Think Twice Before You Make ‘All Natural’ Claims

Originally published on Food Manufacturing (http://www.foodmanufacturing.com)

Food companies should think twice before making "all natural" or "100% natural" claims on their product labels. Numerous lawsuits have been filed in the last 24 months alleging that such claims are misleading, and courts have permitted several suits to go forward when products contain artificial ingredients, preservatives or coloring, or where products or their ingredients have been processed with certain solutions. These lawsuits routinely involve products that contain common ingredients, such as artificial trans fats, high fructose corn syrup and Dutch-process alkalized cocoa.

In many rulings reported so far in these lawsuits, the courts have denied the defendant food companies' motions to dismiss the plaintiffs' claims.  For example, in Astiana v. Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc., the United States District Court for the Northern District of California denied Ben & Jerry's motion to