Processors

While manufacturers and suppliers produce the food, packers and processors undertake a wide range of functions to convert raw materials into processed goods for distribution and retail sale. Processor functions include washing, sorting, cutting, grinding, slicing, cooking and refrigeration, labeling, and packaging. Some processors alter the atmospheres within food packages or apply federally regulated chemical food additives as a method of food preservation. Food processing operations now being conducted or proposed include cook-chill, vacuum packaging, sous vide, smoking and curing, brewing, processing, and bottling alcohol beverages, carbonated beverages, or drinking water, and the custom processing of animals.

For food processors, legal needs can include:

  • Product labeling, advertising, and other promotional materials.
  • The regulatory scheme affecting or governing such products, including mandatory and voluntary submissions (FDA-required petitions and notifications) and food facility registration, and the “new” FDA reporting requirements through the Reportable Food Registry (RFR).
  • Obtaining and maintaining certifications.
  • Import and export issues, including detentions by Customs and Border Patrol.
  • Recall or market withdrawal issues, including the RFR and related planning, policies, and audit procedures.
  • Effective crisis management, including misbranding lawsuits, government enforcement actions (including press releases and warning letters), stop-sale orders, and recall or market withdrawal scenarios.
  • The business of food – documenting and negotiating business relationships and other commercial arrangements, structuring a distribution system, and obtaining liability protection throughout the supply and distribution chain.

These are just some of the challenges facing food processors. Whether navigating the sale and shipment of products across state lines, unwinding an existing distribution relationship, or recalling products from the marketplace, our Food Law Team has skilled and experienced professionals ready to protect the interests and secure the objectives of the food processing sector.

From established multinational processors to the newest generation of start-up craft artisans, our Food Law Team helps processors maintain licensure requirements, meet compliance responsibilities, and implement new business strategies. We combine the talents and capabilities of experienced attorneys, former federal and state industry regulators, and skilled licensing professionals to provide suppliers with a broad range of support services.

How we can help:

  • Start-Up

    We have extensive experience working with new entrants to the food processing industry, as well as with experienced players who are bringing new methodologies and/or business concepts to market. We provide guidance and assistance for Start-Up issues ranging from equipment procurement and capitalization to market penetration and mid- to long-term planning. We can also help you identify facility requirements and the licenses and certifications needed to open your business.

  • Licensure, Registration, and Reporting

    We assist with licensure, registration, and reporting responsibilities at the federal, state, and local levels for locations throughout North America.

    Additionally, we work with clients to secure all required operating and collateral licenses associated with their businesses, including local health, safety, and occupational permits.

  • Process Development

    With technology changing at breakneck speed, we understand that process innovation can be critical to market success. From initial design through HACCP program development and implementation, we assist clients with creating their new processing methods to assure compliance and enhance their prospects for market success.

  • Brand Development

    We understand that a brand is more than a label. From formulation through packaging, we assist clients with the creation of their new food products to assure compliance and enhance the prospects for market success. Our regulatory guidance for brand development encompasses compliance with federal product formulation and labeling requirements, as well as state brand registrations and practical, experience-based input on brand development.

  • Contracts

    Preparation and negotiation of key contracts are vital to success in the food industry. Our services in this area include drafting production and marketing contracts, import agreements, ingredient/commodity supply contracts, distribution agreements, etc.

  • Registration and Record-Keeping

    Because it is a regulated industry, food suppliers must produce and maintain records that are accurate and complete. Suppliers are obligated to meet their federal and state record-keeping responsibilities; failure to do so can jeopardize a supplier’s licensure, which directly impacts the ability to remain in business in the event of an audit or inspection. We provide comprehensive assistance with mandatory record-keeping responsibilities.

  • Taxes and Records

    Because it is a heavily regulated industry, food processors must produce and maintain accurate and complete records. Moreover, because it is a taxed industry, processors are obligated to meet their federal and state taxation responsibilities; failure to do so can jeopardize licensure, which directly impacts the ability to remain in business. We provide comprehensive assistance with taxation and record-keeping responsibilities.

  • Marketing

    In today’s world, with the unprecedented proliferation of products and industry members, the ability to distinguish a particular processor or its specific brand is fundamental to success. While advancing technology presents extraordinary new opportunities for marketing and promotion, the regulatory restrictions applicable to commercial food produce concomitant compliance risks. Our Food Law Team provides specific advice regarding marketing, advertising, and promotional activities, particularly those that trigger regulated claims.

  • Compliance, Product Withdrawals, and Recalls

    Because it is a heavily regulated industry, food processors must produce and maintain accurate and complete records. Moreover, because it is a taxed industry, processors are obligated to meet their federal and state taxation responsibilities; failure to do so can jeopardize a processor’s licensure, which directly impacts the ability to remain in business. We provide comprehensive assistance with taxation and record-keeping responsibilities.

  • Government and Public Relations

    Legislative change is rarely easy, but sometimes it is vital to development and growth. We have proven experience in securing needed legislative changes for clients. We work with food industry members to design and implement strategic public relations and legislative lobbying campaigns, including the drafting of proposed legislation and regulatory rulemaking.

  • Enforcement

    The risks of regulatory enforcement in a regulated industry are always substantial. Whether in the form of an audit, subpoena for records, or commencement of formal administrative proceedings, our Food Law Team’s professionals are experienced in protecting clients’ rights and defending their interests against administrative actions at the federal or state levels.

  • Dispute Resolution

    Disputes can arise from any number of sources: government agencies, members of the public, and even other food industry members. Whether those disputes ripen into litigation often depends on the initial actions and reactions of the relevant parties. Our experience proves that skilled communication and strategic planning often can avert litigation, saving all parties time, effort, and expense. Our unique combination of lawyers and former regulators allows us to offer food industry clients unparalleled mediation capabilities that can identify key issues, overcome inter-company obstacles, and resolve disputes before control is ceded from the parties to the courts. When mediation is not an option, our trial lawyers have decades of experience with litigation and arbitration, including distributor termination, intellectual property protection, and product liability matters. 

  • Education and Training

    We use the experience and knowledge of our Food Law Team’s attorneys and former regulators to develop tailored education and training programs that emphasize best practices while encouraging compliance. Whether in the format of a live presentation before an in-house classroom audience or a company-wide online webinar, we can devise programs that add value by increasing employee education about food industry DOs and DON’Ts while reducing both compliance and liability risks.

  • Research and Insights

    Our attorneys and former regulators stay current on food industry developments, and work to identify developing trends ahead of the market curve. That process can be invaluable for processors who seek a competitive and strategic edge. We offer such clients leading-edge industry research and reports that provide critical information and insights needed to make important mid- and long-range business decisions. Our Food Law Team brings complex information together and makes it understandable so our clients can stay ahead of emerging trends and current with constantly changing regulatory landscapes.