Whole Foods Served Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Fake Vanilla Almond Milk Creamer

Whole Foods Market is in the hot seat over the marketing of its vanilla almond milk creamer in a new class action lawsuit accusing the grocery store of tricking consumers into thinking its creamer is flavored with real vanilla.

Lead plaintiff, Ulana Kekish, says the high-end supermarket is attempting to cash in on buyers’ desires to purchase products made with real ingredients by labeling the products as such, but using artificial flavorings.

The New York resident claims she payed nearly $4, not including tax, for Whole Foods’ 365 Everyday Value organic almond milk coffee creamer on several occasions. She says that she thought she was purchasing a product made with real vanilla flavoring extracted from vanilla beans based on representations on the bottle of creamer.

“Consumers will see ‘vanilla’ and a picture of vanilla and then expect the ‘Naturally Flavored’ means naturally vanilla flavored when this is not true,” states the lawsuit. Whole Foods allegedly uses vanilla flavoring derived from artificial sources that consumers would not consider real vanilla.

Even if a consumer turns the product around to examine the label, they would not know that the creamer contains fake vanilla, Kekish asserts. Indeed, the complaint, filed today in New York federal court, contains a picture of the ingredient list on the creamer, pointing out that the manufacturer refers only to “natural flavors.”

“Defendant’s ‘Natural Flavors’ contains at most a trace of real vanilla with added artificial vanillin yet fails to disclose this separately as either ‘vanillin’ or ‘artificial flavor’ even though it is required to,” contends Kekish.

The Whole Foods fake vanilla class action lawsuit alleges that the artificial ingredients used in the Whole Foods vanilla almond milk creamer give it a “chemical-like” flavor, accusing the manufacturer of fraud, unjust enrichment, and violating state consumer protection laws.

The class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of consumers in New York, Rhode Island, Wyoming, Kansas, Utah, and Ohio who purchased Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value organic almond milk coffee creamer.

Have you purchased Whole Foods Vanilla Almond Milk Creamer? Did you believe it was flavored with real vanilla only? Tell us about your experienece in the comment section below!

The lead plaintiff, Ulana Kekish, and the proposed Class Members are represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates, P.C.

The Whole Foods Vanilla Almond Milk Creamer Class Action Lawsuit is Ulana Kekish v. Whole Foods Market Group, Inc., Case No. 7:21-cv-01562, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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