Wise Foods Class Action Lawsuit Says Cheddar and Sour Cream Chips Are Artificially Flavored

A class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York claims Wise Foods practices deceptive marketing when selling their Cheddar and Sour Cream chips. 

Plaintiff Darlene Wallace claims Wise Foods promoted their chips in a misleading way, failing to prominently disclose ingredients with artificial flavoring. 

At issue in the Wise Foods case, bags of chips sold as “cheddar and sour cream flavored,” which according to the plaintiff is misleading because it does not include the word “artificial.” 

Wallace believes that Wise Foods doesn’t inform customers of the true nature of its ingredients because its butter flavor is used to “round out” the taste of the cheddar and sour cream chips. 

According to the Wise Foods class action lawsuit, while the front label uses the word “flavored” it still is unclear to consumers that the flavor comes from artificial components and not exclusively from cheddar cheese and sour cream.

The plaintiff argues that “Other brands of cheddar and sour cream ridged potato chips contain similar seasoning with artificial butter flavor and identify their products as ‘Artificially Flavored’ or ‘Naturally and Artificially Flavored’ on the front label.”

The Wise Foods class action lawsuit claims that shoppers will pay more from items that aren’t labeled as “artificially flavored,” and therefore consumers have overpaid for the chips.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, the standard for defining what’s a natural flavor includes the following: 

“Natural flavor is the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.”

The FDA’s definition of an artificial flavor is essentially everything else, including any ingredient that does not meet the definition of a natural flavor and includes inedible substances like petroleum.

This broad definition and the lack of oversight had the Center for Food Safety suing the FDA back in 2014, claiming the agency was failing to protect consumers with lax reviewing standards.

By that time, food makers were using “chemical preservatives, flavorings and thickening agents” the FDA was not even aware of.  

The FDA received thousands of complaints during this time about additives saying “certain substances seem to trigger asthmatic attacks, serious bouts of vomiting, intestinal-tract disorders and other health problems.”

“We simply do not have the information to vouch for the safety of many of these chemicals,” Michael Taylor, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for food told the Washington Post in 2014. 

The following year in 2015, fast-food chains were joining the “natural food” movement. Panera, Yum Brands, Papa John’s, Chipotle and Subway all promised their customers “clean” food free from artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. 

Grocery stores became more like Whole Foods, with pledges of all-natural offerings. Kellogg’s Corn Flakes followed suit. Even Dunkin’ Donuts got rid of titanium oxide, a whitening agent used in powdered donuts. 

Soon, focus groups were finding consumers were scared. Words like “diabetes,” “cancer,” “aspartame,” “health problems” and “bad” were associated with artificial flavors.

Many health experts say this type of “chemophobia” is unwarranted. 

“Artificial flavors are typically not harmful,” Dr. Andrew Weil, a world renowned leader in integrative medicine said. While he advises against artificial dyes and high fructose corn syrup, he says artificial ingredients can sometimes be safer.

Due to the manner in which they are made, artificial flavors undergo strict safety checks more so than when extracting natural flavors, executive director of Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association John Cox said. 

Food makers use artificial ingredients because they’re cheaper and efficient. Take for example the flavor of passionfruit. If a vodka company wanted to use all natural passionfruit as a flavor, they’d go through a quarter of the world’s supply, according to Bon Appétit. At one time, there were so many grape-flavored products, if they were all “naturally” flavored, it would’ve wiped out the wine market, flavor chemist Gary Reineccius told NPR. 

While the legal battles over how to market the food we eat play out, nutritionists say if a consumer is worried about artificial ingredients, it’s best to prepare whole food from scratch to know exactly what’s going into it. 

The Wise Foods class action lawsuit is similar to a class action recently brought against Frito Lay. However, counsel for the defendant has asked the judge to dismiss the case entirely.

Have you purchased Wise Foods potato chips? Let us know in the comments below. 

The plaintiff is represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC.

The Wise Foods Cheddar and Sour Cream Potato Chips Class Action Lawsuit is Darlene Wallace v. Wise Foods Inc., Case No. 1:20-cv-06831, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.