Hunton Retail Law Resource

The FDA has announced a proposal to require a new nutrition label on the front of packages for most packaged foods. The label design, shown below, would give consumers readily visible information about a food’s saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars content—three nutrients the FDA states are directly linked with chronic diseases when consumed in excess. 

On December 11, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in a rare en banc decision vacated the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) order approving Nasdaq’s board diversity rules (Rules 5605(f) and Rule 5606).

The FTC has penalized accessiBe Inc. $1 million for claiming its “AI-powered web accessibility solution” can make websites fully compliant with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).  According to the FTC’s complaint, accessiBe claimed its “one line of code” made a website compliant with 30% of WCAG’s requirements immediately and initiated an AI process that makes the website fully compliant with the remaining 70% of WCAG requirements within 48 hours.

The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) has recommended that Just Play LLC revise its advertising for Daisy the Yoga Goat toy, a plushie that “moves her head, swishes her tail, drinks from her play water bottle, and does downward dog and bird yoga poses.” In its press release about the decision, CARU noted that the 15 second commercial and product packaging could mislead children about what is included with product purchase, how to activate the toy and use it as shown, and misrepresented that the toy could perform in a particular manner. For example, the ad showed Daisy the Yoga Goat with a yoga mat and a water bottle, and implied that they toy’s movement and reactions are automatic. 

The FDA has announced its long-awaited Rule governing when the term “healthy” can be used as an implied nutrient content claim on food labels.

The FTC announced its final Rule addressing specific unfair and deceptive pricing practices commonly used by the hotel and event ticketing industries. The Rule requires businesses to clearly disclose the total price a consumer will pay, inclusive of all mandatory fees, whenever they advertise any price for such services. The Rule also requires businesses to display this total price more prominently than other pricing information.

The inauguration of President Donald J. Trump on January 20, 2025, will lead to a change in control of  the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). On November 21, 2024, current SEC Chair Gary Gensler announced that he will resign his position at 12:00 p.m. on January 20, 2025. The next day, Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga (D) also announced his intent to step down, effective January 17, 2025. These key departures will leave a 2-1 Republican majority at the SEC at the start of the next administration.

The Federal Trade Commission announced a penalty against online sneaker retailer GOAT for failing to honor its “Instant” and “Next Day” shipping guarantees. According to the FTC’s complaint, GOAT also violated its “Assurance of Authenticity” and “Buyer Protection” promises, rejecting or only partially crediting customers for defective products.

Resuming its efforts to combat unscrupulous cash advance practices, on November 5, 2024, the FTC filed a complaint against Dave, Inc. (“Dave”), a Delaware fintech corporation that operates a mobile application it advertises as offering “instant” short-term advances. 

In a rare 5-0 vote, the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with GGL Projects, Inc., which runs the AI-enabled customer review platform Sitejabber. The Sitejabber service star-rates businesses and offers customer reviews. Businesses can create free profile pages on the Sitejabber platform, and also are able to purchase additional services like automatic instant survey review requests, marketing tools, and social media sharing to publicize positive feedback.