Egg Carton Labeling Petitions Fail to Hatch

Egg cartons in the United States are not required by federal regulations to bear labels which identify the living conditions of the hens.  Two animal rights non-profit organizations and six individuals sought to change that by filing petitions with four different federal agencies under the apparent strategy of not putting all their eggs in one basket.   Each petition sought the promulgation of regulations that would require egg cartons to identify the hens’ living conditions during the production process.  After each agency denied these scattershot efforts, petitioners filed suit in the Northern District of California under the Administrative Procedure Act.  However, this seemingly favorable jurisdiction (often referred to as the “Food Court”) proved to be a tough egg to crack as the district court judge granted summary judgment in favor of each agency.