This essay describes the recent “Sriracha Apocalypse” dispute between Huy Fong Foods, maker of the popular hot sauce Sriracha, and Irwindale, California. For six months, the world watched as it appeared that Huy Fong’s new plant would be legally shut down by this tiny Los Angeles suburb. Irwindale argued that odors and fumes from the grinding of jalapeño peppers to make Sriracha were creating a public nuisance. This seemed odd, considering that Irwindale had eagerly invited Huy Fong to relocate its chile-grinding operations to their community and that air-quality regulators had not found a problem. The essay highlights three important lessons from this spicy legal drama regarding food and place, the legality of foodways, and California’s role in these contemporary food debates.
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Winter 2015
Research Article|
November 01 2015
Sriracha: Lessons from the Legal Troubles of a Popular Hot Sauce
Ernesto Hernández-López
Ernesto Hernández-López
Chapman University
Ernesto Hernández-López is Professor of Law at the Fowler School of Law at Chapman University in California. He frequently comments on food and law issues, with op-eds in the Chicago Tribune, Orange County Register, and San Diego Union-Tribune. His food and law research examines the regulation of taco trucks and food trucks, nuisance law and food controversies, and NAFTA’s impact on corn diversity in México. He can be contacted at ehernand@chapman.edu.
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Gastronomica (2015) 15 (4): 27–33.
Citation
Ernesto Hernández-López; Sriracha: Lessons from the Legal Troubles of a Popular Hot Sauce. Gastronomica 1 November 2015; 15 (4): 27–33. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/gfc.2015.15.4.27
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