Almond Breeze Class Action Says Almondmilk Doesn’t Contain Vanilla

A class action lawsuit says that Almond Breeze Almondmilk does not contain natural vanilla, contrary to its advertising.

Plaintiff June Varelli claims Blue Diamond Growers’ Almond Breeze Almondmilk does not contain vanilla as advertised, and is instead flavored with ingredients that imitate vanilla.

Varelli says that Blue Diamond represents the vanilla flavored milk as flavored only with natural vanilla, when really, the ingredient list just mentions “natural flavors.”

The Blue Diamond almondmilk class action lawsuit states that vanilla is one of the most popular and sought-after flavorings.

Additionally, the almondmilk class action lawsuit says that customers prioritize natural vanilla products over imitation vanilla products.

Vanilla flavoring is one of the most expensive flavorings, says the Almond Breeze class action lawsuit. Customers are allegedly willing to pay a premium for vanilla-flavored items, because of vanilla’s popularity and its price.

However, vanilla is also expensive for retailers to put in foods, whereas imitation vanilla flavoring is much less expensive. Allegedly, Blue Diamond used natural flavorings that imitate vanilla in place of actual vanilla, in an effort to cut cost.

Instead of coming clean and telling customers that the products do not contain real vanilla, the company allegedly falsely advertised the products as containing natural vanilla in an effort to entice customers into purchasing the products.

The almondmilk labeling class action lawsuit says that per the rules of food labeling set forth by the federal government, foods should be labeled with the most specific labeling possible. So, though vanilla is a natural flavor, the product should have been labeled with “vanilla” in the ingredient list if the product contained vanilla, says the Blue Diamond class action lawsuit.

Allegedly, Blue Diamond knows that customers seek out natural vanilla flavoring and are willing to pay more for products that contain it. The company reportedly took advantage of this preference in the interest of profit.

Varelli says that she and other customers were financially injured by Blue Diamond’s deception because had they known that the Almond Breeze vanilla flavored almondmilk did not contain real vanilla, they would not have purchased it or would not have paid as much for it as they did.

Do you seek out products that contain natural vanilla flavoring? Tell us your experience in the comments below.

Varelli is represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC, and by Michael R. Reese of Reese LLP.

The Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Class Action Lawsuit is June Varelli v. Blue Diamond Growers, Case No. 1:19-cv-05259-BMC, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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