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One fish, two fish, grey fish, pink fish?

By Jason Siegel

Consumers can sue the major grocery chains to label the gray-farmed salmon that's artificially colored pink to look like wild salmon, the California Supreme Court ruled on Monday.

The lawsuit was filed by 11 consumers and state Attorney General Jerry Brown want grocers to label farmed salmon, claiming the grocers are misleading consumers to sell the fish at high prices and that the chemical additives that color the fish, canthaxanthin and astaxanthin, are a health risk.

The state high court unanimously overturned the lower court decisions that had said such labeling disputes should be resolved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act preempts deceptive marketing claims under the state's Sherman Food, Drug and Cosmetic Law.

Grocers named in the case include Albertson's, Safeway, The Kroger Co., Trader Joe's, Costco, Whole Foods, Bristol Farms and Ocean Beauty Seafoods.

A lawyer representing the grocers told Bloomberg News that they may ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on February 13, 2008 (boomark / email).