Courtney Jorstad  |  July 30, 2014

Category: Consumer News

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Kashi, Bear NakedA group of Kashi Co. customers in California, who have filed a false advertising class action lawsuit against the food manufacturer for allegedly labeling its food products “all-natural” even though they include synthetic ingredients, have asked a federal judge to give her final approval to the $5 million settlement the parties have agreed to in a California federal court.

The memorandum for “Final Approval of Class Action Settlement” was filed by Plaintiff Chanee Thurston in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California with U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff.

There are two false advertising class action lawsuits filed against Kashi and Kashi’s Bear Naked Inc. unit “for allegedly misleading consumers by labeling certain of its food products ‘100% Natural’ or ‘100% Pure and Natural,’ when those products contained certain synthetic and artificial ingredients,” the memorandum explains.

The Kashi products in question include synthetic or artificial ingredients such as hexane-processed soy ingredients, glycerin, potassium carbonate, and tocepherols.

Under the terms of the Kashi class action settlement, Bear Naked has said that it will remove both the phrases “100% Natural” and “100% Pure and Natural” statements from the applicable products.

Bear Naked has also “agreed to provide monetary relief to Settlement Class Members residing in California by paying $325,000 to the Settlement Fund to satisfy payments to Settlement Class Members who submit valid claims for products purchased between Sept. 21, 2007 and May 1, 2014” to customers who purchased Bear Naked’s line of granola bars and trail mixes.

“From this fund, Settlement Class Members are able to recover $0.50 per product for every product purchased during the Settlement Class Period, for which they can present written proof of purchase in the form of a receipt or a retail rewards submission, and $0.50 per product, with a maximum recovery of $10 per household, for every product purchased during the settlement class period for which no such proof of purchase is submitted.”

For customers that purchased Kashi products from August 2007 and  the settlement date, they will have access to the $5 million that Kashi and the plaintiffs agreed to, which gives each class member $0.50 per each product with proof of purchase. However, Kashi customers may receive $25 per household without proof of purchase.

Judge Huff already gave preliminary approval to the settlement as well as “conditionally certified” the class in May.

At that time, a notice for the Kashi, Bear Naked class action settlement agreement was put in major newspapers and other publications in California. However, Kashi does not admit any wrong doing.

For detailed instructions about how to file a claim for the Kashi, Bear Naked class action settlement, Top Class Actions has more information here. 

Plaintiffs in both cases are represented by Rosemary M. Rivas of Finkelstein Thompson LLP, Michael D. Braun of Braun Law Group PC and Janet Lindner Spielberg of the Law Office of Janet Lindner Spielberg. Plaintiffs in the Kashi case are also represented by Joseph N. Kravec and Wyatt A. Lison of Feinstein Doyle Payne & Kravec LLC, David E. Bower, Nadeem Faruqi, Antonio Vozzolo and Andrea Clisura of Faruqi & Faruqi LLP, Lionel Z. Glancy, Michael Goldberg and Marc L. Godino of Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP, Jason S. Hartley of Stueve Siefel Hanson LLP, Bruce D. Greenberg of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC and Michael L. Kelly, Behram V. Parekh and Heather M. Petersen of Kirtland & Packard LLP. 

Bear Naked and Kashi are represented by Kenneth K. Lee, Kate T. Spelman, Dean N. Panos and Richard P. Steinken of Jenner & Block LLP.

The Kashi and Bear Naked All National False Advertising Class Action Lawsuits are Astiana et al. v. Kashi Co., Case No. 3:11-cv-01967, and Thurston et al. v. Bear Naked Inc., Case No. 3:11-cv-02890, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: Checks for the Kashi and Bear Naked class action settlements have been mailed! On Jan. 2, 2015, Top Class Actions viewers began reporting they had received checks worth as much as $328.22 from the settlements. Congratulations to everyone who submitted claims and got paid!

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One thought on Kashi Customers Ask For Final Approval of $5M Class Action Settlement

  1. Top Class Actions says:

    UPDATE: Checks for the Kashi and Bear Naked class action settlements have been mailed! On Jan. 2, 2015, Top Class Actions viewers began reporting they had received checks worth as much as $328.22 from the settlements. Congratulations to everyone who submitted claims and got paid!

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