Nature Valley False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit

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Two California mothers have filed a class action lawsuit against General Mills, claiming the company deceptively markets its Nature Valley products as “100% Natural” when they actually contain highly processed ingredients. The class action lawsuit says the wholesome look of Nature Valley’s snack packaging misleads consumers into purchasing a product they think is all-natural.

“I’ve figured out now that something can say its 100 percent natural on the outside and not be 100 percent natural,” one of the mothers said about filing the class action lawsuit. “I want to make sure other people making purchases understand that, too.”

Despite these “natural” claims, Nature Valley snacks contain three “highly processed” ingredients: high fructose corn syrup, high maltose corn syrup and maltodextrin.

The Nature Valley class action lawsuit says the words “natural” and “nature” are used on Nature Valley snack packaging, and that the brand’s website and social media presence are full of images of nature and wildlife.

“General Mills seeks to capitalize on consumers’ preference for all-natural foods and the association between such foods and a wholesome way of life,” according to the class action lawsuit. “Consumers are willing to pay more for natural foods because of this association, as well as the perceived higher quality, health and safety benefits and low impact on the environment associated with products labeled as ‘natural.’”

The Nature Valley class action lawsuit is charging General Mills with false advertising and anticompetition under California law, and is seeking to represent a proposed class of all California consumers who purchased Nature Valley products that contained high fructose corn syrup, high maltose corn syrup and maltodextrin and were labeled “natural” within the past four years.

It is the latest in a serious of class action lawsuits against General Mills over allegedly false labeling claims, including lawsuits claiming its Kix Cereal contains GMOs despite being labeled as containing “All Natural Corn,” and that its Fiber One bars don’t contain fiber found in nature.

The Nature Valley “Natural” Class Action Lawsuit case is Judith Janney, et al. v. General Mills, U.S. District Court, 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.