Ashley Milano  |  June 13, 2016

Category: Consumer News

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Whole Foods Market logoWhole Foods has agreed to settle two class action lawsuits alleging the high-end organic grocery chain falsely labeled certain baked good products as “all natural.”

The terms of the settlement were reached during a conference with U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte on June 7.

Details of the settlement are not known at this time but since plaintiffs Mary and Grace Garrison never completed the filing to certify the proposed nationwide Class, only they are expected to receive compensation from the Whole Foods settlement.

Following news of the settlement agreement, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria dismissed the cases without prejudice.

Whole Foods shoppers Mary and Grace Garrison originally filed the two proposed nationwide class action lawsuits in California’s Northern District federal court in 2013 and 2014, claiming that Whole Foods’ house-brand baked goods are mislabeled “all natural” in violation of California consumer protection statutes.

Specifically, the Garrisons allege that the Austin, Texas grocer sold premium priced cookies, muffins, and other baked goods falsely labeled as “all natural” that in fact contained synthetic ingredients such as sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP), a synthetic powder used as a leavening agent.

The two lawsuits separately center on claims that the some of the products were gluten-free and some were non-gluten free, with the second related lawsuit filed over six additional Whole Foods muffin products.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria gave the lawsuit the go-ahead to proceed on behalf of a national class in July 2014, rejecting claims by the grocer that the case should be dismissed on the basis that relevant laws about labeling differ from state to state.

Earlier this year, Whole Foods again sought dismissal of the two class action lawsuits, stating that 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,” a Whole Foods attorney said. “There’s no evidence of a price premium attributable to the all-natural label.”

However, the plaintiffs argued that the evidence is apparent in deposition testimony, where the Garrisons claim they paid anywhere from $3 to $6 more for products that thought only had natural ingredients.

But during the hearing for summary judgment- which is when a court enters a judgment for one party and against another without a full trial-in March 2016, Judge Chhabria rejected Whole Foods motion for dismissal, stating the plaintiffs’ claims have standing because Whole Foods has records on how much it charged for the products at the heart of the issue, and how much consumers usually pay for comparable items that don’t have the “all natural” label.

Their deposition testimony “is sufficient to create a factual issue for a jury,” Judge Chhabria wrote in his ruling.

Additionally, the judge said it would be unfair to grant summary judgment at this stage because discovery on damages and expert testimony was not over.

Judge Chhabria also instructed the parties to try to mediate their issues again before he ruled on Whole Food’s request for summary judgment, which proved to be successful this time around.

Garrison is represented by Matthew Bainer of Scott Cole & Associates.

The Whole Foods Natural Labeling Class Action Lawsuits are Garrison, et al. v. Whole Foods Market Inc., Case No. 3:13-cv-05222 and Case No. 3:14-cv-00334, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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3 thoughts onWhole Foods Reaches Settlement Over Natural Labeling

  1. Gina Barnes says:

    I’ve been shopping at Whole Foods in Huntersville North Carolina the LakeNorman store. It’s a very racist store and they only hire a handful of African Americans and they profile you while shopping in the store. The Strawberries labeled organic are visibly not Organic. I’ve spoke to team leaders and they give no factual information about the produce. I’ve also tried to apply for a job there for three separate positions and I am a college graduate 4.0 GPA and they retaliated by blocking my applications and failing me on the 5th grade level assessments. I’m going to the news media with my story

  2. susan says:

    I’m stage 4 lung and liver cancer, and I’ve purchased this multiple times as it was “all natural! How do I file a claim?

  3. Mckenzie Twitty says:

    How do I file a claim

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