Lanier to lead charge in sugar v. corn syrup suit

Houston trial lawyer Mark Lanier announced Monday that he will now be leading the ongoing federal suit between sugar farmers and corn syrup manufacturers.

The underlying lawsuit, Western Sugar Cooperative v. Archer-Daniels-Midland, was filed in April 2011 in Los Angeles by a group of sugar farmers seeking to stop the corn processors' alleged false advertising.

"We have uncovered evidence in the course of our investigation into the false advertising by the Corn Refiners Association and others, demonstrating that the defendants engaged in false advertising and attempted to confuse the public by attempting to steal the good name of sugar," said Lanier in a March 9 press release.

In May 2012, the FDA rejected a petition by the CRA to change the common name for high fructose corn syrup to "corn sugar."

Lanier has past experiencing working for the Sugar Association, representing thousands of sugar farmers in a deceptive advertising case against the makers of artificial sweeteners, according to the press release.

Lanier was recently named 2015 Trial Lawyer of the Year by The National Trial Lawyers and The Trial Lawyer magazine during the Trial Lawyers Summit in Miami.