A California federal court has granted the plaintiffs’ request to dismiss their entire action with prejudice in a case accusing Gruma Corp. of labeling its Mission Restaurant Style tortilla chips as “all natural” despite containing genetically modified corn. Cox v. Gruma Corp., No. 12-6502 (N.D. Cal., order entered July 25, 2014). The plaintiffs’ stipulation to dismiss did not indicate whether the parties reached a settlement agreement. In the 2012 complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that Gruma violated state consumer protection laws like the Consumer Legal Remedies Act due to its alleged mislabeling; in July 2014, they debated Gruma’s motion to dismiss, in which the corporation argued that a reasonable customer would not have been misled by their labels, the complaint’s claims infringed the First Amendment, the plaintiffs failed to plead their fraud claims with the particularity required, and the court lacked jurisdiction to issue an injunction. Additional information on the case appears…
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According to a putative class action removed to Arkansas federal court, Whole Foods mislabels several of its 365 Everyday Value brand products as “organic” or “all natural” despite containing synthetic ingredients. Stafford v. Whole Foods Market Cal., No. 14-420 (E.D. Ark., removed July 22, 2014). Originally filed in Arkansas state court in June, the complaint accuses several products of mislabeling—for example, the plaintiff says, the 365 Everyday Value soft drink contains carbon dioxide, citric acid, tartaric acid, and caramel coloring despite its “all natural” label. Whole Foods argued to the state court that the potential class contains more than 100 people who seek over $5 million in damages, so the case was removed to federal court. Alleging that Whole Foods violated Arkansas labeling laws and breached warranties, the plaintiff seeks class certification, damages and interest. A similar case filed in New Jersey state court alleges that Breyers, a subsidiary of Unilever…
A California federal court has approved a settlement in a class action alleging that Trader Joe’s labels items with synthetic ingredients as “All Natural.” Larsen v. Trader Joe’s Co., No. 11-5188 (N.D. Cal., order entered July 11, 2014). Trader Joe’s will pay $3.375 million to a settlement fund to compensate class members with a proof of purchase for all products and members without a proof of purchase for up to 10 items, with leftover funds to be distributed as products to class members at retail locations throughout the United States. Plaintiffs’ counsel will receive $950,000 of the fund. In 2011, plaintiffs accused Trader Joe’s of labeling several of its food products as “All Natural” or “100% Natural” despite containing one or more synthetic ingredients, which they alleged constituted fraud and unlawful business practices under federal and California law. The parties attended three mediation sessions supervised by a retired judge, but they…
A federal court in New Jersey has denied without prejudice the motion to certify three classes of multi-state claimants alleging that Beam Global Spirits & Wine falsely markets and sells its “Skinnygirl Margarita” product as “all natural” and a “healthy alternative to other commercial Margarita products.” Stewart v. Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., No. 11-5149 (U.S. Dist. Ct., D.N.J., order entered June 26, 2014). Under Third Circuit Court of Appeals precedent, the court determined that class membership, essentially via affidavit relying on potentially faulty memory, was not sufficiently ascertainable. The plaintiffs will have the opportunity to renew their motion at any appropriate time “specifically taking into account the rulings in Marcus, Hayes, and Carrera.” Among other matters, the court rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that the affidavits could be cross-checked using social media—for example, the “likes” or comments on the defendants’ Skinnygirl Facebook pages, or the companies’ consumer email records—or…
A California federal court has dismissed with prejudice a putative class action alleging that Hain Celestial Group Inc. mislabels its vegetable juice products as “organic” and “raw” one day before a proposed class action was filed against the company in New York federal court alleging similar claims about its baby foods and home care products. Alamilla, et al. v. Hain Celestial Group, Inc., No. 13–5595 (N.D. Cal., order entered July 2, 2014); Segedie v. The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., No. 14–5029 (S.D.N.Y., filed July 3, 2014). The California court dismissed the case based on two articles cited and incorporated into the complaint concluding that “pressurization has ‘little or no effects’ on nutritional and sensory quality aspects of foods,” which contradicted the plaintiffs’ argument that the treatment deprives the juice of nutritional value and that the company’s representations that it does not cook the juice are thus misleading. As a result of…
