ConAgra Wesson Oil Class Action Lawsuit Denied Class Certification

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On Monday, Judge Margaret M. Morrow denied certification to a class action lawsuit against ConAgra Foods Inc., alleging that Wesson-brand vegetable oil is falsely advertised as 100 percent natural. Plaintiffs in 11 states allege that Wesson oil contains oils extracted from genetically modified sources making the 100 percent natural advertisements a false misrepresentation.

Judge Morrow denied certification of the Wesson oil class action lawsuit because the plaintiffs failed to sufficiently support the various claims in the 11 different states. However, this is not the end of the Wesson oil class action lawsuit. Judge Morrow has stated that she will allow the plaintiffs to make another bid for certification, allowing them time to come up with proper support for their claims.

In June 2011, the original class action lawsuit against ConAgra was filed by California resident Robert Briseno in his state’s federal court. Since then, the Wesson oil class action lawsuit has expanded to incorporate claims from plaintiffs in 10 additional states, which include: Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota and Texas.

Briseno and the other plaintiffs allege that the Wesson oil label claiming the product is 100 percent natural is false advertising and false representation because the plants from which the oils were extracted were genetically modified to exhibit traits not normally found in nature.

According to the class action lawsuit, “Wesson Oils are made with plants whose genes have been directly altered by scientists in a lab using biotechnology for the express purpose of causing those plants to exhibit traits that are not naturally their own[.]” In other words, Briseno and other plaintiffs argue that genetically modified cannot be considered natural and, therefore, oils extracted from these plants should not be considered 100 percent natural either.

ConAgra’s attorney has objected to Judge Morrow’s decision to allow the plaintiff’s a second bid for class certification, claiming that the rebrief process would be financially and temporally consuming. ConAgra’s defense also asserts that the class action lawsuit certification will ultimately fail because there is no consensus among states as to what “all natural” specifically means.

Judge Morrow cautioned the plaintiffs’ attorneys that some state laws require the establishment of individual reliance on allegedly false claims. “If the reasonable consumer standard applies across the board, I think you’d have something here,” the judge said. “But I don’t think it does.”

The judge’s concerns stem from the fact that some state statutes require a plaintiff to establish individual reliance and other standards aside from the reasonable consumer standard.

For now, Briseno’s class action lawsuit against ConAgra is still in litigation.

The Wesson oil class action lawsuit comes on the heels several federal and state battles to establish laws governing the labeling of genetically modified organisms. Many states are hoping to pass mandatory standard of labeling genetically modified foods, though food giant companies, like ConAgra, have pushed for a voluntary system of labeling instead.

Robert Briseno is represented by David E. Azar and Nicole Duckett Fricke of Milberg LLP, and Adam J. Levitt and Edmund S. Aronowitz of Grant & Eisenhofer PA.

The Wesson Oils Class Action Lawsuit is In re: ConAgra Foods Inc., Case No. 2:11-cv-05379, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: April 2019, the Wesson cooking oil class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.