Tillamook Class Action Double Dips on Fake Vanilla Claims

Tillamook faces another class action lawsuit, this one alleging the ice cream maker falsely advertises its vanilla flavored ice cream.

Lead plaintiff Justin Clarke claims that of the 51 flavors of ice cream sold by Tillamook, the ones labeled as containing vanilla flavoring are misrepresented in the form of “food fraud.”

“Vanilla is considered 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,’ second only to saffron in price,” notes the Tillamook class action lawsuit

“Its value as the second most expensive flavoring ingredient after saffron has made it a constant target of those seeking to dilute, imitate, adulterate and ‘extend’ the flavor of this tropical orchid.”

Various Tillamook ice creams are sold as containing vanilla, says the plaintiff, and consumers would expect the product to contain this expensive ingredient.

However, according to the class action lawsuit, Tillamook products contain artificial vanilla flavorings and are labeled to trick consumers into thinking they contain more natural vanilla than they actually do.

“For decades, consumers have expected products containing vanilla ice cream to be exclusively flavored by real vanilla derived from the vanilla plant and contain a sufficient amount of vanilla to characterize the food, designated as vanilla flavor or vanilla extract on the ingredient list,” alleges the Tillamook class action lawsuit.

The label on Tillamook’s vanilla ice cream products do not appropriately disclose the nature of the ingredients, claims the plaintiff, pointing out that the Tillamook label uses the term “Natural Vanilla Flavor” and “Natural Flavor” on its ingredient list.

According to the Tillamook class action lawsuit, if one were to compare the label to that of a competitor, they would see that the competitor, in this case Haagen-Dazs, only uses the term “Vanilla Extract” on the ingredient list for its vanilla ice cream.

“Where two similarly labeled products are represented similarly as to quality and/or fill, yet one product contains a greater amount and/or proportion of the characterizing flavor components, relative to the total flavor component, consumers will be deceived and pay more money for the latter product under the false impression that it contains the equivalent amount of said ingredients or components,” alleges the Tillamook class action lawsuit.

In fact, according to the complaint, Tillamook vanilla products are sold at a premium, at approximately $8.79 per 1.5 quart. The plaintiff says that he and other consumers would not have purchased or paid so much for Tillamook vanilla ice cream products had they known they did were not entirely flavored by natural vanilla.

Tillamook produces other dairy products, such as cheese and butter, and the ice cream maker may have reason to scream because this is not the first class action to hit Tillamook recently.

Earlier this year, a group of plaintiffs, along with the Animal Legal Defense Fund, lodged a complaint alleging that the dairy company falsely advertises that it uses milk from small family farms when the majority of the milk is sourced from mega industrial operations.

The most recent Tillamook class action lawsuit seeks to represent a nationwide Class of those who purchased vanilla varieties of its ice cream products.

Do you love Tillamook dairy products? Let us know in the comment section below if you’re surprised by the alleged lack of vanilla in its ice cream. 

The plaintiffs are represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC.

The Tillamook Ice Cream Class Action Lawsuit is Clarke, et al. v. Tillamook County Creamery Association, Case No. 7:19-cv-08207, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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