Nestle ‘No GMO’ Label Class Action Should Continue, Customers Say

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A Nestle class action lawsuit over genetically modified ingredients should go on, according to the consumers who filed the claim.

The Nestle class action argues that the seal of approval stating “No GMO Ingredients” affixed to the exterior of products is misleading for consumers.

Nestle recently filed a motion to dismiss, a move the plaintiffs say is too early considering the issues the defendants referenced in their motion.

Lead plaintiff Jennifer Latiff alleges that Nestle’s motion to dismiss the GMO label class action lawsuit is based on a mischaracterization of facts.

She contends that the defendant has raised issues not brought up in the initial Nestle GMO label class action and says that at this early stage of the case, the allegations listed in the complaint should be considered accurate.

Latiff states that this move by Nestle is an effort to get an early motion to dismiss, but since discovery has not yet occurred the move is too early.

As one example, Nestle says that their products are USDA approved, but since discovery has not yet revealed which products are approved, discovery should be allowed to continue.

The consumers in the Nestle class action lawsuit argue that Nestle has created their own “No GMO Ingredients” label made to mirror the one used by nonprofit Non-GMO Project.

However, the consumers say that Nestle’s products do not meet the strict standards of that nonprofit group.

As one example, the plaintiffs in the Nestle class action argue that in order to receive a Non-GMO Project seal, products cannot contain any milk from animals fed with GMO foods, but that Nestle’s products violate this.

Despite Nestle’s arguments that their food items were verified by an outside company, the consumers say that this is still misleading since Nestle created it and added it.

The company named by Nestle as verifying the products, the consumers argue, has their own seal that was not added to the items in question.

In the motion to dismiss the Nestle class action lawsuit, the defendants also allege that use of an asterisk directs consumers to another part of the packaging with further information about the verification by that outside company.

The Nestle consumers, however, say this is in small print and that not all of the involved products have such a mark.

The plaintiffs in the Nestle class action lawsuit tried to avoid a move by Nestle to argue that the claims were preempted by federal law on the GMO food labeling issue and instead state that the bulk of the plaintiff’s arguments have to do with misleading labels.

The proposed Class is represented by Michael R. Reese and George V. Granade of Reese LLP and Daniel L. Warshaw and Bobby Pouya of Pearson Simon & Warshaw LLP.

The Nestle No GMO Labeling Class Action Lawsuit is Latiff, et al. v. Nestle USA Inc., Case No. 2:18-cv-06503, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: On Sept. 19, 2019, a federal judge denied Nestle’s bid to have a “no GMO” labeling class action lawsuit dismissed after finding that the plaintiffs sufficiently established their argument that the GMO labeling on Nestle products could indeed mislead customers.