Center for Science in the Public Interest v. Price

A non-profit organization “dedicated to obtaining a healthier food system” and a consumer advocacy group brought a lawsuit against the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the FDA commissioner challenging a rule that delayed implementation of nutrition labeling requirements for chain restaurants and similar food establishments. The plaintiffs contended that FDA did not provide a rationale for the rule instituting the delay and had not complied with rulemaking procedures, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The plaintiffs alleged that the labeling rules could “reduce the environmental degradation associated with food production and disposal.” They asserted that “[r]oughly 40 percent of U.S. food is wasted, and food waste decomposing in landfills releases gases that contribute to climate change,” and that nutrition labeling rules “contributes to closing the gap between the amount of food consumers order and the amount they eat, thereby reducing the quantity of wasted food and limiting associated environmental harm.”