Sprout Foods Unlawful Nutritional Content Claims Get Reinstated

Parents alleging Sprout Foods Inc. duped them with labels portraying certain baby and toddler foods as healthful won reinstatement of a handful of their claims following a Friday ruling by a federal appeals court.

Federal food labeling law doesn’t preempt claims based on violations of California’s Sherman Law, which incorporates by reference all federal food labeling rules, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said. But the parents’ consumer protection claims were properly dismissed because their complaint didn’t meet the pleading standards for fraud-based claims, the court said.

Gillian and Samuel Davidson challenged label statements about protein and ...