Filed Date: March 28, 2023
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding complete
This is a case about the free speech implications of government restrictions on the labels of various packaged foods. On March 28, 2023, a business owner, his business, and a customer of his business sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), its Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. Represented by local counsel as well as the Institute for Justice, the Plaintiffs sued for violations of the First Amendment and sought declaratory relief, an injunction lifting the ban on their desired labeling, attorneys fees, and any other legal or equitable relief the court deemed fair. The case was assigned to Judge Anne R. Traum and Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Albregts.
The business owner and his company allege that FSIS required them to remove terms such as “low-FODMAP” (an acronym for items low in various difficult-to-digest sugars), “deliciously digestible,” and “gut loving” from their product labels. They further allege that the removal violated their First Amendment rights because the statements, while allegedly verifiable and non-misleading, were ultimately impermissible. FSIS and FDA permit claims such as these only if they are defined in their regulations and included on a pre-approved list of similar nutrient content claims (for example, the agencies maintain established standards for what counts as “low sodium,” but not what count as “low-FODMAP”). Consequently, plaintiffs allege that this “pre-approved and exclusive” list of statements violates the First Amendment because it excludes otherwise true and verifiable information that consumers, such as the consumer-plaintiff in this case, might want to know.
On June 23, 2023, defendants filed a motion to dismiss, which the plaintiffs responded to on August 18, 2023. The case is ongoing.
Summary Authors
Alex Levin (1/3/2024)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67110468/parties/przybocki-v-united-states-department-of-agriculture/
Dushoff, Matthew T (Nevada)
Pearson, Justin (Nevada)
Sanz, Elizabeth L. (Nevada)
Sherman, Paul M. (Nevada)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67110468/przybocki-v-united-states-department-of-agriculture/
Last updated March 19, 2024, 3:06 a.m.
State / Territory: Nevada
Case Type(s):
Public Benefits/Government Services
Key Dates
Filing Date: March 28, 2023
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
A business owner and customer seeking to disseminate and receive, respectively, information about easily-digestible food products.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Attorney Organizations:
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
U.S. Department of Agriculture (Washington, District of Columbia), Federal
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (Silver Spring, Maryland), Federal
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201
Ex parte Young (federal or state officials)
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General/Misc.: