Food Club Class Action Says Granola Can’t Be ‘100% Natural’ as Labeled

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A New York man says the makers of Food Club granola have been falsely advertising it as “100% Natural” when in fact it contains synthetic ingredients.

Plaintiff Jason Scholder is taking on defendants Topco Holdings Inc. and Topco Associates LLC, the makers of Granola Oats, Honey & Almonds cereal sold under the Food Club brand.

Scholder says Topco has no business labeling this product as “100% natural” when it actually contains glyphosate, a purportedly synthetic substance.

According to Scholder’s Food Club granola class action lawsuit, glyphosate is “a synthetic biocide and probable human carcinogen, with additional health dangers rapidly becoming known.”

Glyphosate is an active ingredient used in agricultural pesticides, Scholder claims. He says Monsanto began marketing glyphosate under the brand name Roundup in 1974 after the ban on DDT went into effect.

He says the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization declared glyphosate to be a probable human carcinogen. France’s health and safety agency recently announced plans to ban weed killers that combine glyphosate with certain other chemicals.

Scholder argues that the presence of glyphosate in Food Club granola renders its “100% natural” labeling false and misleading. “No reasonable consumer, seeing these representations, would expect Topco’s granola to contain anything unnatural,” Scholder asserts.

He accuses the defendants of exploiting widespread consumer interest in food that avoids artificial ingredients. By labeling Food Club granola as “100% natural” when it actually contains synthetic ingredients, Topco can induce consumers to pay more for that product than they would have otherwise, Scholder claims.

“By deceiving consumers about the nature, quality, and/or ingredients of its granola, Topco is able to sell a greater volume of its granola, to charge higher prices for its granola, and to take away market share from competing products, thereby increasing its own sales and profits,” Scholder states.

According to his Food Club granola class action lawsuit, Topco has harmed consumers to the extent that they overpaid for Food Club granola more than they would have otherwise, in reliance on its allegedly false “100% natural” labeling.

He argues Topco’s alleged mislabeling of Food Club granola violates provisions of New York common law and the consumer protection provisions of the New York General Business Law.

Scholder seeks to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of all persons who purchased the Topco granola at issue from a retail location in the U.S. at any time between the applicable statute of limitations and the date of Class certification.

He also proposes a subclass consisting of Class Members who bought their granola at retail locations within the state of New York.

He seeks an award of actual, statutory and punitive damages, restitution and disgorgement of profits, attorneys’ fees, and costs of litigation. He also seeks an injunction that would stop Topco from continuing the allegedly false advertising.

Scholder is represented by attorney Michael J. Gabrielli of Gabrielli Levitt LLP.

The Topco Food Club Granola False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Jason Scholder v. Topco Holdings Inc., et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-06028, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.