General Mills Files Motion to Dismiss Trans Fats Class Action

Last week, General Mills Inc. filed a motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit in California federal court accusing the food company of including partially hydrogenated oils in their baking mixes.

Lead plaintiff Troy Backus alleges in his class action lawsuit that General Mills makes baking mixes that contain partially hydrogenated oil, but that they are marketed as containing no “Trans Fats.”

Backus alleges that partially hydrogenated oil is “a food additive banned in many parts of the world because it contains artificial trans fat, a toxic carcinogen for which there are many safe and commercially acceptable substitutes.” The trans fats class action lawsuit alleges that partially hydrogenated oil “causes cardiovascular heart disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and accelerates cognitive decline in diabetics.” According to the class action lawsuit, “there is ‘no safe level’ of artificial trans fat intake.”

Last Monday, General Mills filed a motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit, claiming that Backus never suffered any harm.

“Although the Complaint identifies certain health conditions that Backus alleges are caused by [partially hydrogenated oils], Backus does not allege that he suffers from any of these conditions—or suffered any other physical injury at all—from consuming PHOs, much less health harm attributable to the small amount of PHOs in the Baking Mixes,” argued General Mills in its motion to dismiss the trans fats class action lawsuit.

“He simply believes that food with PHOs should not be sold at all,” continued General Mills, concluding, “Plaintiff may prefer to avoid PHOs, but that preference is not a concrete injury.”

General Mills also points out that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet banned the ingredients. “The complaint of plaintiff Troy Backus asks for something extraordinary: To make it a violation of state consumer protection laws to sell a product whose labels are accurate and non-misleading, and whose ingredients are lawful,” General Mills wrote in its motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit.

General Mills also argues that the labels for Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix and other products disclose that they contain partially hydrogenated oils. Although New York and California have banned the use of trans fats in restaurants and schools, General Mills argued that the use of partially hydrogenated oils in its products is completely legal under federal law as well as under California’s regulations.

“Backus does not allege General Mills made any misleading label statement that caused him to believe the Baking Mixes were PHO-free,” stated General Mills in its motion. “Nor could he,” they continued. “For example, the label for the Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix, like all other General Mills products, discloses the presence of PHOs, stating ‘Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oil’ in the listing of ingredients in the product.”

Backus is represented by Gregory S. Weston and Paul K. Joseph of the Weston Firm.

The General Mills Trans Fats Class Action Lawsuit is Troy Backus, et al. v. General Mills Inc., et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-01964, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On April 13, 2018, in an effort to dismiss, General Mills recently told a federal court that a trans fat class action lawsuit they face is “unmistakably” preempted.

UPDATE 2: On Dec. 10, 2018, a California federal judge threw out a class action lawsuit alleging that General Mills baking mixes are unsafe because they contain trans fats.