General Mills Can’t Escape Nature Valley Class Action Lawsuits

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The majority of the claims will stand against General Mills Inc. in three separate class action lawsuits that allege Natural Valley products labeled as “100% Natural” are misleading because the products contain genetically modified organisms and allegedly other unnatural products, according to a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick.

The separate class action lawsuits, the Janney case, the Rojas case, and the Bohac case, were filed against General Mills alleging that various Nature Valley products mislead consumers because they are labeled “100% Natural” or “Natural,” but actually contain highly processed ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, high maltose corn syrup and maltodextrin.

General Mills filed a motion to dismiss the class action lawsuits, arguing that a reasonable consumer would know that the granola bars were not made entirely of natural ingredients and processed industrially. Judge Orrick disagreed with General Mills’ argument. “The front of the Nature Valley products’ packaging prominently displays the term ‘100% Natural’ that could lead a reasonable consumer to believe that the products contain only natural ingredients,” the judge wrote “These representations could easily be interpreted by consumers as a claim that all of the ingredients in the products are natural, which appears to be false because they allegedly contain the unnatural ingredients high fructose corn syrup, high maltose corn syrup, and maltodextrin.” Judge Orrick also pointed out, “Courts have found similar claims challenging the terms ‘all natural’ and ‘natural’ to be sufficient basis for a cause of action under California’s consumer protection laws.”

General Mills also argued that the plaintiffs’ claims were not actionable because the class action lawsuits “have ‘individualized and subjective definitions of the term ‘natural’’ which ‘depend … on their own individual and idiosyncratic expectations for the products.'” Judge Orrick dismissed this argument as well, stating “General Mills asks the Court to look beyond the four corners of the complaint and dismiss it based on allegations made by other plaintiffs in other actions. This is not permitted.”

The judge also ruled General Mills’ “100% Natural” labeling does not constitute “mere puffery.” Rather, “The statements convey the affirmative and specific factual representation that the products are made entirely of natural ingredients. This is consistent with the plaintiffs’ claim that they read the label representations to mean that the products contain no artificial or synthetic ingredients.” The judge also dismissed General Mills claim that the ingredient list should remedy any misconception regarding the “Natural” statement, pointing out the “Ninth Circuit has already rejected the argument that ‘reasonable consumers should be expected to look beyond misleading representations on the front of the box to discover the truth from the ingredient list in small print on the side of the box.'”

The judge trimmed claims based on implied warranty of merchantability and unjust enrichment.

Plaintiffs Judith Janney, and Amy McKendrick are represented by Stephen Gardner of the Center for Science in the Public Interest and Michael R. Reese of Reese Richman LLP.

Plaintiff Gabriel Rojas is represented by Michael R. Reese of Reese Richman LLP and Benjamin M. Lopatin of the Law Offices of Howard W. Rubinstein PA.

Plaintiff Sean Bohac is represented by Michael R. Reese of Reese Richman LLP and Yvette Y. Golan of the Golan Firm.

The Nature Valley Class Action Lawsuits are Gabriel Rojas, et al. v. General Mills Inc., Case No. 3:12-cv-05099, Sean Bohac, et al. v. General Mills Inc., Case No. 3:12-cv-05280, and Judith Janney, et al. v. General Mills, Case No. 3:12-cv-03919, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Nov. 7, 2014, General Mills reportedly agreed to settle four Nature Valley class action lawsuits and will no longer include the allegedly misleading “natural” labels on its products.