The Bountiful Company’s subsidiary Nature’s Bounty, Inc. makes fish oil supplements under the name Nature’s Bounty 1400 mg Fish Oil that purports to contain 647 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 253 mg of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). But the complaint for this class action alleges that the product “is not fish oil, nor does it contain a single milligram of EPA or DHA.”
The National Class for this action is all persons in the US who bought the class product in the US during the maximum time allowable under the statute of limitations. A New York Class has also been defined for persons in New York who bought the products in New York during the same period.
Consumers recognize fish as a healthy food. The complaint claims, “Fish is a major source of healthful long-chain [O]mega-3 fats and [is] rich in nutrients such as vitamin D and selenium, high in protein, and low in saturated fat. Numerous studies have shown that consuming fatty fish 2-3 times a week reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, as well as provides a myriad of additional health benefits.”
However, most Americans do not or cannot consume fish this often. Because of this, fish oil has become a popular supplement.
The product at issue in this case represents itself as fish oil as well, but the complaint alleges that this is not true: “What was once a low-grade oil derived from fish offal[] has been subject to a chemical process by which its molecular structure and constituent parts have been substantially transformed and irrevocably altered into a synthesized product that does not otherwise exist in fish, or nature.”
The complaint alleges that an industrial solvent is added to the fish oil, “in order to break its natural triglyceride bonds and cleave the glycerol backbone from fatty acid molecules.” This process is called trans-esterification.
Then ethanol is added, and the free fatty acids bonds to it to create fatty acid ethyl esters. “Fish oil is stripped of hundreds of its constituent sub ingredients, and the Omega-3s, which include DHA and EPA, are converted into ethyl esters.” The new Omega-3s “are different molecules than the Omega-3s which exist naturally in fish oil. The new chemical by-products are universally recognized by their common or usual name—Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters (‘FAEE’).”
After this process, the complaint alleges, the oil has been changed into an FAEE. “It is no longer fish oil and cannot be so named or labeled. To do so, as NBI has done, is false, misleading, deceptive, unlawful and perpetuates an actionable fraud on the consuming public.”
The counts include breach of express warranty, violations of New York’s General Business Law, and something called restitution based on quasi-contract.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Nature’s Bounty 1400 mg “Fish Oil” Is Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters Complaint
September 24, 2021
The Bountiful Company’s subsidiary Nature’s Bounty, Inc. makes fish oil supplements under the name Nature’s Bounty 1400 mg Fish Oil that purports to contain 647 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 253 mg of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). But the complaint for this class action alleges that the product “is not fish oil, nor does it contain a single milligram of EPA or DHA.”
Nature’s Bounty 1400 mg “Fish Oil” Is Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters ComplaintCase Event History
Nature’s Bounty 1400 mg “Fish Oil” Is Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters Complaint
September 24, 2021
The Bountiful Company’s subsidiary Nature’s Bounty, Inc. makes fish oil supplements under the name Nature’s Bounty 1400 mg Fish Oil that purports to contain 647 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 253 mg of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). But the complaint for this class action alleges that the product “is not fish oil, nor does it contain a single milligram of EPA or DHA.”
Nature’s Bounty 1400 mg “Fish Oil” Is Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters Complaint