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Covington represents a large number of companies and trade associations on the full scope of food law issues before federal and state agencies, legislatures, and courts, in both the US and in Europe. The firm’s expertise extends from conventional foods to dietary supplements and new food technologies.
The firm provides a full range of services to assist clients in assuring that food products, labeling, and marketing conform with legal requirements of the FDA and FTC, including representation before those agencies in enforcement matters. Firm lawyers are active in assisting clients in the design of food products and food promotional campaigns, including in the area of “functional foods,” that is, foods and dietary supplements with particular health benefits. The firm also has substantial experience in the development of technical substantiation to support product claims made in labeling, advertising, and promotions, and in the defense of substantiation in the litigation context. In recent years, firm lawyers have also developed considerable expertise in food security and bioterrorism preparedness.
In the USDA-regulated arena, the firm has expertise with the regulations and policies of the Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Food and Nutrition Service, as well as substantial experience with commodity marketing in conjunction with the Agricultural Marketing Service. The firm also has extensive expertise in the organic foods sector, representing the world's largest organic trade association as well as many of the world's most recognized organic consumer brands.
Firm lawyers have been active in assisting clients in developing legislative and regulatory proposals to address legal problems. With an interdisciplinary group of Public Policy and Government Affairs professionals and unsurpassed expertise in food law, the firm brings to its current work an unparalleled record of involvement with the most important legislative developments. We have played a key role in the development of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA), the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) and the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997 (FDAMA).
Representative Matters
- Counsel to the California Walnut Commission in securing FDA approval for the first qualified health claim for a conventional food and first health claim of any kind for a single whole food.
- Obtaining Congressional reversal of a crippling federal court decision that would have compelled removal of the USDA seal from approximately 90% of organic products and resulted in a likely market loss of nearly 1 billion dollars in the first year after the ruling.
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