Cert. Sought in Gerber Baby Formula Class Action Lawsuit

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.

Gerber faces a putative class action lawsuit stemming over allegations that its Good Start Gentle baby formula was falsely advertised as the first and only infant formula to be endorsed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration when the FDA actually rejected its health claims twice.

Plaintiff Oula Zakaria of California asked a federal judge to certify the Gerber Good Start class action lawsuit on Monday after claiming that she routinely purchased the baby formula based on deceptive marketing that alleged the product would help reduce the risk of developing allergies or skin disorders including eczema.

According to the Gerber class action lawsuit, the FDA rejected Gerber’s proposed health claim in 2005 that consuming partially hydrolyzed whey protein could be linked to a reduced risk of developing common allergies.

Again in 2009, plaintiff Zakaria claims the FDA rejected Gerber’s health claims that their Good Start formula could reduce the risk of eczema. Yet despite the FDA’s clear instructions, the plaintiff alleges that Gerber falsely touted Good Start Gentle as “the first” or “first and only” infant formula to be qualified by the FDA.

The baby formula class action lawsuit alleges Gerber negligently misrepresented the partially hydrolyzed whey protein based formula with claims that it had health benefits that were supported by the FDA. Zakaria states that because potential Class Members were exposed to uniform packaging, labeling, and marketing, there is a “common core of salient facts.”

The Gerber Good Start baby formula class action lawsuit claims that the defendant earns as much as $515 million annually from sales through Target, Babies “R” Us, Walmart and other retailers. Zakaria states that she and other possible Class Members have paid a premium for Gerber’s baby formula compared to other baby formula brands.

Zakaria filed the Gerber baby formula class action lawsuit in January 2015 over allegations of false advertising and violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law. Gerber tried to get the baby formula class action lawsuit dismissed based on grounds that the plaintiff didn’t see the advertisements that she cited in her lawsuit. A California federal judge denied their motion in June 2015.

Since that time, Zakaria claims that Gerber has stonewalled discovery efforts for three months by refusing to produce any documents or any witnesses for deposition.

The Gerber Good Start class action lawsuit seeks to resolve “in one stroke” an issue that is essential to all future Class Members ~ whether Gerber promoted Good Start Gentle in a manner likely to deceive reasonable consumers.

Zakaria has asked a judge to certify a Class of consumers who purchased Good Start Gentle within the State of California for personal use between Jan. 9, 2011 to the present. She claims that thousands of California consumers will be eligible to join the Gerber class action lawsuit.

Zakaria is represented by Daniel L. Keller and Dan C. Bolton of Keller Fishback & Jackson LLP and Paul V. Sweeny and Stephen J. Fearon Jr. of Squitieri & Fearon LLP.

The Gerber Good Start Baby Formula Class Action Lawsuit is Oula Zakaria v. Gerber Products Co., Case No. 2:15-cv-00200, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.