Whole Foods Wants ‘All Natural’ Baked Goods Class Action Tossed

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Whole Foods Market wants a judge to dismiss an amended class action brought against the company by two California women who say they paid a premium price for six Whole Foods baked goods including cookies and muffins, that were falsely labeled as “all natural,” when they actually contained synthetic ingredients.

In a hearing on Whole Foods’ request for summary judgment, the company’s lawyers said the plaintiffs failed to show how much they allegedly overpaid for the products bearing the “all natural” label.

“The plaintiffs must satisfy all elements of their claims, including damages,” Whole Foods attorney Jay Connolly said. “There’s no evidence of a price premium attributable to the all-natural label.”

On the other hand, attorneys for the putative Class say the evidence is in the clients’ deposition testimony, where they say they paid anywhere from $3 to $6 more for products that were thought to contain only natural ingredients.

Another attorney for the plaintiffs rejected Whole Foods’ assertion that the “all natural” lawsuit should be tossed because the plaintiffs didn’t take the extra step of computing the damages at an early stage in the litigation, a move that would have been expensive.

“We didn’t pay our expert an extra $50,000 to calculate the amount, and the defendants want to rake us over the coals for that,” the attorney told U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria.

In June, Judge Chhabria tossed Whole Foods’ first motion to dismiss the class action, stating that “By establishing that any of the labels were misleading, the plaintiffs would necessarily establish that they all were. The named plaintiffs therefore have the necessary stake in litigating the class’s claims required to confer standing.”

Plaintiffs Mary and Grace Garrison of California brought the class action lawsuit against Whole Foods Market alleging several of its “all natural” baked goods contain synthetic ingredients. Both plaintiffs claim they are health conscious and try to avoid consuming foods that are processed. The plaintiffs claim that they purchased and consumed several products from Whole Foods believing that they were “all natural.”

For the past several years, Mary Garrison purchased items such as Whole Foods’ All Natural Blueberry Mini Muffins, All Natural Snickerdoodle Soft Baked Cookies, and All Natural Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes from grocery stores in San Francisco.

Grace Garrison says she purchased Whole Foods’ All Natural Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes for herself on multiple occasions over the past several years. The plaintiffs read and relied on the “all natural” labels as truth, according to the lawsuit.

The synthetic ingredient allegedly present in the Whole Foods’ baked goods is Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (SAPP), an odorless white powder. The class action lawsuit argues that even knowing its products contain synthetic ingredients, Whole Foods made maximum use of available space on its product packing to label them “all natural.” The “all natural” label appears on the top, front, and bottom of the packaging.

The Whole Foods all natural class action lawsuit alleges consumers were deceived into paying higher prices for lower quality food products.

The plaintiffs are represented by Matthew R. Bainer, Molly A. DeSario, Courtland W. Creekmore and Jessica Lynn Campbell of Scott Cole & Associates APC.

The Whole Foods “All Natural” Baked Goods Class Action Lawsuit is Garrison v. Whole Foods Market California Inc., et al., Case No. 3:14-cv-00334 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Mar. 29, 2016, a federal judge ruled that some of the claims in the proposed class action lawsuit over “all natural” labeling would remain, but nixed claims regarding the Consumer Legal Remedies Act and breach of contract.