GoOrganic Candy Class Action Says ‘Cane Juice’ Label is Deceptive

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The maker of GoOrganic candy has been hit with a proposed nationwide class action lawsuit alleging it misleads consumers by using the term “evaporated cane juice” on packaging labels.

Plaintiff Angie Garcia filed this class action against Hillside Candy LLC in California Superior Court alleging use of the term “evaporated cane juice” on its GoOrganic candy is deceptive and misleading. Hillside has since removed the case to federal court.

According to the GoOrganic candy lawsuit, Garcia says when she purchased the product, she relied on the organic candy maker’s alleged misrepresentations that “evaporated cane juice” was a healthier, natural sweetener, when in fact the ingredient is just another name for sugar.

Hillside Candy LLC is a New Jersey based family-owned business that manufactures GoOrganic, an organic candy line that is advertised as USDA and Non-GMO certified.

The candy is sold in drug store chains, mass merchandisers, grocery chains, supermarkets, gourmet stores, re-baggers, and gift basket companies, both domestically and internationally.

Garcia’s class action lawsuit alleges that in order to propagate its candy’s “healthier” claims, Hillside lists “evaporated cane juice” as an ingredient in GoOrganic candy but fails to explain to consumers that “evaporated cane juice” is essentially sugar.

By doing so, Hillside is able to deceive consumers regarding GoOrganic candy health claims and is in violation of both federal and California law, the class action lawsuit states.

“Defendant’s misrepresentation regarding the product were designed to, and did, lead Plaintiff and other similarly situated to believe that the product was of a quality that they are not and did not contain ingredients which, in fact, are found in the product,” the class action claims.

Just like sugar, evaporated cane juice is created by crushing sugar cane to extract the juice, then purifying that juice, getting rid of the water and turning it into fine crystals. However, it still contains a bit of molasses, which is completely removed from the cane sugar found in stores.

Many food companies that use this ingredient maintain that it’s different from sugar and that “evaporated cane juice” is its proper name.

The FDA drafted guidance in 2009 suggesting that manufacturers shouldn’t use the term evaporated cane juice to describe sweeteners made from sugar cane syrup because the term hides the fact that ultimately it’s sugar.

However, in May the FDA issued a final guidance to the food industry writing that the use of the term “evaporated cane juice” under federal law “is false or misleading because it suggests that the sweetener is fruit or vegetable juice or is made from fruit or vegetable juice, and does not reveal that the ingredient’s basic nature and characterizing properties are those of a sugar.”

Garcia is seeking to represent a certified Class of hundreds of thousands of U.S. consumers who purchased GoOrganic candy at any time during the four years preceding the filing of this complaint.

She is asking the court for an injunctive order mandating Hillside cease and desist from engaging in the “unfair, unlawful, and/or fraudulent practices” in using the term “evaporated cane juice” on GoOrganic candy labels.

GoOrganic brand candy is not the only product that has come under fire for its alleged deceptive labeling involving the term “evaporated cane juice.”

In July, a class action lawsuit was revived against Coca-Cola subsidiary Odwalla in California federal court. This lawsuit alleges the food and beverage company fooled consumers into thinking they were purchasing healthier products by using the term “evaporated cane juice,” instead of sugar.

In 2012, a California woman filed a class action lawsuit against the yogurt company Chobani in federal court, claiming its use of the term “evaporated cane juice” misled her and other consumers into buying the company’s Greek yogurt.

Garcia is represented by Ryan M. Ferrell of Apex Trial Law.

The GoOrganic Evaporated Cane Juice Class Action Lawsuit is Garcia v. Hillside Candy LLC, et al., Case No. 5:16-cv-02231, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Eastern Division.