Califia Farms Class Action Alleges Fake Vanilla In Almondmilk

UPDATE: On Sept. 26, 2020, Top Class Actions viewers started to receive checks in the mail from the Califia non-dairy class action settlement worth as much as $5. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!

Califia Farms has been hit with a class action lawsuit claiming the company made deceptive claims about the vanilla in its almondmilk products.

Lead plaintiff, New York resident Michelle Ann Cicciarella, alleges in her class action lawsuit that she and others were duped into thinking the nondairy beverage contained only real vanilla flavoring.

In fact, says the plaintiff, the product contains vanilla flavoring that comes from tree bark or lignin.

Vanilla is one of the most popular flavors in the United States, alleges the complaint. Real vanilla is made from a tropical orchid. Because of this popularity and scarcity of actual vanilla bean to meet the demand, vanilla flavoring is often imitated by food producers who use other flavorings mixed with vanilla to stretch the ingredient in their products.

However, the plaintiff says that Califia Farms tricks consumers into thinking their products contain only real vanilla.

The products, including regular and unsweetened vanilla almondmilk, come with a picture of a vanilla flower. In addition, nowhere on the label does the company inform consumers that vanilla flavoring, rather than real vanilla, is used in Califia Farms almondmilk.

According to the Califia Farms class action lawsuit, the ingredient list is the only place where the lack of real vanilla is disclosed. The list includes “natural flavors,” however.

“’Natural flavor’ refers to ‘the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive…which contains the flavoring constituents’ from a natural source such as plant material and can refer to combinations of natural flavors,” notes the complaint. “The declaration of ‘natural flavor’ in products represented as characterized by vanilla refers to a combination of flavors from real vanilla and non-vanilla natural sources, such as tree bark or lignin.”

The plaintiff says that she and other consumers would not have purchased or paid so much for the almondmilk, $6.99 per 48 ounce bottle, had they known it was not flavored with real vanilla.

“If the amount of vanilla is insufficient to independently characterize the Products, a non-misleading description and name would be ‘Natural Vanilla Flavored Almondmilk’ or ‘Vanilla Flavored Almondmilk,’ if the ‘natural flavors’ or ‘other natural flavors’ do not purport to simulate vanilla or contain vanillin,” asserts the Califia Farms class action lawsuit.

The plaintiff seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased either the sweetened or unsweetened versions of Califia Farms vanilla almondmilk. The class action lawsuit accuses the company of violating New York business laws, negligent misrepresentation, breach of warranty, and fraud.

The Califia Farms class action lawsuit is seeking damages, as well as a court order stopping the company from its alleged misrepresentation of the vanilla in their product.

Have you been duped by imitation flavors in your products? Tell us about it below!

Cicciarella and the proposed Class are represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC and Michael R. Reese of Reese LLP.

The Califia Farms Almondmilk Class Action Lawsuit is Michelle Ann Cicciarella, et al. v. Califia Farms LLC, Case No. 7:19-cv-08785, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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