Silk Almondmilk Doesn’t Contain Vanilla, Class Action Says

A recent Silk class action claims that the almondmilk doesn’t actually contain real vanilla as advertised by the company.

Silk almondmilk comes in numerous sizes (8, 12, 32, 64, and 96 ounce cartons) and in several flavors (vanilla, light vanilla, and light vanilla less sugar).

Although these products are advertised with “vanilla” statements on the label, the recent class action claims that Silk almondmilk doesn’t actually contain vanilla.

Vanilla is a highly sought after flavor, but pure vanilla extract is very expensive. To compensate for this, there are countless imitation vanilla products available which allow products to have a vanilla flavor without the pure vanilla price tag. Unfortunately, vanilla is reportedly the subject of “food fraud.” This refers to schemes in which consumers get less than they bargained for.

According to the Silk almondmilk class action, vanilla is considered to be a “high-risk [for food fraud] product because of the multiple market impact factors such as natural disasters in the source regions, unstable production, wide variability of quality and value of vanilla flavorings.”

The Silk class action claims that the almondmilk is fraudulently labeled because the front labels represent that the product’s vanilla flavor is derived exclusively from vanilla plants. This is allegedly false, with the vanilla flavor reportedly coming from “natural flavor” found on the ingredient list.

When natural flavoring is used to reinforce the flavor of a product, products are allegedly required to be labeled as “vanilla with other natural flavors.” Silk almondmilk reportedly fails to comply with these labeling standards.

“Because the Products contain flavor not derived from the characterizing food ingredient of vanilla, their unqualified, prominent and conspicuous representation as ‘Vanilla Almondmilk’ is false, deceptive and misleading,” the Silk class action claims.

Consumers are allegedly misled by these representations, meaning that they may spend their money on the products assuming that they are purchasing almondmilk with authentic vanilla flavoring. Because consumers are not actually purchasing a product with real vanilla, they are reportedly not getting their money’s worth in their purchase.

“The proportion of the characterizing component, vanilla, has a material bearing on price or consumer acceptance of the Products because it is more expensive and desired by consumers,” the Silk almondmilk class action argues. “Had Plaintiff and Class members known the truth about the Products, they would not have bought the Product or would have paid less for it.”

Plaintiffs in the Silk class action seek to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased any Silk vanilla almondmilk products.

The Silk almondmilk class action lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, restitution, disgorgement, monetary damages, treble damages, punitive damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

Have you purchased Silk vanilla almondmilk under the assumption that the products contained real vanilla? Do you think Silk should be ordered to change their labeling to appropriately reflect the flavoring source? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

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

The Silk Almondmilk Class Action Lawsuit is Trust, et al. v. Silk Operating Company LLC, Case No. 7:19-cv-08442, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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