Gerber Baby Food Class Action Lawsuit Denied Certification

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.

A California federal judge has refused certify a class action lawsuit accusing Gerber Products Co. of mislabeling its baby food, ruling that it would be difficult if not impossible for consumers to know if they qualify to join the Class.

Lead plaintiff Natalia Bruton filed the Gerber class action lawsuit in May 2012, alleging that Gerber misbranded the labels on its baby food products under federal law. Bruton alleged that by labeling certain Gerber baby food products as an “Excellent Source” and “Good Source” of vitamins and minerals, as “Healthy” for growth and immune support, and as containing “No Added Sugar,” Gerber violated federal law prohibiting food products for children under age two from including health claims, nutrition information, or low sugar information.

The specific Gerber products at issue in the Gerber baby food class action lawsuit include those sold under the Gerber Nature Select, Gerber Yogurt Blends, Gerber Graduates Fruit, Gerber Organic SmartNourish, Gerber Organic SmartNourish, and Gerber Single Grain Cereals brands.

On June 23, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy H. Koh denied the plaintiff’s motion to certify the Gerber class action lawsuit, finding that the proposed Class was not ascertainable. “[T]he party seeking Class certification must demonstrate that an identifiable and ascertainable Class exists,” Judge Koh wrote. “A Class is ascertainable if it is defined by ‘objective criteria’ and if it is ‘administratively feasible’ to determine whether a particular individual is a member of the Class.”

The judge pointed out “[the p]laintiff proposes to certify a Class of individuals who purchased 69 different types of Gerber baby food products between May 11, 2008 and the present” and “of the 93 varieties of baby food available in the 2nd Foods product category, 69 products are part of the proposed Class.”

Gerber argued that this proposed Class was not ascertainable because “consumers will not be able to reliably determine whether or not they are eligible to join the Class.” Judge Koh points out that “[t]he parties agree that Gerber sold multiple versions of the same products during the Class period,” and “most, if not all, consumers likely discarded the product packaging in this case, which would force consumers to rely on memory alone in determining whether or not they are eligible to join Plaintiff’s proposed Class.”

After summarizing applicable case law, Judge Koh agreed with Gerber’s assertions that “it asks too much of consumers’ memories to expect consumers to remember not only whether they purchased certain types and flavors of Gerber 2nd Foods, but also whether the products bore the challenged label statements.”

The Gerber mislabeling class action lawsuit is not over, however. Judge Koh rescheduled a  Case Management Conference for July 23.

In January, Judge Koh denied a motion by Gerber to dismiss the class action lawsuit but ruled to dismiss some of the plaintiff’s claims, including removing some of the products listed in the original complaint, requiring the plaintiff to be more specific about how Gerber violated the federal law in question, and indicating that the class action’s claims may actually go beyond what the federal law says.

The plaintiff is represented by Ben F. Pierce Gore of Pratt & Associates, by Brian K. Herrington of Don Barrett PA and by David Shelton.

The Gerber Baby Food Class Action Lawsuit is Bruton v. Gerber Products Co., et al., Case No. 5:12-cv-02412, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.