Judge Dismisses Chobani Greek Yogurt Labeling Class Action Lawsuit

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A California federal judge has dismissed a food labeling class action lawsuit against Chobani Inc., just two months after she vacated a previous decision dismissing only part of the case.

Plaintiffs Katie Kane, Arianna Rosales and Darla Booth initially filed the Chobani yogurt class action lawsuit in May 2012, alleging that Chobani deceptively listed the ingredients on its yogurt product labels. The plaintiffs claimed that the Chobani Greek Yogurt labels contain false and misleading claims about the yogurt’s nutritional benefits by claiming that the products contain “All Natural Ingredients,” “No artificial flavors” and “evaporated cane juice.” In reality, they argued, the products contain artificial ingredients, coloring, flavoring and chemical preservatives.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh granted Chobani’s motion to reconsider the previous ruling and its motion to dismiss all of the plaintiffs’ claims. On July 12, Judge Koh dismissed some of the plaintiffs’ claims, but she allowed the claim that Chobani deceived consumers by listing “evaporated cane juice” as an ingredient on the label to disguise the fact that the yogurt contained sugar.

Two weeks later, during a hearing on a motion to disqualify the plaintiffs’ counsel, the plaintiffs agreed that Chobani should be able to move for reconsideration of Judge Koh’s ruling on the evaporated cane juice allegations. Judge Koh subsequently allowed Chobani to make a bid for reconsideration of the evaporated cane juice charges. She also allowed the plaintiffs to file a motion requesting leave to file their own bid for reconsideration, but she rejected their motion on August 14, finding that there was no basis for her to reconsider her application of California’s consumer protection law.

In her September 19 order, Judge Koh found that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring evaporated cane juice claims. While they had initially alleged that the term “evaporated cane juice” could be viewed as healthier than refined sugars, they disavowed that theory during the hearing at the end of July when they argued that they believed evaporated cane juice to be “some type of ingredient that was healthier than sugar.”

“For one thing, it is just a restatement of the theory that plaintiffs believed the yogurts contained only ‘natural sugars from milk and fruit,’ which the court has already concluded is not plausible,” Judge Koh said in her decision to dismiss the Chobani yogurt class action lawsuit. “In addition, this ‘some type of healthier ingredient’ theory of reliance does not appear in the second amended complaint.”

Judge Koh again dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims that the Chobani yogurt labels misled consumers into believing that the products did not contain added sugar, finding that Chobani had included juice concentrate on the label. According to Judge Koh, the plaintiffs’ arguments failed because they claimed they had never viewed the no added sugar statements on the Chobani website.

Judge Koh allowed the plaintiffs to re-plead their evaporated cane juice, “all natural” and added sugar allegations. However, the unjust enrichment and warranty claims cannot be re-pled because California law does not recognize unjust enrichment claims and the warranty laws cited in the class action lawsuit do not cover food products that cost less than $5.

The plaintiffs are represented by Darren Brown of Provost Umphfrey Law Firm LLP and Pierce Gore of Pratt & Associates.

The Chobani Greek Yogurt Class Action Lawsuit is Kane et al. v. Chobani Inc., Case No. 5:12-cv-02425, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: Plaintiffs filed a third amended class action lawsuit against Chobani, but the case was struck down by Judge Koh on Feb. 20, 2014. The plaintiffs will not be allowed to refile.

UPDATE 2: On Mar. 16, 2016, after their Chobani class action lawsuit was dismissed, three plaintiffs took their claim to the Ninth Circuit to attempt to revive allegations that the yogurt-maker deceives consumers by mislabeling ingredients.