FDA issued this press release yesterday regarding a seizure at Florida supplement company Advantage Nutraceuticals, LLC. The press release doesn’t say which part of FDA this comes from but one would assume it originates in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
My search on the website for the District Court of the Middle District of Florida did not turn up any FDCA forfeiture proceedings filed, but there may just be a lag between the filing and the time it appears in the on-line docket system for the courts. The seizure appears to be a follow-up to a warning letter sent last year by FDA’s Florida District Office to Advantage. To read the warning letter, click here.
This does not appear to be a very large seizure ($55,000 worth of supplements according to the press release). However, it is significant because it demonstrates FDA’s willingness to follow-through on warnings where the company warned has been non-compliant.
As we have discussed previously, possible penalties for Advantage may be far more severe than just forfeiture of its stock of offending supplements, and may include the harsh remedy of disgorgement.
Update: Found the Complaint. To read it, click here.
About Joel Rothman
Joel B. Rothman represents clients in intellectual property infringement litigation involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, defamation, trade libel, unfair competition, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and commercial matters. Joel’s litigation practice also includes significant focus on electronic discovery issues such as e-discovery management and motion practice relating to e-discovery.
