Beyond Meat Inc., producer of plant-based meat substitute products, has been hit with two lawsuits in the same week—one filed by a competitor and another filed by a group of consumers. Roberts v. Beyond Meat Inc., No. 22-2861 (N.D. Ill., E. Div., filed May 31, 2022); Don Lee Farms v. Beyond Meat Inc., No. 22-3751 (C.D. Cal., filed June 2, 2022). The complaints make similar allegations, asserting that Beyond Meat "miscalculates and overstates the Products' protein content" as well as the quality of the protein. "Beyond Meat goes the extra mile to represent that the Products are the 'future of protein' and claims that eating the Products allows consumers to get high-quality protein in their diet while simultaneously helping the environment," the consumer complaint argues. Both complaints describe the process of testing Beyond Meat's products to ascertain the protein content of the products, allegedly finding that most of the products contained…
Category Archives Litigation
Two consumers have filed a putative class action alleging Gorton's Inc. has misled consumers about the environmental impact of the fish it sells. Spindel v. Gorton's Inc., No. 22-10599 (D. Mass., filed April 21, 2022). "Gorton's claims about sustainability lead consumers to believe that the Products are 'sustainably sourced.' Consumer research demonstrates that claims like Gorton's suggest to consumers that the tilapia is sustainably sourced in accordance with high environmental and animal welfare standards," the complaint argues. "In reality, the Products are made from tilapia who are industrially farmed using unsustainable practices that are environmentally destructive and inhumane." The plaintiffs argue that Gorton's sources its tilapia from farms in China using pond aquaculture, "a particularly risky form of fish farming because, among other problems, this method is typically done in regions where tilapia ponds are 'vulnerable to river flooding events,'" creating the risk of releasing the "highly invasive" tilapia into local…
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has given final approval to a $7.5 million settlement in a lawsuit alleging that Godiva Chocolatier Inc.'s packaging misled consumers into believing all of its chocolate was produced in Belgium. Hesse v. Godiva Chocolatier Inc., No. 19-0972 (S.D.N.Y., order entered April 20, 2022). The approval dismisses concerns raised by the attorneys general of six states arguing that elements of the settlement were too favorable to Godiva. Their concerns included a $25 cap on claims with proof of purchase as well as a lack of notice about the settlement on Godiva's website, but the court found the cap to be reasonable and noted that Godiva sent 8.2 million initial emails and 7.7 million reminder emails to customers to provide notice of the settlement.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has found that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting a preliminary injunction blocking a requirement to warn California consumers about the presence of acrylamide in food and beverage products. Cal. Chamber of Com. v. Council for Education and Research on Toxics, No. 19-2019 (9th Cir., entered March 17, 2022). Filed by the California Chamber of Commerce, the suit alleges that requiring the warning for products containing chemicals listed under the state's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop. 65) on products with acrylamide would violate the organization's members' "First Amendment rights to not be compelled to place false and misleading acrylamide warnings on their food products." The district court held that the state did not show the Prop. 65 acrylamide warning was "purely factual and uncontroversial." "[D]ozens of epidemiological studies have failed to tie human cancer to…
An Illinois federal court has dismissed a lawsuit alleging Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Inc. misled consumers by describing its ice cream bars as coated in milk chocolate when the chocolate contained coconut oil. Zurliene v. Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Inc., No. 21-0747 (S.D. Ill., entered March 17, 2022). The complaint, brought under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, asserted that the Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars' label confused the plaintiff because she understood the term "milk chocolate" to describe "a product made from the cacao bean without chocolate substitutes, such as coconut oil." The claim "is preempted by the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA)," the court held. "The FDCA prohibits states from 'directly or indirectly establish[ing] under any authority . . . any requirement for a food which is the subject of a standard of identity . . . that is not identical to such standard identity or…
