Cert. Sought in Crisco “All Natural” Oil Class Action Lawsuit

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Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit alleging that J.M. Smucker Co. of falsely labeled Crisco cooking oils “all natural” even though they contain ingredients derived from genetically modified plants filed a motion for certification of the Class last week.

“Smucker is a sophisticated food marketing company that carefully advertises its products in order to maximize sales,” the motion for certification of the Crisco class action lawsuit says. “The attention paid to advertising includes carefully labeling its products. It labeled the cooking oils as ‘All Natural’ because such labels would drive sales.”

The motion asks the court to certify a Class of California residents who bought Crisco Pure Vegetable Oil or Pure Corn Oil between February 2009 and June 2014, and Crisco Pure Canola Oil or Crisco Natural Blend Oil between June 2010 and June 2014.

“This action should be certified as a class action because the primary issue in this case is whether the Cooking Oils are ‘All Natural,’” explains the plaintiff in her motion for class certification. “Plaintiff contends they are not, while Smucker contends that they are,” explains the plaintiff. “The resolution of this question is the predominating question common to all members of the Class. The determination of this factual issue is ‘apt to drive the resolution of the litigation’ under Plaintiff’s claims.”

“Another predominating issue is the appropriate remedy,” the plaintiff points out in the motion for certification of the Crisco class action lawsuit. “Injunctive relief is inherently class wide relief. Restitution under the UCL [Unfair Competition Law] is class wide because it should be awarded even in the absence of a showing of absent Class member reliance or actual damage.”

Lead plaintiff Diana Parker alleges in the Crisco class action lawsuit, “Although the products are not ‘all natural,’ or natural at all, defendant prominently labels every bottle of the products sold in the United States as ‘all natural.’ Defendant does this because consumers perceive all natural foods as better, healthier and more wholesome.”

The class action lawsuit claims Crisco oils are not all natural for two reasons. “First, the cooking oils are made from genetically modified (‘GM’) crops. GM crops are not naturally occurring but have been genetically manipulated from their natural state. … Second, the cooking oils are so heavily processed that they bear no chemical resemblance to the ingredients from which they were derived.”

A similar Crisco class action lawsuit was filed in February 2013 in New York federal court and includes Crisco Pure Vegetable Oil, Crisco Pure Canola Oil, Crisco Pure Corn Oil and Crisco Natural Blend Oil as products that were allegedly intentionally mislabeled by Smucker. The Crisco class action lawsuit survived dismissal earlier this year in May.

The plaintiff is represented by Timothy G. Blood and Leslie E. Hurst of Blood Hurst & O’Rearden LLC and Theodore W. Maya, Tina Wolfson and Robert Ahdoot of Ahdoot & Wolfson PC.

The Crisco “All Natural” Oil Class Action Lawsuit is Diana Parker, et al. v. J.M. Smucker Co., Case No. 3-13-cv-00690-SC, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division.