Deceptive Marketing Class Action Filed Against Isopure

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A class action lawsuit filed on Nov. 5 alleges that The Isopure Company LLC committed false and misleading practices in marketing its whey protein supplements. The lawsuit states that Isopure’s whey protein containers contain 30 percent useless space, and these deceptive containers led consumers to pay a higher price for Isopure’s products.

Whey protein is a popular dietary supplement used for body health and muscle development. It can be found at health food or fitness stores, and on many websites online. Isopure sells different varieties and flavors of whey protein under both the “Isopure” and “Nature’s Best” labels. The deceptive marketing class action lawsuit alleges that most of Isopure’s whey protein containers are misleading to consumers.

“The average consumer spends a mere 13 seconds making an in-store purchasing decision or between 10 to 19 seconds for an online purchase,” according to the Isopure whey protein class action lawsuit. Citing a professor who studies shopping behavior, the complaint states: “Faced with a large box and a smaller box, both with the same amount of product inside … consumers are apt to choose the larger box because they think it’s a better value.”

Plaintiffs Sammer Zakhour and John Martinez allege that they purchased Isopure whey protein expecting the containers to be full. The containers are opaque, and consumers cannot see inside of them prior to purchase, they allege. Zakhour and Martinez state that they were “surprised and disappointed when they opened the Products to discover that the containers had approximately 30% empty space, or slack-fill.”

“Slack-fill” is a term used for empty space in food packaging. According to the Isopure class action lawsuit, “slack fill” that does not serve a function (such as protection of the contents of a package, or unavoidable settling of the contents) is misleading, and a violation of state consumer protection laws and the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.

The class action lawsuit declares that “[t]here is no practical reason for the non-functional slack-fill used to package [Isopure whey protein containers] other than to mislead consumers as to the actual volume of the Products being purchased by consumers.”

The Isopure whey protein class action lawsuit seeks to create a class of all U.S. consumers who made retail purchases of any of the following products that contained the “nonfunctional slack-fill” alleged in the complaint: Isopure Zero Carb; Isopure Low Carb; Isopure Whey Protein Isolate; Isopure Black & Green Tea; Isopure Whey Protein Isolate; Isopure Coffee; Isopure Mass; Nature’s Best Perfect 3000; and Nature’s Best Perfect Whey.

The Isopure class action lawsuit requests damages for consumers who bought any of those Isopure whey protein products. In addition, the plaintiffs seek to stop Isopure from selling its whey protein in the misleading containers.

Zakhour and Martinez are represented by Abbas Kazerounian of Kazerouni Law Group, APC, Joshua B. Swigart and Naomi Spector of Hyde & Swigart, and Jeffrey M. Gottlieb and Dana L. Gottlieb of Gottlieb & Associates.

The Isopure Whey Protein Class Action Lawsuit is Zakhour, et al., v. The Isopure Company LLC, Case No. 3:15-CV-02512-W-NLS, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.