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Food, Beverage & Hospitality

Hinkle Law Firm LLC’s food, beverage, and hospitality practice group offers clients significant litigation and consulting experience in the food, beverage, feed, agriculture, retail and hospitality/consumer-oriented service sector.

In the food, beverage, and hospitality industry, we are involved in counseling clients in food and beverage product safety, food safety performance, labeling standards and indications of allergens in food production, distribution and sale of food and beverage, and compliance with applicable industry, state, FDA, USDA and other food safety regulations and enforcement standards, including the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 (“FSMA)” and the Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (“HACCP”) regulations, which set out standards and a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product. Our attorneys have defended food and water borne illness litigation both in individual claims and mass outbreaks involving e-coli, salmonella and listeria as well as numerous diacetyl inhalation/artificial butter flavoring cases.

In addition, we have experience in food and feed ingredient contamination by adulteration or inclusion of unintended foreign substances. Our attorneys also have experience in alleged contamination in municipal water and consumer point of use water purification systems; food, including fruit, vegetables, meat, bakery products; beverage; animal feed; non-FDA approved natural supplements; and, off-label non-medical naturopathic modalities such as chelation therapy, vitamins and other supplements.

We have represented refrigerated and tanker fleet motor carriers in relation to transportation of food, ingredients and beverages. We have also served as national coordinating and trial counsel to The International Pizza Hut Franchise Holders Association and an industry leading flavor manufacturer that serves the food, baking and beverage industry. In addition, our practice group leader is a member of the International Association for Food Safety (IAFS) and the steering committee of the Hospitality Practice Group of ALFA International.

We also have extensive experience in liability claims including wrongful death allegations involving the provision of security, third-party criminal conduct and customer safety involving retailers, travel companies and tour directors, banks, hotels restaurants and bar/taverns owners and operators.

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