Clif Bar Must Face White Chocolate Labeling Class Action

A federal judge approved an amended complaint alleging that Clif Bar & Co. misled customers in advertising that its energy bars contained white chocolate as opposed to an imitation.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White determined that the customers’ addition of supplemental details have “nudged their [false advertising] claims over the line from possible to plausible.” 

Judge White had previously granted Clif Bar & Co.’s motion to dismiss the white chocolate false advertising class action lawsuit.

He determined that the company had effectively argued that its advertisements accurately conveyed that the white chocolate flavor in the bars came from imitation white chocolate and not real white chocolate. 

However, Judge White agreed to reverse this decision after customers added two key arguments to their claims against Clif Bar & Co. Customers claimed that Clif Bar included the ingredient “natural flavors” in the ingredient list. Allegedly, this was confusing to customers.

The customers say that as white chocolate is itself a natural flavor, customers would believe that the reference to natural flavors would imply the inclusion of white chocolate. 

Additionally, the customers amended their complaint to argue that Clif Bars are sold near comparable products that do contain real white chocolate, which can lead customers into believing that the Clif Bars also contain white chocolate.

According to the judge, these two claims negate Clif Bar & Co.’s argument that customers would not be confused by the labeling, or led to believe that the products do contain white chocolate.

The Clif Bar false advertising class action lawsuit was filed by Jamie Joslin and Courtney Davis.  They aim to represent all customers who purchased one or both of two versions of Clif Bars — the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Bar and Luna White Chocolate Macadamia Bar. 

Joslin and Davis claim that they were financially injured by Clif Bar & Co. because they were misled into purchasing a product that was of lower quality than what was advertised. Allegedly, they were denied the benefit of their bargain because of the company’s misrepresentations.

Joslin and Davis say that they believed the bars included real white chocolate, and only discovered after they purchased them that they were really made of imitation white chocolate. 

Clif Bar & Co. moved to dismiss the Clif Bar fake white chocolate class action lawsuit, and that request was granted on Aug. 26, 2019. The judge determined at that time that Joslin and Davis had not sufficiently established that many customers would be misled by the labeling, and had not sufficiently pled injunctive relief. However, customers fought back against this decision. 

Though Judge White approved the amended version of Joslin and Davis’ fake white chocolate class action lawsuit, the judge stated that the customers had just barely met the requirements for approval.

Have you purchased a white chocolate product, only to find out that it was made with imitation white chocolate? Tell us more.

The Clif Bar customers are represented by C.K. Lee of Lee Litigation Group PLLC and David Makman of the Law Offices of David A. Makman.

The Clif Bar White Chocolate False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Jamie Joslin, et al. v. Clif Bar & Company, Case No. 4:18-cv-04941-JSW, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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