Wegmans class action over falsely advertised vanilla cake mix dismissed

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Wegmans cake mix class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: A New York federal judge dismissed an amended class action lawsuit filed by Valerie Santiful and Tameka Rhoden against Wegmans Food Markets Inc. 
• Why: U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Roman ruled Santiful and Rhoden failed to plausibly allege that a Wegmans cake mix contained an artificial vanilla substitute in their claims the product was falsely advertised as “all natural.”
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.

A federal judge in New York dismissed an amended class action lawsuit accusing Wegmans Food Markets of falsely advertising that its Wegmans Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix is “all-natural.” 

U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Roman ruled that the class action lawsuit, filed by plaintiffs Valerie Santiful and Tameka Rhoden, fails to plausibly allege that the Wegmans cake mix product contains an artificial vanilla substitute. 

Santiful and Tameka originally claimed consumers expected the Wegmans cake mix to contain genuine vanilla extract; however, their revised complaint solely alleged that the product’s front labeling misled consumers to believe it contained no artificial flavors. 

Judge Roman, however, ruled Santiful and Tameka needed to show, and ultimately failed to do so, the Wegmans cake mix contained ethyl vanillin and that it was used as an artificial flavor. 

Lab analysis results ‘interpreted solely’ by plaintiff’s attorneys, judge rules

Santiful and Tameka only included the results of a laboratory analysis that Judge Roman says were “interpreted solely by their attorneys” and had “no support” or identification from either the researcher who conducted the analysis or “any other expert.” 

The judge also ruled that the alleged failure to provide more information about the laboratory testing left it “insufficient to support Plaintiffs’ otherwise conclusory statements as to the ingredients of the Product.”

Jude Roman ultimately dismissed the Wegmans class action lawsuit with prejudice. Santiful and Tameka had previously requested they be given another opportunity to amend the complaint if the court were to grant the motion to dismiss, Law360 reports. 

Wegmans made headlines in 2020 after the grocery store chain banned Chaokoh coconut milk at its locations following allegations Chaokoh mistreated monkey laborers used by the company to harvest coconuts in Thailand. 

Have you purchased a Wegmans cake mix product? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates P.C. 

The Wegmans cake mix class action lawsuit is Santiful, et al. v. Wegmans Food Markets Inc., Case No. 7:20-cv-02933, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Wegman’s Is the Latest to Ban Chaokoh Coconut Milk over Allegations of Cruelty
• FDA instructs baby formula companies to inform it of bacteria discoveries
• Possible baby formula contamination leads to recalled products, federal investigation
• Gain class action claims company ‘greenwashes’ products that contain toxins