Monthly magazine Consumer Reports has started a campaign to rid food labels of the word “natural” following a survey that found significant confusion over the term’s meaning. The Consumer Reports National Research Center, which conducts the research published in the magazine, conducted a phone survey of 1,000 people and asked them about their understanding of the use of “natural” on a food label and what they think it should mean. The center reportedly found that “[a]bout two-thirds believe [“natural”] means a processed food has no artificial ingredients, pesticides, or genetically modified organisms, and more than 80 percent believe that it should mean those things.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines suggest that manufacturers can use the term if nothing artificial or synthetic has been added to their products, but the definitions are vague and flexible, Consumer Reports argues. “We want to clean up the green noise in the food label marketplace…
A federal court in California has denied the motion to dismiss filed by The Hain Celestial Group in four consolidated putative class actions alleging that the company deceives consumers by labeling and promoting 10 of its Celestial Seasonings® teas as “100% Natural” when they contain chemical insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. Von Slomski v. The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., No. 13-1757 (C.D. Cal., order entered June 10, 2014). So ruling, the court disagreed that the plaintiffs failed to state a claim or lacked standing, or that the litigation should be dismissed under the primary jurisdiction doctrine. The company challenged the Eurofins test on which the plaintiffs rely to support their claim that the teas contain “significant levels” of man-made, chemical pesticides. According to the defendant, the plaintiffs failed to provide details about the testing, and the study “was published by ‘an admittedly biased short-seller that admits that it issued the report…
A California federal court has certified a class of California consumers who allege that Blue Diamond Growers’ almond milk is mislabeled as “All Natural” and hides its added sugar content by listing “evaporated cane juice” (ECJ) on its label instead. Werdebaugh v. Blue Diamond Growers, No. 5:12-cv-2724 (N.D. Cal., order entered May 23, 2014). The court granted plaintiff Chris Werdebaugh’s motion for certification of the California class but rejected his request for nationwide certification because he had not shown that California had any interest that outweighed the interests of other states in determining their own policies. Werdebaugh argued that the “All Natural” label on Blue Diamond’s almond milk is misleading because the product contains chemical preservatives, synthetic chemicals and added artificial color, and the label also lists ECJ as an ingredient when sugar is the common name as required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The court ruled…
A federal court in California has granted in part and denied in part the motion to dismiss in a putative class action alleging that Whole Foods Market Group misleads consumers by labeling certain food products containing sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP) as “All Natural.” Garrison v. Whole Foods Mkt. Group, Inc., No. 13-5222 (N.D. Cal., order entered June 2, 2014). Additional information about the complaint appears in Issue 504 of this Update. The court ruled that (i) the claims were not preempted under federal law; (ii) the primary jurisdiction doctrine did not apply (given the lack of a clear indication that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration intended to revisit its decision not to adopt formal regulations as to the meaning of “natural”); (iii) the plaintiffs sufficiently pleaded a cause of action (with the exception of allegations pertaining to marketing in various media and advertising—these claims were dismissed with leave to amend);…
A federal court in California has certified a nationwide class of consumers as to the injunctive relief requested in litigation against Dole Packaged Foods regarding its labeling claims that certain fruit products are “All Natural” despite the presence of ascorbic acid and citric acid, but limited the damages class to California consumers and the number of products at issue. Brazil v. Dole Packaged Foods, LLC, No. 12-1831 (U.S. Dist. Ct., N.D. Cal., San Jose Div., order entered may 30, 2014). Dismissed with prejudice were Dole products and label statements in the second amended complaint for which the named plaintiff did not move for class certification. An earlier ruling narrowing the claims is discussed in Issue 498 of this Update. Among other matters, the court disagreed with Dole’s argument that the class could not be ascertained because company records identifying purchasers or the products they purchased do not exist and further…
