Judge Denies Class Action Certification in Breyers Natural Vanilla Ingredient Suit

Breyers Natural Vanilla Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Lisa Vizcarra filed a class action lawsuit against Unilever United States, Inc. 
• Why: The plaintiff alleges Unilever misled consumers as to the source of vanilla in its Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

A California judge has denied class certification in a lawsuit regarding Unilever’s allegedly misleading labeling of Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream as containing vanilla flavor derived exclusively from the vanilla plant.

Unilever sells Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream in cartons, the front label of which “said ‘Natural Vanilla’ in large, light green letters against a black background and contained pictures of two vanilla beans and vanilla flowers and a scoop of the ice cream with noticeable specks purporting to be actual vanilla beans,” according to the class action lawsuit. 

Plaintiff Lisa Vizcarra allegedly relied on these representations when purchasing the ice cream, which led her to believe that the ice cream’s vanilla flavor “would come only from the vanilla plant” even though some of the vanilla flavor is derived from non-vanilla plant sources, the complaint states. 

Vizcarra alleges that she would not have purchased or paid more for Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice 

Cream had she realized that much, if not all, of its vanilla flavor comes from non-vanilla-plants.

Vizcarra brought the class action on her own behalf and on behalf of a proposed class of California consumers who purchased Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream for personal use from April 21, 2016 to the present.Plaintiff Failed To Prove Predominance and Commonality Requirements Necessary for Class Certification

In its denial for class certification, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said Vizcarra failed to prove whether the vanilla representations were likely to deceive reasonable consumers.

“Vizcarra has pointed to no common evidence showing that consumers understood the vanilla representations … as indicating that the ice cream at issue would be flavored exclusively with vanilla from the vanilla plant,” the judge said.

Rogers also said Vizcarra has not shown that the alleged misrepresentations could be deceptive as a matter of law and that her claims and experience are typical of the proposed class. 

However, Vizcarra may amend the bid for certification.

This is not the first time Unilever has faced legal action over its ice cream. 

It settled a class action over its “all natural” ice cream in 2012. In 2014, a New Jersey man filed a false advertising class action lawsuit over the “all natural” label. The company then faced a similar suit in 2019 that alleged its ice cream didn’t contain real vanilla.

Have you purchased Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream with the belief that the vanilla flavor came only from the vanilla plant? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC and Michael R. Reese, Sue J. Nam, and George V. Granade of Reese LLP.

The Breyers Natural Vanilla Class Action Lawsuit is Lisa Vizcarra v. Unilever United States Inc., Case No. 4:20-cv-02777-YGR, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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