An Illinois federal court has dismissed a complaint alleging that Kellogg Sales Co. misleads consumers by including more ingredients than just strawberries in the filling of its Strawberry Pop-Tarts. Chiappetta v. Kellogg Sales Co., No. 21-3545 (N.D. Ill., E. Div., entered March 1, 2022). The plaintiff alleged that "the Product packaging misled her and other consumers into believing that the Product’s fruit filling contained 'only strawberries and/or more strawberries than it does' because it bears the word 'Strawberry,' and it depicts half of a fresh strawberry and red fruit filling. [] In reality, though, the Product’s fruit filling contains more than just strawberries; it also contains dried pears, dried apples, and a food dye known as 'red 40,' among other ingredients." The court was unpersuaded by the plaintiff's arguments. "The essence of [the plaintiff's Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act] claim is that the word 'Strawberry,' combined with a…
A plaintiff has filed a putative class action alleging Bimbo Bakehouse LLC misleads consumers by selling The Cheesecake Factory "Our Famous 'Brown Bread' Wheat Sandwich Loaf" as a bread made with primarily whole grains despite containing higher amounts of enriched wheat flour. Hamidani v. Bimbo Bakehouse LLC, No. 22-1026 (N.D. Ill., E. Div., filed February 26, 2022). "Consumers increasingly prefer whole grains to non-whole grains," the complaint asserts. In addition to "important nutrients like fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants," the "bran also gives whole grains their distinctive brown coloring." "Despite the labeling of the Product as 'Brown Bread,' with a dark brown color, and visible pieces of grain, the Product is not made with mainly whole grains," the plaintiff argues. "The ingredient list reveals that the most predominant ingredient is not whole grain flour but 'ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR.' [] While 'WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR' is the third most predominant ingredient, this is…
The Ecological Alliance has reportedly filed a lawsuit in California state court alleging The Kroger Co. failed to warn consumers about the presence of lead in several of its foods. Ecological Alliance LLC v. Kroger Co. (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., no. and filing date unavailable). The complaint alleges that Kroger sells fifteen products that contain lead, including graham crackers, salad kits, bagels and spaghetti. The plaintiff advocacy organization purports to have tested the products and found levels of lead up to 140 times the limit set by California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Prop. 65). Ecological Alliance, which seeks injunctions preventing Kroger from selling lead-contaminated products without a Prop. 65 warning, alleges that it sent violation letters to Kroger and the California attorney general in the summer and fall of 2021, but the government agencies failed to take action against the company.
A consumer has filed a projected class action alleging Mondelez International Inc.'s Green & Black's chocolate packaging misleads as to the product's cacao content. Lee v. Mondelez Int'l Inc., No. 22-1127 (S.D.N.Y., filed February 9, 2022). The labels indicate that the products are 60%, 70% or 85% cacao, but "the back labels uniformly reveal that the principal chocolate ingredient is not cacao but cocoa, which [] is an inferior, highly processed derivative of the cacao bean that has been stripped of the nutritional qualities that make dark chocolate appealing to its consumers." The complaint explains that the ingredient list—"organic bittersweet chocolate (organic chocolate liquor, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic vanilla extract)—makes no "mention of cacao butter, but only of cocoa butter." Further, the front labeling also states that the product is "made from 'the finest Trinitario cacao beans,'" the plaintiff argues, which allegedly implies that the products "retain…
A plaintiff has filed a putative class action alleging that Mead Johnson & Co. markets its Enfamil infant formula products as "milk-based" despite containing corn-syrup solids as the primary ingredient. Martinez v. Mead Johnson & Co. LLC, No. 22-0213 (C.D. Cal., E. Div., filed February 2, 2022). The front-label packaging indicates that the product is a "milk-based powder," the complaint asserts, but "corn syrup solids" is listed as first on the ingredient list on the back of the packaging. The plaintiff argues that added sugars are banned in infant formulas sold in Europe in favor of carbohydrates that come from lactose. "[C]onsumers are being deceived into believing they are receiving a milk-based, healthier formula for their infant when, in reality, they are feeding their baby a product where the primary ingredient is unhealthy corn syrup." The plaintiff seeks damages, restitution, class certification, injunctive relief and attorney's fees for alleged violations of…
