Clearly Natural Essentials Class Action Claims ‘Pure’ Soaps are Mislabeled

A class action alleges that Clearly Natural Essentials line of soaps and body lotions are deceptively marketed as “Pure and Natural.”

The class action asserts that Clearly Natural Essentials products contain numerous artificial and synthetic ingredients.

According to the complaint, consumers paid premium prices for these products because they were supposed to be all natural, and therefore they overpaid because of defendant’s false and misleading advertising.

“In making these false, misleading, and deceptive representations and omissions, Defendant knew and intended that consumers would pay a premium for natural labeled products over comparable products that are not labeled as being natural, furthering Defendant’s private interest of increasing sales for its products and decreasing sales of products that are truthfully offered as ‘Clearly Natural’ and ‘Pure and Natural’ by Defendant’s competitors,” according to the class action.

The Clearly Natural Essentials deceptive marketing class action lawsuit contends that the manufacturer, Beaumont Products Incorporated, is trying to cash in on the increasing market for natural products.

The complaint includes several pictures of Clearly Natural Essentials products, which state they are “Pure and Natural Glycerine Soap” and are “A luxurious blend of essential oils and natural vegetable glycerine.”

The class action asserts that despite the Clearly Natural Essentials labeling, their soaps and body washes actually contain several synthetic and artificial ingredients.

For example, sodium citrate is made by “reacting sodium carbonate with citric acid, and is often used as an anticoagulant or blood thinner,” and is recognized as a synthetic chemical by federal regulation, the lawsuit states.

Other artificial ingredients in Clearly Natural Essentials products include: tocopherol, a synthetic ingredient in pesticide formulations; decyl glucoside, made from “the condensation of decyl alcohol and glucose;” and phenoxyethanol.

The lawsuit claims that even glycerin is recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a “synthetic nonagricultural (nonorganic) substance.”

The complaint argues that even though the ingredients are listed on the back of the soap and body wash products, “[d]iscovering that the ingredients are not natural and are actually synthetic requires a scientific investigation and knowledge of chemistry beyond that of the average consumer.”

More importantly, the class action asserts that consumers should not have to “scour the ingredient list on the back of the Products,” but should be able to rely on the large labeling of the products as “Pure and Natural.”

Thus, the complaint alleges that Clearly Natural Essentials products have violated state and federal consumer protection laws.

Plaintiff Silvio Ciancio states that he purchased some Clearly Natural Essentials products from Amazon in 2016.

Ciancio claims that he bought the items “because he saw the labeling, advertising, the Defendant’s website, and read the packaging, which represented that the Products are ‘Clearly Natural’ and ‘Pure and Natural.’”

Had he known the truth, Ciancio asserts that he would not have bought defendant’s products.

The complaint requests certification of a Class of all consumers who have purchased any Clearly Natural Essential “Pure and Natural” soap or body wash products anywhere in the U.S.

The class action seeks compensatory damages, as well as treble damages under consumer protection statutes.

In addition, the proposed Class requests an injunction stopping Beaumont Products Incorporated from continuing its deceptive marketing.

Ciancio is represented by Jason P. Sultzer, Joseph Lipari, and Adam Gonnelli of The Sultzer Law Group P.C.

The Clearly Natural Essentials Deceptive Marketing Class Action Lawsuit is Silvio Ciancio v. Beaumont Products Incorporated d/b/a Clearly Natural Essentials, Case No. 7:16-cv-08124, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

UPDATE: On Jan. 11, 2017, the maker of Clearly Natural Essentials soap asked a federal judge to toss a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the company falsely labeled its products.