Dirty Potato Chips Class Action Says Snack Isn’t ‘All Natural’

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Utz Quality Foods Inc. faces a potential class action lawsuit that alleges its “Dirty Potato Chips” brand is falsely advertised as “all natural,” when the products actually contain synthetic ingredients such as preservatives.

Lead plaintiff Cyrus H. filed the class action in California federal court. In the complaint, Cyrus claims that Utz marketed Dirty Potato Chips as “all natural” and containing “no preservatives.”

However, according to the plaintiff, the chips “contain non-natural, artificial, synthetic ingredients and preservatives including, but not limited to, dextrose, maltodextrin, citric acid, malic acid, lactic acid, sodium citrate, sodium diacetate, disodium phosphate, yeast and torula extract, paprika extract, and annatto.”

The plaintiff alleges that he and others paid a premium for Utz’s Dirty Potato Chips because they relied on the “all natural” and “no preservative” marketing labels. The plaintiff notes that while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not specifically regulated the term “all natural,” “the agency has established a policy defining the outer boundaries of the use of the term ‘natural’ by clarifying that it ‘has not objected to the use of the term if a food does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances.’”

“In reasonable reliance on Defendant’s representations concerning the [Dirty Potato Chip] Products, Plaintiff purchased [Dirty Potato Chip] Products at a premium price. Plaintiff and other consumers would not have purchased [Dirty Potato Chip] Products, would have purchased less of the products, or would have paid significantly less for the products, had they known that the representations concerning the [Dirty Potato Chip] Products were and continue to be false and misleading. Therefore, Plaintiff and other consumers purchasing [Dirty Potato Chip] Products have suffered injury in fact and have lost money as a result of Defendant’s false, unfair, and fraudulent practices, as described herein,” alleges the plaintiff in his class action.

According to the Dirty Potato Chips class action lawsuit, the plaintiff and proposed Class Members have suffered an injury because they paid extra for a product they thought was “all natural.”

The plaintiff seeks to represent a nationwide Class of “all persons in the United States, who within the relevant statute of limitations periods, purchased [Dirty Potato Chip] Products,” along with a subclass of California residents who purchased the products. The plaintiff is also seeking a jury trial, compensatory and punitive damages, restitution, injunctive and declaratory relief, interests, attorney fees and costs of the suit.

According to the class action lawsuit, Utz should be held responsible for common law fraud, intentional and negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and violations of California’s civil, business, and commercial codes.

Th plaintiff is represented by attorneys Barbara A. Rohr and Benjamin Heikali of Faruqi & Faruqi LLP.

The Utz’s Dirty Potato Chip False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Cyrus H. v. Utz Quality Foods Inc., Case No. 2:16-CV-03453-PA-JPR, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.