Court Narrows Claims in Quaker Oats Labeling Litigation
A federal court in California has granted in part and denied in part the
motion to dismiss filed by Quaker Oats in consolidated cases alleging that the
company falsely advertises products such as granola bars and instant oatmeal
containing small amounts of trans fats as healthy. In re: Quaker Oats Labeling
Litig., No. 10-502 (N.D. Cal., decided March 28, 2012).
According to the court, the plaintiffs’ “primary contention” is that consuming
“any amount of artificial ‘trans fat’ is unhealthy, and that therefore various
aspects of the labeling on Quaker’s products” are false and misleading under
California law. The court earlier determined that some of the claims were
preempted by federal law. Additional information about the litigation appears
in Issue 369 of this Update.
Regarding the plaintiffs’ expanded pleadings, which complain of “various
additional statements and images on Chewy Bars, Instant Oatmeal, and
Oatmeal To Go Bars,” the court refused to dismiss the claims on the ground
that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has “thoroughly evaluated and
rejected the key scientific premises” underlying the plaintiffs’ liability theory.
While Quaker Oats may use such evidence to rebut the plaintiffs’ allegations,
“there is no basis on a motion to dismiss to conclude the FDA is so infallible
that it is wholly implausible for plaintiffs to contend trans fats present a health
risk,” the court said.
Addressing each labeling statement that the plaintiffs alleged were
misleading, the court found some permissible under federal law and thus
claims based on them preempted. Among these statements were (i) “Adds a
dietarily insignificant amount of trans fat”; and (ii) “Heart Healthy” and images
of hearts. The statements and images on which the plaintiffs could bring
claims, according to the court, were (i) “Helps Reduce Cholesterol”; (ii) “All the
nutrition of a bowl of oatmeal”; (iii) images of oats, nuts, fruits, and brown
sugar; and (iv) statements such as “wholesome” and “smart choices made
easy.”
