Crisco Oil False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit

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A class action lawsuit filed Monday accuses J.M. Smucker Co. of falsely advertising that its Crisco cooking oils are all natural, even though they’re heavily processed and made from genetically modified crops.

Plaintiff Adrianna Ault alleges in the Crisco class action lawsuit that she only purchased the cooking oils based on their “all natural” labeling claims, and would not have purchased them or paid as much as she did if she knew the truth. Ault says Smucker targets consumers like her who are willing to pay more for an all-natural product.

“Although the products are not ‘all natural,’ or natural at all, defendant prominently labels every bottle of the products sold in the United States as ‘all natural.’ Defendant does this because consumers perceive all natural foods as better, healthier and more wholesome,” Ault says in the class action lawsuit.

The cooking oils at issue include Crisco Pure Vegetable Oil, Crisco Pure Canola Oil, Crisco Pure Corn Oil and Crisco Natural Blend Oil.

“These oils are not natural at all, for two independent reasons,” the class action lawsuit states. “First, the Products are made from genetically modified crops… GM crops are not natural, but man-made…. Second, the products are so heavily processed that they bear no chemical resemblance to the ingredients from which they were derived. Through heavy industrialized processing, Crisco oils have become man-made, rather than natural. Ironically, the GM attributes of the ingredients persist after this heavy processing because the changes are chemical, an not genetic.”

The argument that the ingredients are technically “man made” is relatively new to class action lawsuits involving all-natural claims. It will be interesting to see how the judge rules on this assertion and the GM issue.

As the Crisco oil class action lawsuit points out, the use and labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is subject to both controversy and a variety of laws, regulations and protocols worldwide. Consumers are increasingly turning to class action lawsuits to hold companies accountable for not letting them know products are made with GMO ingredients. The cases are still new, so no official stance on the issue has been made in the courts.

The Crisco oil class action lawsuit is seeking to represent all consumers who purchased the Crisco “Pure” or “Natural” oil products since May 15, 2009. It is seeking actual damages, punitive damages, statutory damages and more for the alleged false advertising and deceptive labeling of the products.

The Crisco “All Natural” Oil Class Action Lawsuit case is Ault v. J.M. Smucker Co. et al., Case No. 13-cv-03409, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Ault is represented by Bruce Greenberg, Mayra Tarantino and Jeffrey Shooman of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC, Tina Wolfson and Robert Ahdoot of Ahdoot & Wolfson PC and Timothy Blood and Leslie Hurst of Blood Hurst O’Reardon LLP.

UPDATE: A federal judge denied a motion by J.M. Smucker to dismiss the Crisco oil class action lawsuit on May 15, 2014. The case continues.