Crisco Oil Class Action Lawsuit Survives Dismissal Bid

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J.D. Smucker’s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging that Crisco is mislabeled as “all natural” because the oil allegedly contains ingredients made from genetically modified crops was rejected last week by a federal judge.

Lead plaintiff, Adrianna Ault, filed the Crisco oil class action lawsuit in May of last year. She accuses J.M. Smucker Co. of deceptively advertising that Crisco cooking oils are all natural, even though they’re made from genetically modified crops. Smucker filed a motion to dismiss the Crisco oil class action lawsuit, arguing that Ault’s allegations are preempted by Food and Drug Administration policies and should go to the agency instead of state court.

U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty disagreed with Smuckers and ruled on May 15 to keep the Crisco class action lawsuit in court. “While it might be better for the FDA to commence an administrative proceeding or process, involving all stakeholders, focusing on how, why, and when products can be labeled ‘all natural,’” said the judge, “the fact is that the FDA has not done so and is not likely to do so in the near future.”

Judge Crotty pointed out in his order “[e]ven without an express provision for preemption, state law must yield to federal law when there is a conflict with a federal statute or when the scope of a federal statute indicates that Congress intended federal law to occupy a field exclusively.” “Here, there is no indication that Congress intended the FDA to occupy the entire field offood labeling,” explained the judge.

Although Smuckers argued that the FDA has promulgated a number of regulations related to bioengineered food and the FDA’s lack of regulations regarding bioengineering of cooking oil, Judge Crotty did not find these arguments compelling. “Where the FDA is unable to address a potentially deceptive practice, state claims are one of the few means of safeguarding consumers and therefore should not be preempted by the FDA’s inaction,” pointed out Judge Crotty.

Judge Crotty also dismissed Smucker’s argument that the FDA has primary jurisdiction over the Crisco class action lawsuit. The judge explained “[p]rimary jurisdiction is properly applied ‘whenever enforcement of the claim requires the resolution of issues which, under a regulatory scheme, have been placed within the special competence of an administrative body,'” and said “[w]hile the Court would welcome the FDA’s guidance on the definition of ‘natural,’ ‘[t]his case is far less about science than it is about whether a label is misleading.'”

Judge Crotty ruled that the court has primary jurisdiction over this case because it concerns a legal issue; “[t]he issue is whether the use of the phrase ‘All Natural’ was ‘likely to mislead a reasonable consumer acting reasonably under the circumstances'” said the judge.

The judge also dismissed Smuckers arguments that Ault “fails to allege a deceptive act or false advertisement,” fails to properly allege breach of warranty claims, and for lack of standing.

Lead plaintiff, Adrianna Ault, is represented by Bruce Greenberg, Mayra Tarantino and Jeffrey Shooman of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC, Tina Wolfson and Robert Ahdoot of Ahdoot & Wolfson PC and Timothy Blood and Leslie Hurst of Blood Hurst O’Reardon LLP.

The Crisco “All Natural” Oil Class Action Lawsuit is Ault v. J.M. Smucker Co. et al., Case No. 13-cv-03409, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.