NOBA Blog

Recent News & Events

Louisiana's Truth in Labeling of Food Products Act Update

Posted on: Apr 26, 2023
News: Committees
Featured Image

Of interest to members of the Business Litigation and Complex Litigation Committees, the Fifth Circuit in Turtle Island Foods, SPC dba Tofurkey Co. v. Strain, Case No. 22-30236 (5th Cir. Apr. 12, 2023), recently ruled that Louisiana’s Truth in Labeling of Food Products Act (the “TLFPA” or the “Act”), La. Rev. Stat.  §§ 3:4741-4746, is not an unconstitutional restriction on the First Amendment right to commercial free speech and reversed the district court’s ruling that the statute was unconstitutional in its entirety.  The TLFPA, enacted in 2019, provides in pertinent part, “[n]o person shall intentionally misbrand or misrepresent any food product as an agricultural product . . . .” La. Rev. Stat. § 3:4744(B) (emphasis added).  According to the State of Louisiana, the TLFPA only prohibits a company from intentionally misleading a consumer by claiming a product is made from beef, pork, poultry, crawfish, shrimp, meat, sugar, or rice when it is not.  The Fifth Circuit held that under the State’s narrow construction, the TLFPA only covers “actually misleading representations” that fall outside the First Amendment’s protection for commercial free speech as set forth in Central Hudson Gas & Elec. v. Public Svc. Comm’n, 447 U.S. 557 (1980).  Thus, the Fifth Circuit held the TLFPA to be constitutional.  Thus, companies that label or market food products sold in Louisiana must continue to be mindful to adhere to the requirements of the Act.


About the Author...


Carey Menasco
Liskow & Lewis
Complex Litigation Committee Chair