Lean Cuisine Class Action Challenges ‘No Preservatives’ Label

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A New York woman says Lean Cuisine dinners are falsely advertised as containing “no preservatives” when in fact they contain known preservatives.

Plaintiff Courtney Ross is taking on defendant Nestle USA Inc. for allegedly mislabeling many of its Lean Cuisine frozen dishes. Ross argues the company’s labeling of these products as containing “no preservatives” is false and misleading because they contain citric acid, an ingredient widely used as a food preservative.

“Defendant marketed its Lean Cuisine® Products in a way that is deceptive to consumers under the consumer protection laws of New York,” she claims. “Defendant has been unjustly enriched as a result of its conduct.”

She includes photographic images of the labels on several Lean Cuisine products. Labels from the front of the package indicate the products contain “no preservatives,” while images of their ingredient lists show they contain citric acid.

In her Lean Cuisine class action lawsuit, Ross says Nestle’s misrepresentations extend beyond the products’ labeling to the company’s website.

According to Ross, the FDA classifies citric acid as a preservative. She cites a chart from an FDA website that lists citric acid among other ingredients used to prevent food spoilage.

She also quotes a warning letter sent by the FDA to the makers of Chiquita Pineapple Bites. In that letter, the FDA put the manufacturer on notice that those products were misbranded because their labels failed to disclose that they contain the preservatives ascorbic acid with a description of those ingredients’ functions.

Ross also points out that other producers of frozen dishes, like those under the Hungry Man and Jimmy Dean brands, use citric acid in their products without making representations that the products are preservative-free. Nestle itself makes other products like DiGiorno pizza with labels that clearly identify citric acid as a flavor protector, she claims.

Ross says she paid $3.39 for a Lean Cuisine Four Cheese Pizza from a CVS in Manhattan in September 2016. She says that in deciding to buy that particular product, she relied on the labeling that said it was preservative-free.

Because that Lean Cuisine pizza actually contains citric acid, she says, it turned out to have no value for her. Had she known the truth behind the labeling, Ross claims she never would have bought that particular pizza.

The class action lawsuit lists 37 specific Lean Cuisine products that Ross says are falsely advertised – though she makes clear that her complaint is challenging “[a]ny other Lean Cuisine product that contains citric acid and is accompanied by ‘No Preservatives’ language on the label.”

Ross proposed to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of all residents of New York who made purchases of the Lean Cuisine products at issue during the applicable statute of limitations period.

She seeks a court order requiring Nestle to stop the alleged false advertising and to engage in a corrective advertising campaign. She also seeks damages and restitution of funds derived from Nestle’s allegedly unlawful acts, plus reimbursement of court costs and attorneys’ fees.

The plaintiff is represented by attorneys C.K. Lee and Anne Selig of Lee Litigation Group PLLC.

The Lean Cuisine “No Preservatives” Class Action Lawsuit is Courtney Ross v. Nestle USA Inc., Case No. 1:16-cv-09563, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.