December 2018 was an important month in the New York federal courts for food-labeling litigation: Two significant decisions have the potential to change the landscape for these types of cases. Mantikas v. Kellogg Co. and Newton v. Kraft Heinz Foods Co. both relate to the plausibility of plaintiffs’ theories that marketing statements on food packaging imply more than they actually say.
Mantikas: Overview
In Mantikas, handed down December 11, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the holding of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York Judge Sandra Feuerstein in a case concerning Kellogg’s popular Cheez-It crackers. No. 17-cv-2011 (2d Cir. Dec. 11, 2018), reversing Mantikas v. Kellogg Co., No. 16-cv-2552, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83311 (E.D.N.Y. May 31, 2017).