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For those who want to know what class action product liability lawsuits are coming down the pike in food & bev, attys and colleagues Alan Pryor and Angela Spivey had one piece of advice for attendees of this mo's NABCA Legal Symposium: "follow Food Babe." That's the moniker of food activist Vani Hari who's become a key figure in Health & Human Services Secretary RFK Jr's Make America Healthy Again movement. Appearances alongside RFK Jr have given the influencer more credibility, Angela explained. And "Food Babe has an 'Army' out there," she said. So "within 3 days of a Food Babe article, I have a slew of 'ransom notes,'" her term for letters demanding money from suppliers if they want to avoid a lawsuit. MAHA is "grassroots," Alan claimed. It "sometimes works hand in hand with the administration" and "sometimes it's the impetus for what the administration does." It's "the tail that wags the dog," both attys said. Which posts go "viral" and which issues get HHS or FDA attention can be "a little haphazard," in Alan's view. But when it comes to Food Babe, "what she posts about finds its way into private class action litigation."Over a decade ago, Food Babe brought her crusade to beer, recall, causing a dust-up that quickly led to disclosure of ingredients by AB and MC (you know the ones: water, malted barley, hops and yeast, plus rice or corn, depending on the brand). It preceded by 2 yrs the launch of the Voluntary Disclosure Initiative spearheaded by the Beer Inst, trade org of those brewers. Her influence and scrutiny of beer faded into the background since, but now it can be tough to predict where she'll turn next. Recently, she asked her followers to fund testing of 275 brands and "had them all financed within 12 hours," Angela shared. And even tho that "testing is not reliable" or "an accurate reflection of what's in your food or the safety of it," it can still spread quickly and lead to a "ransom note," which Angela's seeing more and more in alc bevs as well."Made in the USA" Exec Order Targets Patriotic Marketing Moves Sometimes it's the administration that leads, not "the movement." Earlier this mo, President Trump issued an executive order "demanding" that "FTC take enforcement action" against brands falsely claiming to be "made in the USA," Angela explained. But it goes beyond that specific promise. Brands using "a flag" or "veterans on your commercials" or "anything that evokes patriotism" are being scrutinized, she said. The exec order came down on the Friday before she spoke at NABCA. By Monday afternoon, she'd already received 2 ransom notes making parallel claims.Getting Around FDA Rules and Going to the States There are also cases of the "federal government not being able to do what the MAHA movement wants it to do," Angela noted. When that happens, they've started "circumventing the rulemaking process of the FDA and&hellip;going to states," either getting state lawmakers or state AGs to act. That's what's happened with ingredient bans and labeling requirements, the latter of which is subject of new laws in 10 different states. State AGs are getting involved in more "natural flavors" cases, including for a "completely compliant product with FDA." Maybe "most surprising" to her is that some of these class action lawsuits, once more typical in courts that lean more liberal, are turning up "in some very conservative venues" like MS, AR, LA and FL.

"Follow Food Babe," Attys Advise, as Plaintiffs' Bar Goes Where MAHA Leads; "Made in the USA" Claims

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