Despite friendly business relations between the U.S. and Canada, a cross-border lawsuit between the two countries’ food industries is coming to a head.
Canada’s Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will hear a case in which Sun-Rype Products Ltd., a Canadian juice and fruit-snack company, claims that Cargill Inc. and Archer Daniels Midland Co., both U.S. producers of high-fructose corn syrup, conspired to fix the price of the sweetener that Sun-Rype and other food companies use in their products.
A consumer representing potential individual claimants who are indirect purchasers of the defendants’ high-fructose corn syrup also is a plaintiff in the case. The consumer and Sun-Rype are seeking class action status.
According to Thomson Reuters, the U.S. is the largest consumer and manufacturer of high-fructose corn syrup, with soft-drink makers as the biggest users of the sweetener.
