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Federal Court Dismisses "All Natural" False Advertisement Lawsuit
Practical Law Legal Update 2-547-3465 (Approx. 4 pages)
Federal Court Dismisses "All Natural" False Advertisement Lawsuit
by Practical Law Commercial
| Published on 30 Oct 2013 • USA (National/Federal) |
In Pelayo v. Nestle USA, the US District Court for the Central District of California dismissed a plaintiff's lawsuit against Nestle alleging that Nestle's product labeling for "All Natural" pasta is false, misleading and reasonably likely to deceive consumers.
On October 25, 2013, in Pelayo v. Nestle USA, the US District Court for the Central District of California granted Nestle's motion to dismiss plaintiff's claims that its product labeling was false, misleading and likely to deceive consumers.
Maritza Pelayo sued Nestle USA, Inc. and Nestle Prepared Foods Company Inc. on July 18, 2013 and alleged that the "All Natural" product labeling on the defendants' Buitoni Pastas is false, misleading and reasonably likely to deceive the public because the Buitoni Pastas actually contain at least two ingredients that are unnatural, artificial or synthetic. Pelayo made claims under both the:
- California Unfair Competition Law (UCL), which prohibits any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200).
- California Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), which prohibits unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices (Cal. Civ. Code § 1770).
Both of these claims are governed by the reasonable consumer test, which focuses on whether members of the public are likely to be deceived.
The district court found that Pelayo failed to allege how the term "All Natural" could be deceptive to a consumer acting reasonably under the circumstances and dismissed her claims because:
- Pelayo failed to offer an objective or plausible definition of the phrase "All Natural" (see Plaintiff Failed to Define "All Natural").
- The use of the term "All Natural" is not deceptive in the context in which the defendants used it (see "All Natural" is Not Deceptive in Context).
Plaintiff Failed to Define "All Natural"
The district court found that the plaintiff offered several conflicting definitions of the term "All Natural" and that none of her definitions were applicable to the defendants' products.
The plaintiff first relied on the dictionary definition of "All Natural" and argued that the defendants' product labeling was deceptive because the pasta was not "produced or existing in nature" and "not artificial or manufactured." The district court held that this definition does not apply to the Buitoni Pastas because they are a product manufactured in mass and the reasonable consumer is aware that Buitoni Pastas are not springing fully-formed from nature.
Relying on the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) definition of "artificial," the plaintiff additionally argued that a natural product cannot contain artificial ingredients. The district court rejected this argument because:
- The plaintiff failed to allege that any of the challenged ingredients in Buitoni Pastas are artificial as defined by the FDA.
- The FDA definition of artificial applies only to flavor additives and the plaintiff failed to allege that any of the challenged ingredients in Buitoni Pastas are flavor additives.
Finally, the plaintiff argued that none of the ingredients in a natural product are "synthetic" as that word is defined by the National Organic Program (NOP). The district court found that this definition also does not apply to the defendants' products because:
- Buitoni Pastas are not labeled as organic.
- The challenged ingredients that the plaintiff claims are synthetic under the NOP are expressly permitted in products that are labeled organic.
"All Natural" is Not Deceptive in Context
The district court held that based on the placement of the term "All Natural" on the products, the packaging is not deceptive as a matter of law. The term appears on both the front of the packaging and the back near the ingredients section. The district court found that any ambiguity regarding the definition of "All Natural" with respect to each of the Buitoni Pastas is clarified by the detailed information in the ingredient list, which contains any artificial or synthetic ingredients.