Whole Foods Class Action Lawsuit Takes Issue with ‘Organic’ Labeling

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An Arkansas woman alleges that a popular specialty food retailer sells various beverages, condiments and soups as being “all natural” or organic in order to force consumers to pay premiums in spite of them not meeting those standards, according to a recently filed Whole Foods mislabeling class action lawsuit.

Connie Stafford is seeking damages on behalf of herself and any Arkansas resident who purchased 365 Everyday Value Cola, 365 Everyday Value Ginger Ale, 365 Everyday Value Root Beer, 365 Everyday Value Organic Tomato Ketchup or 365 Everyday Value Organic Chicken Broth on violations of state consumer protection laws.

Those statutes “recognize that the failure to disclose the presence of risk-increasing nutrients is deceptive because it conveys to consumers the impression that a food makes only positive contributions to a diet, or does not contain any nutrients at levels that raise the risk of diet-related diseases or health-related conditions,” the Whole Foods class action lawsuit contends. Yet the five products above contain phrases like “all natural” and organic.

In spite of that, synthetic ingredients in the company’s store brand cola include tartaric acid and caramel coloring and it and the ginger ale and root beer both contain citric acid and carbon dioxide. According to the class action lawsuit, Whole Foods’ marketing campaign was “designed to increase sales of the products at issue” and a “reasonable person would attach importance to the [mislabeling] … in determining whether to purchase the products at issue.”

The Whole Foods lawsuit is just one of a growing number of actions where a consumer files a class action lawsuit in order to obtain monetary damages and an injunction on allegedly illegal terms on food labels such as “all natural and “organic” all over the country.

One issue that some judges have wrestled with is the idea of agency dominance, meaning that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should have first crack at enforcement. This Whole Foods class action lawsuit, however, alleges mislabeling violation of state statutes only. In fact one of the major complaints regarding the usage of “evaporated cane juice” in place of sugar, is currently under agency review. “Evaporated cane juice” is currently an unapproved ingredient name.

Stafford is represented by class action attorneys Kenneth R. Shemin of Shemin Law Firm PLLC and Thomas P. Thrash of Thrash Law Firm.

The Whole Foods Mislabeling Class Action Lawsuit is Connie Stafford v. Whole Foods Market California Inc., Case No. 14-cv-00420, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.