Consumers nowadays tend to avoid artificial flavors, making accurate labeling important. This class action sues Conagra Brands, Inc. for their Bigs brand sunflower seeds with a Chile Limón flavor, alleging that the front label of the product does not reveal that it contains an artificial flavor in the form of DL-malic acid.
Two classes have been proposed for this action:
- The Wisconsin and Illinois Class is all persons in Wisconsin and Illinois who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
- The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Class is all persons in Alabama, New Mexico, Mississippi, Utah, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
The complaint spends some time supporting its contention that consumers care whether flavors are artificial or natural. Among other things, it alleges, “Recent surveys report that over eighty percent of Americans believe that foods with artificial flavor are less healthy than those with only natural flavors.”
The front page of the complaint shows an image of the Bigs bag, bearing the words “Chile Limón” in the second-largest font (after the brand name “Bigs”), followed by a word in a smaller font that is not fully legible but that the complaint identifies as “Flavor.” The product front also shows an image of a cut lime and what is likely to be a bottle of hot sauce, all on a red background that is reminiscent of chili peppers.
The complaint alleges, “Federal and identical state regulations require the Product to disclose the source of its chili pepper and lime flavor on the front label, i.e., from chili peppers and lime, natural sources other than chili peppers and lime, natural chili pepper and lime flavors, and/or artificial, synthetic sources.”
The complaint calls attention to the identification of the flavor on the bag, alleging that because the front of the bag “represent[s] the Product as having a ‘Chile Limón Flavor’ with ‘Flavor’ significantly smaller than ‘Chile’ and ‘Limón,’ and in a different font, consumers sill expect all of the taste will come from the characterizing ingredients of chili peppers and lime.”
However, a reproduction of the ingredient label on page 7 of the complaint shows that the product contains not just “Natural Flavors” but also “Malic Acid.”
However, there are two isomers of malic acid, L-malic acid and D-malic acid. L-malic acid, the complaint alleges, while D-malic acid “is synthetically produced from petroleum in a high-pressure, high-temperature, catalytic process.”
“Based on laboratory analysis,” the complaint alleges, the malic acid in the product “is artificial DL-Malic Acid and not natural L-Malic Acid.” The complaint therefore alleges that, according to federal regulations, the words “Chile Limón” on the front of the product are required to be accompanied by a term like “artificial” or “artificially flavored.”
The complaint offers two designations that claims would be correct: “Artificial Chile Limón Flavored” or “Artificially Flavored Chile Limón.”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Bigs Chile Limón Flavor Sunflower Seeds Labeling Complaint
September 4, 2022
Consumers nowadays tend to avoid artificial flavors, making accurate labeling important. This class action sues Conagra Brands, Inc. for their Bigs brand sunflower seeds with a Chile Limón flavor, alleging that the front label of the product does not reveal that it contains an artificial flavor in the form of DL-malic acid.
Bigs Chile Limón Flavor Sunflower Seeds Labeling ComplaintCase Event History
Bigs Chile Limón Flavor Sunflower Seeds Labeling Complaint
September 4, 2022
Consumers nowadays tend to avoid artificial flavors, making accurate labeling important. This class action sues Conagra Brands, Inc. for their Bigs brand sunflower seeds with a Chile Limón flavor, alleging that the front label of the product does not reveal that it contains an artificial flavor in the form of DL-malic acid.
Bigs Chile Limón Flavor Sunflower Seeds Labeling Complaint