Brooks Law Digest: Dairy/Milk

Caru SPCA, represented by the Animal Legal Defense Fund and Talkov Law Firm, has filed suit against Dick Van Dam Dairy, arguing that the dairy’s treatment of cows as revealed in a recent undercover investigation violates California animal cruelty codes and the San Jacinto Municipal Code.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has filed suit against the Food and Drug Administration, claiming that the agency’s failure to respond to the organization’s petition requesting that the agency require a breast cancer mortality risk warning on all dairy cheese products amounts to a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act’s proscription against “unreasonable delay.”

A federal court in California has granted Miyoko’s request for a preliminary injunction barring the state from barring the company using terms like “dairy” and “butter” on its products. In the lawsuit, Miyoko’s contends that such a step would violate the company’s First Amendment rights.

Community Association for Restoration of the Environment, Friends of Toppenish Creek, and Center for Food Safety have filed suit against Sunnyside Dairy, alleging the company’s waste management practices violate the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Food Lion, a supermarket chain, and the Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association have filed suit against the Dairy Farmers of America, alleging that the proposed merger between the corporation and Dean Foods Company violates federal antitrust law and are seeking injunctive relief.

The Environmental Protection Agency has filed suit against a Michigan dairy operation, Walnutdale Family Farms LLC, alleging that the company is violating the Clean Water Act and ignoring a consent decree between it and the agency.

Senator Elizabeth Warren announced that she will co-sponsor the Farm System Reform Act, legislation introduced in 2019 that would both prevent the construction of any new factory farms and require the closure of existing factory farms by the year 2040. The legislation would also amend the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 to bolster antitrust enforcement and require country of origin labeling.

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the company advertises that it uses “happy cows” to make its ice cream despite the fact that most of the milk used in Ben & Jerry’s products is obtained from factory farming dairy operations. The ruling was based on the judge’s finding that the company never claimed it exclusively used milk from the humane program.

H.R. 6718, introduced by Democrat Ro Khanna, proposes to place a moratorium on concentrated animal feeding operations and to require country of origin labeling on some animal products. The full text of the bill has not yet been released.

A piece by Gosia Wozniacka published in Civil Eats explores the relationship between climate change, dairy operations, and dairy digesters.