Federal Court Dismisses “100% Natural” Cooking Oil Suit
A federal court in California has dismissed without prejudice a proposed class action alleging that ConAgra Foods misrepresented its Wesson cooking oils as “100% Natural” when they contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients. Briseño v. ConAgra Foods, Inc., No. 11 05379 (C.D. Cal., order entered June 28, 2011). Seeking to certify a nationwide class of consumers, the plaintiff sought declaratory and injunctive relief, compensatory damages, restitution, disgorgement, attorney’s fees, and costs, as well as an order requiring ConAgra to disclose the presence of GM ingredients and/or remove the “100% Natural” marketing claims from its products. Additional details about the complaint appear in Issue 400 of this Update.
Ruling that the complaint failed to satisfy procedural rule requirements, the court found that the plaintiff’s general allegations “about when he purchased the product, where he purchased it, and how he was made aware of ConAgra’s representations about [sic] do not afford ConAgra adequate opportunity to respond.” The court also ruled that ConAgra could not be ordered to disclose GM ingredients because such an order “would impose a requirement that is not identical to federal law,” which thoroughly regulates “the manner in which ingredients much be listed on packages.”
The ruling also took issue with some of the defendant’s arguments for dismissal, noting that the existence of a ConAgra line of products “made entirely from non-bioengineered ingredients suggests that some consumers opt not to buy genetically engineered products, no matter how common they may be.” Thus, the court could not be persuaded “at this stage of the proceedings” that the plaintiff’s claims “are so implausible that they must be dismissed with prejudice.” The plaintiff has 20 days from the date of the order to file an amended complaint.
