Tabatchnick Class Action Claims Soups are Falsely Labeled as ‘All Natural’

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The presence of genetically modified ingredients makes the “all natural” labeling on Tabatchnick Fine Foods’ soups false and misleading, according to a customer from Florida.

In a false advertising class action lawsuit, plaintiff Jerome Ramsaran claims he would not have bought soup made by defendant Tabatchnick Fine Foods Inc. had he known they contain ingredients derived from genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.

Tabatchnick Fine Foods is a New Jersey-based maker of ready-made soups that are marketed at grocery stores for consumption at home.

According to Ramsaran’s false advertising class action lawsuit, both he and members of the proposed Class relied on the “all natural” indicator on the packaging when they decided to buy Tabatchnick soups.

He claims consumers would reasonably expect such labeling to mean that the product contains only “wholesome ingredients untouched by scientific modifications.” But it wasn’t until after he purchased these products that Ramsaran says he discovered they were made with “bioengineered, artificial and synthetic ingredients.”

Ramsaran argues that no food product can be truthfully labeled as “all natural” if it contains GMO ingredients.

According to his false advertising class action lawsuit, agricultural giant Monsanto defines GMOs as “any organism the genetics of which have been altered through the use of modern biotechnology to create a novel combination of genetic material.”

Americans at large are concerned about the possible health effects that could be linked to GMO foods, Ramsaran claims. He alludes to various polls in which consumers express a preference for better regulation and labeling of GMO foods.

The presence of GMO ingredients in foods raises concerns related not just to human health but also to environmental and economic concerns, he claims. Concerned purchasers are inclined to choose products with an “all natural” label and are willing to pay a premium for such products, he says.

In reliance on the defendants’ “all natural” labeling, Ramsaran says he bought four different varieties of Tabatchnick soups from an Aventura, Fla. supermarket in December 2016.

He says he read and believed the “all natural” representation on the products’ labeling and understood those representations to mean that the soups did not contain any genetically modified or artificial ingredients. Had he known otherwise, he says he would not have bought those soups.

Ramsaran lists 19 specific Tabatchnick soups, from Tabatchnick Balsamic Tomato and Rice Soup to Tabatchnick Yankee Bean Soup, that he says are labeled with the allegedly false advertising at issue here.

Ramsaran is proposing to represent a plaintiff Class that would cover all U.S. persons who purchased a Tabatchnick product containing a GMO ingredient within the four years preceding the filing of this false advertising class action lawsuit.

He is asking for a court order barring Tabatchnick from continuing the allegedly unfair and deceptive practices complained of here. He is also seeking an award of damages, restitution, disgorgement of revenues related to the allegedly unlawful practices, court costs and attorneys’ fees, all with pre- and post-judgment interest.

Ramsaran is represented by attorneys Angela Arango-Chaffin and Alexander J. Korolinsky.

The Tabatchnick “Natural” Soups Class Action Lawsuit is Jerome Ramsaran v. Tabatchnick Fine Foods Inc., Case No. 0:17-cv-60794, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.