Federal "Spring Water" Standards Runneth Over State Claims

We often cover cases in which false advertising claims brought under state law are challenged as preempted by a federal regulatory scheme. Poland Spring was a recent target of state law false advertising claims, and successfully obtained the dismissal of those claims on the ground that they were preempted by federal statute. Patane v. Nestle Waters N. Am., 2018 WL 2271161 (D. Conn. May 17, 2018).

In consolidated actions, putative class action plaintiffs alleged that Poland Spring water is not actually 100% "spring water" as defined under the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (FDCA). The Food & Drug Administration's regulations define spring water as "deriv[ing] from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth," with a "natural force causing the water to flow to the surface through a natural orifice." The water may be collected by a tap and with an external hydraulic force, so long as the water has all the physical properties of