McCormick Class Action Says Seasonings Falsely Labeled as ‘Natural’

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

A New York woman has filed a class action lawsuit against McCormick & Company Inc., challenging representations that dozens of its products are “natural.”

In a new false advertising class action lawsuit, plaintiff Megan Holve says a range of food products from McCormick are labeled “natural” in a way that is “false, misleading and likely to deceive reasonable consumers.”

Holve says the products at issue actually contain synthetic ingredients that no reasonable consumer would consider “natural.”

The plaintiff claims McCormick labels these products as “natural” to take advantage of consumers’ preference for food that avoids artificial ingredients.

She cites research by the Consumers’ Union that shows 86 percent of consumers understand that a “natural” label indicates a product that contains no artificial ingredients.

Consumers perceive natural foods as being “healthier, better, and more wholesome,” she says. For that reason, they’re willing to pay a premium for natural foods.

According to Holve, McCormick exploits that preference by falsely labeling many of its products as “natural” and charging a higher price than what consumers would be willing to pay if the products were not so mislabeled.

Holve says she bought McCormick Herbes de Provence Roasted Chicken & Potatoes mix sometime during 2014. She says she relied on the indication that the product was “natural” when she chose to buy it. Had she known the product contained synthetic ingredients, Holve says, she never would have bought it.

The plaintiff calls out a list of 29 specific McCormick seasoning blends and gravy mixes, and she makes clear that her McCormick class action lawsuit also implicates “All other substantially similar Products.”

The McCormick products Holve says are falsely labeled as “natural” include the following:

• Adobe Seasoning with Pepper Adobo con Pimenta
• Au Jus Gravy Mix
• Bourbon Spiced Pork
• Brown Gravy Mix
• Brown Gravy Mix – 30% Less Sodium
• Chicken Gravy Mix
• Chicken Gravy Mix – 30% Less Sodium
• Creamy Parmesan and Sun Dried Tomato Penne – Recipe and Seasoning Mix
• Fiesta Citrus Seasoning
• Garlic & White Wine Chicken Scaloppine – Recipe and Seasoning Mix
• Herbes de Provence Chicken and Potatoes – Recipe and Seasoning Mix
• Herb Gravy Mix for Beef
• Hollandaise Sauce Mix
• Homestyle Country Gravy Mix
• Homestyle Gravy Mix
• Mexican Seasoning
• Mushroom Gravy Mix
• Onion Gravy Mix
• Original Country Gravy
• Peppered Country Gravy Mix
• Pork Gravy Mix
• Roasted Garlic and Bell Pepper Seasoning
• Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning
• Sausage Flavor Country Gravy Mix
• Smoked Paprika Chicken Taco – Recipe and Seasoning Mix
• Southwest Seasoning
• Total Seasoning for Beef
• Total Seasoning for Chicken and Fish
• Turkey Flavor Gravy Mix

She alleges these products contain ingredients like citric acid and other ingredients derived from genetically-modified corn – ingredients no reasonable consumer would consider “natural.”

This false advertising class action lawsuit comes at a time when McCormick already has its hands full with several other false advertising class action lawsuits alleging the company underfills its tins of ground black pepper.

Plaintiffs in that class action allege McCormick responded to an increase in the price of black pepper by underfilling tins while at the same time raising its retail price. Several different McCormick class action lawsuits that raised the same issue were consolidated in a single federal court in D.C. in 2015.

In Holve’s mislabeling class action lawsuit, she seeks to represent a plaintiff Class that includes all persons in the U.S. who purchased any of the McCormick products at issue for their own use within the last four years.

She also proposes a New York Class, which would include all New York residents who purchased one of the products within six years prior to filing this class action.

The plaintiff seeks a court order requiring McCormick to stop using “unnatural, synthetic, artificial, and/or genetically modified ingredients” in its products – or in the alternative, to stop representing that such products are “natural.” She also seeks an award of damages, restitution, court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Holve is represented by attorney David M. Kaplan, who is joined by attorneys Michael R. Reese and George V. Granade of Reese LLP and Joshua H. Eggnatz and Benjamin M. Lopatin of Eggnatz, Lopatin & Pascucci LLP.

The McCormick “Natural” False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Holve v. McCormick & Company Inc., Case No. 6:16-cv-06702, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, Rochester Division.