Nestle Can’t Escape ‘No GMO’ Label Class Action

A federal judge has 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.

The decision to preserve the Nestle GMO class action lawsuit was made by U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II.

Although Nestle argued that its verification “seal” that the products are GMO free was verified by a third party, Judge Wright said that consumers would not necessarily know that from the design of the seal.

The Nestle GMO class action lawsuit was filed by Jennifer Latiff in July 2018. She claimed that Nestle labels its products with a “no GMO ingredients” seal. According to Latiff, this seal is misleading because it resembles the seal of the Non-GMO Project, an independent, third party nonprofit that gives verification to products that allegedly do not contain GMOs.

According to the Nestle GMO labeling class action lawsuit, the seal is misleading to consumers, who might think that it is a seal from the Non-GMO Project. However, the Nestle products allegedly do not meet the qualifications for that seal, as they contain milk from cows fed GMO foods.

Fighting back against allegations that the seal is misleading, Nestle argued that its products are indeed verified as non-GMO by a third party. Nestle filed its move for dismissal in September 2018.

According to Nestle, there is an asterisk on the seal, that allegedly prompts customers to read more information about the verification on other parts of the package. Nestle went on to claim that its “non-GMO” claim was verified by SGS, a third party verifier.

Nestle attempted to use this to argue that customers could not claim that the seal is not a third-party seal and therefore misleading.

In November 2018, the customers fought back in turn against Nestle’s bid to dismiss. The customers claimed that the food company had mischaracterized facts. According to the customers, by basing their objections on facts allegedly not included in the customers’ complaint, the company was actually attempting to gain summary judgment, not a dismissal motion.

Judge Wright said that even if Nestle had gotten third-party verification, the seal itself still could be misleading because the seal “does not reflect the third-party verifier” and could therefore be misleading. Judge Wright pointed out that the customers claimed that the fact that the seal was Nestle-made was misleading, and the judge stated that the seal was indeed Nestle-made.

Do you look for a non-GMO seal on food items you purchase? Share your story with us in the comments below.

Latiff is represented by Michael R. Reese and George Volney Granade of Reese LLP and by Daniel Warshaw and Bobby Pouya of Pearson Simon Simon & Warshaw LLP.

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

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