Plum Organics to Change Product Names in Response to CSPI’s Litigation Threat

Baby food manufacturer Plum Organics has agreed to adjust its products’
names to more accurately reflect their contents in light of threatened
litigation from consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest
(CSPI). CSPI contended Plum’s products misleadingly featured names
highlighting their “healthful, high-value ingredients, such as kale,
quinoa, blueberries, and green beans,” but were composed mostly of “less
healthful, less-valuable ingredients, such as apple juice or apple puree.”
Further details about CSPI’s letters to Plum and Gerber appear in Issue
565 of this Update.

“Plum’s label improvements will be of enormous help to parents, who
want to know at a glance what’s in the food they buy for their infants and
toddlers and don’t have time to authenticate information on the front
package by reading through every ingredient and disclosure on the back
of the package,” said CSPI Litigation Director Maia Kats in an October
22, 2015, press release. “By naming its pouched products based on the
predominance of major ingredients, Plum will help push the marketplace
in the right direction. We are pleased with the seriousness and dedication
with which Plum addressed the concerns we brought to them in May. We
hope other baby and toddler food companies follow Plum’s leadership.”

Issue 582