Blue Diamond Almond Milk Class Action Lawsuit Partially Certified

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A California federal judge has certified a state class of consumers who claim that Blue Diamond Almond Breeze products are misbranded as “all natural” and  misleadingly refer to the ingredient sugar as “evaporated cane juice.”

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh certified the Blue Diamond almond milk class action lawsuit on behalf of consumers in California who purchased the allegedly mislabeled products since May 2008. The judge, however, denied plaintiff Chris Werdebaugh’s motion requesting certification of a nationwide class, saying he failed to show that California law would prevail over that of other state consumer protection laws.

Judge Koh previously denied a motion by Blue Diamond to dismiss the Almond Breeze class action lawsuit in October 2013.

“The Court finds Werdebaugh to be an adequate class representative. Werdebaugh and the proposed class share the same claims and interest in obtaining relief, and he is vigorously pursuing relief on behalf of the proposed class. The Court also finds that Plaintiff’s counsel has experience in prosecuting consumer fraud and warranty class actions,” Judge Koh wrote in her May 23 Order.

Werdebaugh alleges in the Blue Diamond almond milk class action lawsuit, filed May 29, 2012, that Blue Diamond’s use of the term “evaporated cane juice” as an ingredient instead of sugar cane or cane syrup violates federal regulations and California law.

Specifically, he contends that the defendant’s use of the term “evaporated cane juice” violates: (a) the FDA’s definition of the term “juice”; (b) the FDA’s requirements for identifying cane syrup on food labels; and (c) the FDA’s blanket requirement that food must be referred to by their common or usual names and not by names “confusingly similar to the name of another food that is not reasonably encompassed within the same name.”

The Almond Breeze class action lawsuit also alleges that Blue Diamond’s use of the term “all natural” on the products violates federal regulations and California law because the artificial ingredient potassium citrate is present in the products.

For manufacturing, advertising, distributing, and selling misbranded products, Defendant has allegedly violated California Health & Safety Code. Specifically, Werdebaugh cited these three violations: (1) violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law; (2) violation of California’s False Advertising Law; (3) violation of CLRA

The Blue Diamond Almond Milk Class Action Lawsuit is Chris Werdebaugh, et al. v. Blue Diamond Growers, Case No. 5:12-cv-02724, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.