Amy’s Kitchen Wins Second Dismissal in Labeling Class Action Lawsuit

Amy’s Kitchen Inc. successfully earned a second dismissal in the Florida class action lawsuit against the food manufacturer for its use of the term “evaporated cane juice.” The class action lawsuit was the second to allege that the term was “false and misleading,” and was filed after federal regulators issued a warning to companies using the term on their labels.

In his March 7 decision, U.S. District Judge James Cohn agreed with the defendant’s allegation that his federal court did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the claim regarding the three products that plaintiff Leslie Reilly actually purchased. In a previous decision, on Dec. 9, 2013, Judge Cohn dismissed the claims on the 57 products produced by Amy’s Kitchen that Reilly had not purchased.

In April 2013, Reilly filed the class action lawsuit against Amy’s Kitchen, claiming that the company’s use of the term “evaporated cane juice” to refer to sugar in its products was meant “to make its product appear healthier than a product that contains ‘sugar’ as an ingredient and to increase sales and charge a premium.”

In Judge Cohn’s decision to dismiss the class action lawsuit, he wrote that the Florida federal court “agrees with Defendant that based upon the Court’s finding that Plaintiff has standing to bring claims related only to the three products she actually purchased, the jurisdictional allegations of the Complaint do not support that the Court has subject matter jurisdiction.” The three Amy’s Kitchen products that Reilly purchased that contained evaporated cane juice include the All-American Veggie Burger, the Margherita Pizza and the Light & Lean Black Bean and Cheese Enchilada. Because the Dec. 9, 2013 decision excluded 57 products from the claim, the amount of the lawsuit did not meet the minimum dollar amount requirements to be heard before the U.S. District Court according to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).

Judge Cohn noted that the court’s jurisdiction for class action lawsuits was limited by three requirements: that “any member of the plaintiff class is a citizen of a state different from the state of citizenship of any defendant”; that the aggregate amount in controversy exceeds $5 million; and that the proposed plaintiff class includes at least 100 members. While the first and last requirement were met, the second one was not. Judge Cohn wrote he had found “that Plaintiff only has standing regarding the three products she actually purchased,” so “the damages for the proposed class fall short of CAFA’s $5 million jurisdictional amount.”

Reilly had relied on the 2009 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning to food makers that companies should not use the term “evaporated cane juice” because it is false and misleading, violates labeling requirements, and is not juice. She contended that Amy’s Kitchen violated the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and received unjust enrichment.

Her class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of individuals who purchased 60 Amy’s Kitchen products, with evaporated cane juice on the list of ingredients, from April 29, 2009, but the defendant had argued that the term was used by many companies on “thousands of products.”

In November 2013, Amy’s Kitchen got a dismissal from a California judge in a similar class action lawsuit after arguing that the plaintiff in the case (Figy v. Amy’s Kitchen) had not read the ingredients list prior to buying the products.

Reilly is represented by Sarah Clasby Engel, Lance August Harke and Howard Mitchell Bushman of Harke Clasby & Bushman LLP.

The Amy’s Kitchen False Labeling Class Action Lawsuit is Reilly v. Amy’s Kitchen Inc., Case No. 1:13-cv-21525, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Consumers who feel they were deceived into buying a product that listed “evaporated cane juice” on the label may be able to take legal action. To find out if you qualify, visit the Evaporated Cane Juice Deceptive Marketing Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. It is absolutely free to participate and you could be able to recover compensation for your purchases.