Reilly v. Amy’s Kitchen, Inc., No. 13-21525 (S.D. Fla. Dec. 9, 2013)

(plaintiff filed a putative class action  against, defendant, a packaged food company, alleging that the defendant misrepresented to consumers via product labels that its products contained evaporated cane juice (ECJ), even though ECJ is actually sugar, not juice; specifically, plaintiff asserted that the company violated the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, Fla. Stat. §§ 501.201-501.213 (FDUTPA) by employing unfair, deceptive, and misleading practices; plaintiff alleged that the company’s practices related to its ECJ products constituted a per se violation of the FDUTPA; defendant filed a motion to dismiss, and the court granted the motion, but only as to those products the plaintiff had not actually purchased; the court found that plaintiff’s claims were not preempted by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) because they were not based upon a  violation of the FDCA, but the FDUTPA; whether ECJ was misleading to consumers was a factual issue that could not be resolved on a motion to dismiss; the court refused to invoke the primary jurisdiction doctrine and defer the question to the FDA because this was not a case of first impression, and the FDA’s expertise was not required to determine the proper identification of ECJ).