Whole Foods Juice Allegations to Proceed on “Fresh,” “Unpasteurized” Claims

A New York federal court has dismissed some allegations in a lawsuit alleging Whole Foods Market Group Inc. and Freshbev LLC mislabeled juice products but will allow three claims to proceed. Campbell v. Freshbev LLC, No. 16-7119 (E.D.N.Y., entered July 2, 2018). The plaintiff alleged that the companies mislabeled the juices as unpasteurized, cold-pressed and fresh and that Ripe Craft Juice 12.2 Northeast Blend Cranberry Apple contained more apple juice than cranberry in the blend. The court dismissed the allegation that the “cold-pressed” labels were misleading because the juices are subjected to high-pressure processing, finding that a “reasonable consumer would not mistake the cold-pressed claim to be a claim that pressure was never applied to the juice products.” The court permitted three state-law claims related to the “fresh” labels, the “unpasteurized” label on cranberry juice, and the “Cranberry Apple” juice ingredients to continue but dismissed claims for injunctive relief and fraud.