Nature Made “Extra Strength” Vitamin C Tablets Same as Regular Class Action

Pharmavite, LLC makes vitamins and other supplements. One of its products is Nature Made Extra Strength Chewable Vitamin C. But the complaint for this class action alleges that the “Extra Strength” designation is deceptive because the tablets contain exactly the same amount of vitamin C as the regular-strength tablets.

Two classes have been proposed for this action:

• The Nationwide Class is all residents of the US who bought either of the products, for personal, family, or household consumption and not for resale, within the applicable statute of limitations period.
• For claims based on state consumer protection laws, the California Class is all residents of California who bought either of the products, for personal, family, or household consumption and not for resale, within the applicable statute of limitations period.

Page 4 of the complaint shows images of the front and back of the Extra Strength product; the following page shows images of the front and back of the regular product. Prominently on the front of the Extra Strength product, in the center of the front label are the words, “1000 mg per serving.” In the same place on the front label of the regular product are the words, “500 mg per serving.”

The complaint alleges that this makes it seem as though each chewable tablet in the Extra Strength product has twice as much vitamin C as each one in the regular product. But this is not true. The complaint points out that the back label of the Extra Strength product says that the serving size consumers must take to get the purported 1000 mg benefit of the product is two tablets; and the serving size for the 500 mg benefit of the regular product is only one tablet.

According to the complaint, then, both products contain only 500 mg of vitamin C per tablet, and the “extra strength” in the dosage comes only from taking two tablets instead of one. The complaint alleges that the Extra Strength product is therefore “falsely and deceptively labeled.”

This is a problem, the complaint alleges, because consumers actually pay a higher price for the Extra Strength product. The complaint displays a chart of the prices for the regular and Extra Strength product at various online outlets, working out the per-tablet price and calculating the extra amount consumers are charged for the latter. According to this chart, consumers are being made to pay anywhere from $1.80 to $2.70 more for the same amount of vitamin C in the so-called Extra Strength product.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Contains Too Little of Featured Ingredients, Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels