Pinnacle Foods Class Action Says ‘No Trans Fat’ Products Are Mislabeled

Pinnacle Foods deceptively markets trans fat containing food products with labels that claim they’re free of trans fat, according to a proposed class action lawsuit.

Plaintiff Ian Anderson of California is challenging Pinnacle Foods for labeling several of its food products as containing no trans fat when in fact they contain partially hydrogenated oil, a trans fat-rich ingredient. The alleged mislabeling applies to several different varieties of Swanson Pot Pies, Hungry-Man Frozen Meals and Duncan Hines cake mixes, all of which are Pinnacle Foods products.

“Trans Fats are known carcinogens, are a leading cause of coronary heart disease, negatively affect cholesterol levels, increase the risk of stroke and type II diabetes, cause cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s Disease, and result in adverse effects on fetuses and breastfeeding infants such as impaired growth,” Anderson says.

Because of the detrimental health effects associated with trans fat, Anderson says the inclusion of partially hydrogenated oil in Pinnacle Foods products makes them worthless and unfit for human consumption. The products therefore violate public policy as expressed in federal and California state law, he argues.

There are safe, low-cost and commercially acceptable alternatives to partially hydrogenated oil, Anderson says. Some of Pinnacle Foods competitors use these alternative ingredients in their own products, the lawsuit states.

But Pinnacle Foods continues to use partially hydrogenated oil, allegedly in an attempt to unfairly compete and inflate its own profits at the expense of consumers’ health, he claims.

Anderson says FDA rules in effect since 2006 require food manufacturers to disclose their products’ trans fat content on the label. The FDA generally recommends consumers limit their intake of trans fat, he says.

Without clear and consistent labeling on the products disclosing their trans fat content, Anderson says consumers can’t make informed decisions about their intake of trans fat.

He says that he and proposed Class Members reasonably relied on Pinnacle Foods large-print labeling that told them the products they were buying contained no trans fat. These consumers can’t be expected to sift through the fine-print ingredients list to vet the more prominent claims on the front of the label, he argues.

Anderson seeks to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of all persons in the U.S. who purchased trans fat containing foods made by Pinnacle Foods on or after Nov. 30, 2012. He lists 20 specific varieties of Swanson Pot Pies, Hungry-Man Frozen Meals and Duncan Hines cake mixes in an attachment to his Pinnacle Foods class action lawsuit.

He is asking the court for an injunction that would require Pinnacle Foods to stop producing, marketing or distributing foods that contain partially hydrogenated oil and to recall and destroy all such products already produced. Anderson also seeks an award of damages, restitution and disgorgement of profits, plus court costs and attorneys’ fees.

The plaintiff is represented by Reuben D. Nathan of Nathan & Associates APC and by Ross Cornell of the Law Offices of Ross Cornell APC.

The Pinnacle Foods Trans Fat Class Action Lawsuit is Ian Anderson v. Pinnacle Foods Inc., Case No. 5:16-cv-06871, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On January 30, 2017, the Pinnacle Foods Trans Fat class action lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed.