Karina Basso  |  July 17, 2014

Category: Consumer News

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Kind cane juice class action lawsuitOn Monday, an Illinois federal judge granted Kind LLC’s motion to dismiss a false advertising class action lawsuit which accused the snack bar manufacturer of fraud, unjust enrichment, and violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (IFCA) by misrepresenting sugar as evaporated cane juice in Kind product ingredient lists.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis ruled to dismiss the cane juice class action lawsuit because she found that the plaintiff could not sufficiently define the allegations of injury and deceit and could not establish how Kind LLC’s alleged misrepresentation of evaporated cane juice harmed the plaintiff and other Class Members.

According to the Kind cane juice class action lawsuit, lead plaintiff Rochelle Ibarrola is “a health conscious consumer” who purchased Vanilla Blueberry Clusters, a food snack produced, marketed and distributed by Kind, twice during 2013. Ibarrola alleges that because the “products’ packages represent that the products contain ‘no refined sugars’ and ‘ingredients you can see and pronounce,’” that Kind misrepresented Vanilla Blueberry Clusters and five other products when the packaging listed sugar as evaporated cane juice.

According to the Kind cane juice class action lawsuit, “Ibarrola seeks to represent anyone who purchased any of Kind’s six identified products in Illinois and around the United States.” Ibarrola claims that she is not the only health conscious consumer deceived by Kinds’s claim of “no refined sugars.”

However, in the approved motion of dismissal, Judge Ellis states, “Ibarrola fails to allege how the inclusion of evaporated cane juice in the list of ingredients or the claim that Vanilla Blueberry Clusters contained no refined sugars affected her decision to purchase the product[.]”

Judge Ellis found that Ibarrola could not adequately identify how Kind deceived her and other consumers. The Vanilla Blueberry Clusters’ packaging clearly states molasses, a sweetener produced from the sugar cane plant, as an ingredient in the Kind food snack. If molasses, a sugar sweetener, did not prevent Ibarrola from purchasing the snack, then Judge Ellis does not believe that the plaintiff has sufficient grounds to claim she was deceived or injured by the inclusion of sugar cane juice in the Kind snack mix.

According to court documents,“Ibarrola points out in her response that she did not think that Vanilla Blueberry Clusters were sugar free, but she does not make clear what, if anything, she actually thought with regard to the sugar content of, or the sweeteners used in, Vanilla Blueberry Clusters[.]”

Additionally, Judge Ellis dismissed the class action lawsuit allegation of unjust enrichment which fails in the absence of deception. However, at this stage in litigation, the judge has not made a final ruling on whether or not the charge of misrepresentation for the five additional products Ibarrola did not buy will stand.

According to the motion of dismissal, “Kind contends that Ibarrola lacks standing with regard to the five other products and that Ibarrola cannot serve as a class representative for those who purchased those products[.]” However, Judge Ellis has stated that she will allow Ibarrola to file an amended class action lawsuit.

Ibarrola is not the first snack consumer to file a class action lawsuit against a food manufacturer. Over the past couple years, various class action lawsuits alleging misrepresentation and deception have been lodged against Chobani Inc., Nestle USA Inc., and other such food giants who have put “evaporated cane juice” in their ingredients list instead of sugar. Many judges presiding over these cases have chosen to postpone final ruling until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration makes a decision on the matter.

Ibarrola is represented by Wexler Wallace LLP, Oliver Law Group PC, Parker Waichman LLP and Holland Groves Schneller & Stolze LLC.

The Kind “Cane Juice” Class Action Lawsuit is Rochelle Ibarrola v. Kind LLC, Case No. 3:13-cv-50377, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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One thought on Kind LLC Wins Bid to Dismiss Cane Juice Class Action Lawsuit

  1. Julius Allen says:

    KIND is one well was a favorite of mines. Why they still have them on the shelves in stores. Well I wont be buying them no more.I travel a lot I at least buy two boxes a month while I travel to 9 different states. Now I’m pissed.

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