Steve Toeniskoetter is a food industry litigator and a member of the Faegre Baker Daniels food and agriculture industry team.  He represents clients in the food and agricultural industries in litigation involving food safety, food labeling, general products liability defense, indemnity, breach of contract, consumer fraud and class actions.

Steve also counsels and provides risk management advice to food, feed and dietary supplement industry clients on food labeling and safety matters, including product recalls, regulatory compliance, and regulatory interactions.  He is a frequent writer and speaker on food and agriculture industry issues and is the editor of the firm's Food, Agriculture & Biofuels blog.

Representative Matters

• Represents numerous food and feed industry clients in foodborne illness and recall matters, including personal injury, commercial supply chain litigation, and regulatory interactions.  Clients include leaders in the beef, poultry, egg, nut and sprouts industries.
• Counsels food, feed and dietary supplement companies on managing foodborne illness outbreaks, recalls, and regulatory enforcement actions by FDA and USDA.
• Advises market-leading food, feed and dietary supplement companies in food labeling and marketing review and substantiation, regulatory compliance, and risk management with respect to consumer and competitor actions.
• Represented Fortune 500 food company in nationwide putative class action alleging misleading claims on labels of packaged sandwich meats.  Along with co-defendant, succeeded in obtaining pre-discovery dismissal with prejudice of all claims on grounds of preemption and failure to state a claim.  2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102746 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 12, 2011) and 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13414 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 3, 2012)
• Represented coop in litigation brought by dairy alleging significant damages due to alleged negligent feed formulation. Resulted in very favorable pre-trial settlement.
• Adams, et al. v. United States, DuPont, et al., U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.  Member of defense team securing dismissal of punitive damages and fraud claims brought by over 400 growers of various crops, alleging off-target movement of herbicide applied by the Bureau of Land Management on government-controlled, fire-damaged land to control invasive weed species.
• Represented Fortune 500 food company in litigation against environmental engineering company over environmental permitting for a failed hog production facility.  Resulted in favorable pre-trial settlement.

Pro Bono

• Hennepin County Housing Court Clinic

Professional Associations

• Food and Drug Law Institute
• International Association for Food Protection
• Minnesota Grocers Association
• Minnesota State Bar Association – Food and Drug Law Section
• Minnesota State Bar Association
• American Agricultural Law Association

Presentations

• How Can a Global Commodities Market Ensure Food Safety
  The Soy & Grain Trade Summit, St. Louis (October, 2011)

Legal Updates

• FDA Has No Jurisdiction Here - Or Does It? (co-author)
  Ethanol Producer Magazine (April 2012)
• Food Law: 2012 Legal Forecast (co-author)
  Food and Drink Magazine (Winter 2012)
• The Laws of the Label: If You Can Avoid Making Vague or Misleading Claims on Food Labels, You Might be Able to Avoid a Class Action Lawsuit (co-author)
  Food and Drink Magazine (Fall 2011)
• Food Labeling Remains Ripe for Consumer Fraud Class Actions (co-author)
  ABA Products Liability Newsletter (Summer 2011)
• Food Safety Modernization Act Reaches Farm and Feed (co-author)
  Pork Exec (August 2011)
• Food Safety Regulations Impact Feed and Grain Industry (co-author)
  Feed & Grain (June/July 2011)
• FSMA: New Approaches for Food Safety (co-author)
  Food Safety Magazine (June 2011)
• Food Safety Bill Passes, But Many Questions Remain (co-author)
  National Law Journal (March 2011)
• 2011:  Food Safety and Competition at the Forefront (co-author)
  Pork Exec (January 2011)
• Ready or Not: Federal Menu Labeling Laws Are Now In Effect.  Is Your Company In Compliance? (co-author)
  Food and Drink Magazine (Winter 2010)
• Food Safety in Focus (co-author)
  Food and Drink Magazine (Summer 2010)
• When Labels Fail (co-author)
  Food and Drink Magazine (Spring 2010)
• Complying with Food Registry no Easy Task (co-author)
  Feedstuffs Vol. 81, No. 44 (October, 2009)
• Preventing a Modern Panopticon: Law Enforcement Acquisition of Real-Time Cellular Tracking Data
  Richmond Journal of Law and Technology, Vol. 13, No. 4 (2007)
• Protection of Software Intellectual Property in Europe: An Alternative Sui Generis Approach
  University of San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Bulletin, Vol. 10, No. 2 (2005)