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The makers of Just Mayo sandwich spread products was hit with a false advertising class action lawsuit because the products allegedly do not contain any mayonnaise.
Plaintiff Leah Davis filed the class action lawsuit in a Florida circuit court against Just Mayo maker Hampton Creek, Inc., alleging that the label is deceiving because of the lack of mayonnaise in the product.
“Despite its name Just Mayo does not contain mayonnaise and is not mayonnaise at all,” the Just Mayo class action lawsuit says.
According to the false advertising class action lawsuit, Hampton Creek gives the impression that Just Mayo is mayonnaise because of what the label says.
Davis alleges that the Just Mayo maker “knew and purposely misrepresented” that its sandwich spread product doesn’t contain mayonnaise.
The word “mayo” according to the dictionary and common usage is defined as “mayonnaise, the Just Mayo false advertising class action lawsuit explains.
“Under federal regulations, common dictionary definitions, and as consumers understand it, ‘mayonnaise’ or ‘mayo’ is a product that contains eggs,” Davis says in her class action lawsuit. “There are no eggs in Just Mayo.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “defines mayonnaise as ‘the emulsified semi-solid food prepared from vegetable oil(s),’ an ‘acidifying’ ingredient of either vinegar or lemon or lime juice, or both, and an ‘egg yolk-containing’ ingredient,” the Just Mayo class action lawsuit says.
The false labeling class action lawsuit cites the Congressional Research Service, which has written that this definition is made clear to “protect the consumer by ensuring that a label accurately reflects what’s inside (for example, that mayonnaise is not an imitation spread.)”
According to the false advertising class action lawsuit, the deceptive nature of the Just Mayo is further highlighted by the fact that the product “features a giant image of an egg” on its label and “in advertising for Just Mayo.”
In addition, “Hampton Creek has also explicitly referred to Just Mayo as ‘mayo’ and ‘mayonnaise’ in its advertising.”
The Just Mayo class action lawsuit alleges that until recently, the website used the word mayonnaise to describe the product, saying that “Just Mayo is an outrageously delicious mayonnaise.”
Davis explains that “because it is not mayonnaise, Just Mayo does not perform like real mayonnaise when it is heated.” Instead of binding ingredients together because of the presence of eggs, “when it is heated, its oils separate and do not bind the ingredients together.”
The ingredients allegedly listed on the Just Mayo product include “Non-GMO Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Filtered Water, Lemon Juice, White Vinegar, 2% or less of the following: Organic Sugar, Salt, Pea Protein, Spices, Modified Food Starch, Beta-Carotene.”
The deceptive marketing class action lawsuit claims that “had plaintiff and the class been aware that Just Mayo was, in fact, not mayonnaise, they would not have purchased Just Mayo, or would have paid less for the product.”
Davis is looking to represent a class of Florida residents who have purchased Just Mayo in The Sunshine State.
The Just Mayo class action lawsuit is charging Hampton Creek with violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and with unjust enrichment.
Hampton Creek was hit with a lawsuit by the makers of Best Foods and Hellman’s mayonnaise over the alleged false advertising of Just Mayo, but dropped the case voluntarily to give Hampton Creek a chance to make changes to its products’ labels.
Davis is represented by Nathan C. Zipperian, Scott R. Shepherd and James C. Shah ofShepherd Finkelman Miller & Shah LLP and Jeffrey S. Goldberg and Todd B. Naylor of Goldenberg Schneider LPA.
Counsel information for Hampton Creek was unavailable.
The Just Mayo False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Davis et al. v. Hampton Creek Inc., Case No. 2015-5993-CA, in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.
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