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Food, Beverages & Consumer Packaged Goods

As long-time leaders in the cannabis and hemp legal space, Vicente LLP has considerable experience advising clients on the unique and complex regulatory issues associated with infused food and beverages, dietary supplements, functional foods, cosmetics, and other consumer packaged goods (CPG). We also provide regulatory compliance guidance on non-cannabis ingredients, including adaptogens, functional mushrooms, and other novel and innovative food ingredients.

Supported by our corporate, regulatory, and compliance teams, CPG and functional food companies of all stages can rely on Vicente. We can help you set up your company, raise capital, get licensed, set up contracts and agreements, maintain regulatory compliance, and engage in M&A transactions.   

We have also built strategic relationships with firms that have extensive experience navigating the complex federal and state regulatory landscapes surrounding functional foods, beverages, dietary supplements, and other consumer packaged goods. Most notably, we have an alliance with Kleinfeld, Kaplan & Becker LLP, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that concentrates on products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as the laws governing the advertising of such products. See the "Services" tab below for more details.   

Services

Select a category below to learn more about our food, beverage, and consumer packaged good services.

  • Formations
  • Financings and investments
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Liquor licensing
  • General counsel support, including employment agreements and equity incentive plans
  • Industry contracts, including supply, manufacturing, distribution, co-packing, and brokerage contracts
  • Other commercial contracts including lease agreements, privacy policies, and terms of service
  • Assistance with trademark and other IP protection
  • Compliance with respect to preventive controls and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP); food safety, recalls and reporting; ingredient clearance; labeling and advertising; and organic products
  • Compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), and Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA)
  • Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) and New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) submissions
  • FDA packaging and labeling
  • Advise on a state-by-state legal strategy for marketing and advertising in compliance with local jurisdictions and state laws
  • Advise and formulate compliant and creative advertising and marketing strategy
  • Provide advertising compliance checklists federal and state compliance
  • Analysis of media risks for advertising and producing cannabis-related content, together with a “risk continuum” evaluation and best practices to mitigate risk
  • Social media considerations for consumer product advertising and marketing
  • FTC disclosure requirements for expert endorsements and “influencers,” including best practices for using social media for hemp-derived products; contract agreements between company and influencer/endorser

Experience

  • Represented hundreds of cannabis companies involved with infused food & beverages, cosmetic products, and cannabis related consumer goods
  • Represented multiple cannabis beverage companies in their national expansion as well as their formation and capital raising efforts
  • Represented an adaptogenic mushroom company in connection with its formation and financing efforts
  • Advised multiple cosmetic companies on the legal ramifications of including hemp derivatives, including CBD, in cosmetic products
  • Advised multiple dietary supplement companies on the legal ramifications of selling products that include CBD
  • Represented an acquiror evaluating the acquisition of the assets of a diaper company

People

Junior Associate Attorney

Director of Licensing – Northeast Region

Director of Regulatory Compliance

Vice President of Eastern Markets and Business Intelligence

News

Minnesota Cannabis Legalization Bill Amended to Lessen Potential Impact on Breweries Manufacturing THC Beverages

By Krissy Atterholt, Jason Tarasek
Mar 22, 2023

Microbreweries and cideries have become Minnesota THC beverage market leaders in the wake of 2022's hemp-derived THC product bill. The current cannabis legalization bill would have made things difficult for these producers, but it was recently amended so that lower-potency hemp edibles manufacturers could produce lower-potency hemp edibles at the same facility where food (such as beer or cider) is manufactured.

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