Beverage group sues Paxton over new Texas warning label law

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The American Beverage Association, along with a few other groups, is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, alleging that the state’s new law requiring “false and misleading” warning labels violates the U.S. Constitution.

Aiming to “make Texas healthy again,” Texas enacted Senate Bill 25, which relates to “health and nutrition standards to promote healthy living.” 

ABA asserts Section 9 of SB 25 undermines the FDA’s uniform regulatory regime by requiring conspicuous “warning” labels on products containing any of 44 listed ingredients, and also requiring those same warnings to be posted online. 

“The safety of the foods and beverages that grace America’s family tables is too important to outsource to foreign governments,” the lawsuit states. “Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Section 9 of … Texas Senate Bill 25 does. All agree that improving safety and transparency are vitally important goals. 

“Section 9, however, attempts to accomplish these worthy goals in ways the U.S. Constitution simply does not permit by requiring food and beverage manufacturers to include false and misleading warning labels on products containing any of 44 listed ingredients.”

The plaintiffs argue that the warnings don’t convey determinations made by any American based health authority, but instead compel a message about purported policy judgments from foreign governments, such as the European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. 

According to the suit, Section 9’s warning requirement compels businesses to tell Texas consumers that the enumerated ingredients are “not recommended for human consumption” abroad, even when that isn’t true. 

“The foreign governments listed in Section 9 don’t specifically categorize ingredients as ‘not recommended for human consumption,’” the suit states. “In many instances, all the foreign governments cited in Section 9 affirmatively allow the use of ingredients covered by Section 9. In others, some of the foreign governments Section 9 points to do. 

“That makes the warning label that Section 9 requires false and misleading. Unsurprisingly, then, Section 9’s warning requirement is unconstitutional several times over.” 

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 5 in the U.S. District Court for Western Texas, Waco Division. 

The other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the Consumer Brands Association, National Confectioners Association, and FMI - The Food Industry Association. 

The Houston law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher represents them. 

Case No. 6:25-cv-00566-ADA-DTG