On July 25, 2013 the federal jury in Austin, Texas, U.S., ruled that PlastiPure and CertiChem had made false and misleading claims about Tritan®, a resin produced by Eastman Chemical (hereafter referred to as Eastman). Based on an in vitro test, CertiChem found Tritan® to be estrogenically active and PlastiPure used this assertion in their marketing of estrogen free plastics. Eastman argued that this practice amounted to a conflict of interest and trademark infringement. Pointing to a study by Osimitz and colleagues published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Food and Chemical Toxicology and showing Tritan® to be non-estrogenically active, Eastman argued that Tritan® was safe. The research by Osimitz and colleagues was funded by Eastman, but this information was not disclosed in Food and Chemical Toxicology (previously reported on by the FPF). It remains to be illuminated why Food and Chemical Toxicology decided not to disclose this conflict of interest declared by the authors. The Austin court found CertiChem and PlastiPure, who share office space, employees and revenue, guilty of waging unfair competition.
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FPF article “Tritan® lawsuit: Substantiation of alleged conflict of interest”
