Trident Original Flavor Gum Source of Flavoring Class Action

Federal law and regulations specify how labeling must describe the flavoring of foods, depending on its sources. The complaint for this class action takes issue with a Trident chewing gum, described as “Original Flavor” on the label, alleging that the company responsible for the gum, Mondelez Global, LLC misleads consumers by not correctly labeling the product.

Two classes have been defined for this action:

• The Illinois Class is all persons in Illinois who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
• The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Class is all persons in South Dakota, South Carolina, Kentucky, Utah, Idaho, Alaska, Virginia, and Wyoming who about the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.

Consumers these days, the complaint alleges, prefer flavors that come from fresh, natural ingredients—for example, in the case of mint flavor, flavoring from mint oil, mint extract, or mint leaves. Their second preference is flavor from natural sources, it says, and the least favorite is synthetic or artificial flavoring.

The complaint alleges that regulations require that when labels or advertising make “direct or indirect representations with respect to [a] primary recognizable flavor(s), by word, vignette, e.g., depiction of a fruit, or other means,” the label must reveal the source of the flavor to consumers.

This means, the complaint alleges, that a mint product’s front label must tell the consumer whether the mint taste comes from mint ingredients, other natural flavors, or flavorings that are not natural.

Page 1 of the complaint shows an image of the Trident gum package, with a close-up of part of that package on page 3. The package is mostly blue, the front label describes the flavor as “Original Flavor” and “Refreshingly Long-Lasting,” and partially under the Trident name is a blue leaf that strongly resembles a mint leaf.

The complaint alleges that “mint is the most popular flavor of gum because it is associated with freshness.” While the package does not specifically state that the flavor is mint, the complaint alleges that “it is described in materials provided to third parties by [Mondelez] as a combination of peppermint and cinnamon flavor.”

The complaint alleges that consumers will read the flavor as mint “and not, for example, banana…” Furthermore, the complaint claims, because the packaging does not show any qualifying terms, such as “flavored,” it leads consumers to believe the flavoring is from real mint or peppermint ingredients.

But the complaint reproduces the product’s ingredient panel, which lists no mint or peppermint ingredients but “Natural and Artificial Flavor[.]”

The complaint contends, “According to flavor expert Bob Holmes, because the ingredient list fails to identify any form of mint or peppermint ingredient, i.e., peppermint oil or peppermint extract, it means that any mint or peppermint, if present, is at trace of de minimis levels … and cannot provide ‘all the flavor depth’ of mint or peppermint.”

The labeling is therefore misleading, the complaint claims, making the product worth less than what consumers must pay for it.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels, Does Not Admit to Artificial Flavor on Labels, Mislabeled