the protein content was around 30% lower than stated on the packaging. The company also accuses Beyond of falsely claiming its products are free from synthetic ingredients, when in fact …

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Tofurky

©Tofurky
Politics & Law

Tofurky Wins Historic Louisiana Court Case in Fight Against Plant-Based Censorship

Tofurky, one of the leading plant-based brands in the US, has won a major lawsuit victory for vegan meat producers, as a federal judge ruled against a controversial labeling law. The judge ruled the Louisiana law unconstitutional after it stopped plant-based producers like Tofurky from using terms like “burger” or “sausage”. Facing fines of $500 per day for using such terms on its plant-based meat products, even when featuring qualifiers such as “vegan”, “plant-based”, or “meatless”, Turtle Island Foods, – the owner of Tofurky – had brought a lawsuit against state regulators in 2020, preemptively challenging the new state statute. The US District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana ruled on a motion for summary judgment on the lawsuit, halting enforcement of the law. …

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© Meati
Politics & Law

Meati Foods & The Better Meat Co. Lawsuit Escalates Over Mycelium

Update 11th March, comment sent by Paul Shapito of Better Meat Co: ” No one claims (Gus Pattillo) was ever employed by Meati. The dispute relates to when Pattillo was on a 2017 fellowship at the Dept. of Energy at the same time the founders of Emergy (a battery company which in 2019 rebranded as a food company called Meati) were also doing work at the Dept. of Energy.” Meati Foods and The Better Meat Co., two mycelium-based meat leaders in the US, are embroiled in a legal battle over their alt meat intellectual property. Meati has accused Better Meat of stealing its mycelium harvesting tech, while in a separate lawsuit, Better Meat accuses Meati of damaging its reputation and fundraising. As first reported by …

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Impossible Shop Foods Restaurant Burger Dog Haus

©Impossible Foods
Politics & Law

Impossible Foods Files Lawsuit Against Motif Foodworks Over Heme Patent

Impossible Foods, the alt meat market leader, has sued Motif Foodworks over accusations that the food tech startup copied its heme technology. Motif Foodworks has disputed the claim, which concerns its debut product; HEMAMI. The lawsuit states that Motif’s development and commercialization of HEMAMI infringes Impossible Foods’ patent by using the iron-bearing protein molecule heme and making it available for large-scale distribution. Heme is the ingredient that gives Impossible Foods’ alt meats their authentic taste and smell, a key factor in the brand’s global success.  The lawsuit was filed in Delaware federal court yesterday, with Impossible Foods asking for an undisclosed amount of money damages and a court order blocking Motif’s sales of the allegedly infringing burger. A Motif spokesperson stated that the lawsuit was …

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Rebel Whopper

©Burger King

Food & Beverage

Burger King: Vegans “Were Unreasonably Ignorant in Failing to Inquire About the Cooking Method of Their Food”

The Rebel Whopper continues to cause controversy on both sides of the Atlantic. Here we update on the Florida lawsuit where BK has now asked the judge to dismiss the fraud claim as vegans “were unreasonably ignorant,” and  meanwhile in the UK, The Advertising Standards Authority receives complaints that BK’s advertising is misleading.

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Impossible Whopper

© Impossible Foods
Food & Beverage

Burger King Sued for Serving “Contaminated” Impossible Burgers to Vegans

According to an article published this week by The New York Times, the plaintiff, Phillip Williams, filed a class-action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Burger King. He accused the fast-food chain of committing “false and misleading business practices” in the marketing and sale of its plant-based burgers. 

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