Pampers Class Action Says ‘Natural Clean’ Wipes Aren’t Natural

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A New York woman says Pampers Natural Clean baby wipes actually contain synthetic ingredients, rendering their “natural” labeling false and misleading.

Plaintiff Tyoka Brumfield says defendant Procter & Gamble Co. falsely represents that some of its baby wipes products are “natural” when in fact they use ingredients that most consumers would consider non-natural.

She accuses the defendant of misleading consumers into paying a premium for a product they might not have bought at all otherwise.

“There is nothing comparatively natural about the Wipes,” Brumfield claims. “They contain substantially the same ingredients as Defendant’s non-natural wipe offerings.”

Therefore, Brumfield argues, the only reason a consumer would choose Pampers Natural Clean baby wipes over similar products is because of the defendant’s representation that the product is “natural.”

According to this Pampers class action lawsuit, the baby wipes at issue are made with several ingredients that can’t reasonably be considered natural and that may even be dangerous. Brumfield says these baby wipes contain disodium EDTA, sorbitan caprylate, xanthan gum, and other allegedly non-natural ingredients.

Until the end of 2015, she claims, Pampers Natural Clean wipes also contained phenoxyethanol, which according to the U.S Food and Drug Administration can “depress the central nervous system and may cause vomiting and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration in infants.”

She quotes a report by French health regulators that states phenoxyethanol should be avoided in products intended for use on infants and children under the age of three, due to a risk of reproductive and developmental toxicity.

Brumfield says Procter & Gamble knew about these reports, yet continued to put phenoxyethanol in its Pampers Natural Clean wipes anyway.

Brumfield says she has made numerous purchases of Pampers Natural Clean baby wipes from retailers in Manhattan and Brooklyn between late 2014 and early 2017. She says she understood the phrase “Natural Clean” to mean that the wipes contained no synthetic chemicals, and certainly no chemicals that could harm her child.

Had she known that the label’s representation was false, she claims, she would not have purchased Pampers Natural Clean baby wipes. Her Pampers class action lawsuit raises claims of false advertising and deceptive business practices under the New York General Business Law.

Brumfield is proposing to represent a plaintiff Class covering all persons who purchased Pampers Natural Clean wipes in the state of New York.

She is asking the court to certify her proposed Class and to appoint her as class representative and her attorneys as class counsel. She seeks an award of compensatory, statutory and punitive damages, restitution and other forms of equitable relief, and reimbursement of court costs and attorney fees, all with pre- and post-judgment interest.

Brumfield is represented by attorneys Yitzchak Kopel, Scott A. Bursor, Joseph I. Marchese, Neal J. Deckant, and Frederick J. Klorczyk III of Bursor & Fisher PA.

The Pampers Natural Clean Wipes Mislabeling Class Action Lawsuit is Brumfield v. Procter & Gamble Co., Case No. 1:17-cv-08095, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.