Sanofi Consumer Healthcare and Chattem, Inc. make products under the Dulcolax brand that are marketed as “natural” or “work[ing] naturally.” But the complaint for this class action alleges that the products contain synthetic ingredients and that the advertising and marketing campaigns are therefore “false, deceptive, and misleading.”
The class for this action is all consumers who bought the products in New York state between January 21, 2016 and the date of final judgment in this case.
The complaint alleges that the companies make, sell, and distribute the Dulcolax products with a marketing and advertising campaign that is likely to attract health-conscious consumers. Consumers prefer, and will pay more for, products that are natural, the complaint claims, because they believe that natural products are safer and healthier than those that contain synthetics.
Page 3 of the complaint shows a package of Dulcolax Soft Chews Mixed Berry. Printed prominently near the middle of the label are the words “Works Naturally with your Body.” However, the complaint claims that the product contains the synthetic ingredients FD&C red no. 40, glycerin, and soy lethicin.
Page 4 shows a bottle of Dulcolax Liquid Cherry. This has the same words, “Works Naturally with your Body” near the center of its front label. However, the complaint claims that the product contains the synthetic ingredients anhydrous citric acid, D&C red no. 28, glycerin, sorbitol, and xanthan gum.
The complaint expands on each of these ingredients. For example, while citric acid may sound natural, the complaint alleges that it is no longer extracted from the citrus fruit but industrially manufactured by fermenting certain genetically mutant strains of the black mold fungus, Aspergillus niger.
The red dyes are synthetic additives or food dyes.
Glycerin is a texturizer or thickening agent that the complaint claims is made through complex processing: “It requires multiple steps in an industrial environment to create” so that “it cannot be described as ‘natural.’”
Sorbitol, it claims, is a kind of sugar alcohol.
Soy lecithin is “heavily processed,” it alleges, “refined through unnatural processes using chemical additives[,]” and “refined through the use of a volatile, synthetic solvent called hexane, which is processed from petroleum.”
Xanthan gum is listed as a synthetic ingredient by federal regulations, the complaint claims.
One of the requirements for a product to be “natural,” under a US Department of Agriculture Draft Guidance Decision Tree for Classification of Materials as Synthetic or Nonsynthetic (Natural), the complaint alleges, is that “it has not undergone a chemical change … so tha tit is chemically or structurally different than how it naturally occurs in the source material.”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Dulcolax “Natural” Products Contain Synthetics New York Complaint
January 21, 2022
Sanofi Consumer Healthcare and Chattem, Inc. make products under the Dulcolax brand that are marketed as “natural” or “work[ing] naturally.” But the complaint for this class action alleges that the products contain synthetic ingredients and that the advertising and marketing campaigns are therefore “false, deceptive, and misleading.”
Dulcolax “Natural” Products Contain Synthetics New York ComplaintCase Event History
Dulcolax “Natural” Products Contain Synthetics New York Complaint
January 21, 2022
Sanofi Consumer Healthcare and Chattem, Inc. make products under the Dulcolax brand that are marketed as “natural” or “work[ing] naturally.” But the complaint for this class action alleges that the products contain synthetic ingredients and that the advertising and marketing campaigns are therefore “false, deceptive, and misleading.”
Dulcolax “Natural” Products Contain Synthetics New York Complaint