Rite Aid Class Action Says Nutritional Supplements are Deceptively Labeled

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An Oregon woman says that by dodging food labeling requirements, Rite Aid is tricking customers into paying more for nutritional supplements.

Plaintiff Kaley Diann Silva claims defendant Rite Aid has been deceptively mislabeling many of its store-brand nutritional supplements to make purchasers think the packages contain more servings that they actually do.

She alleges these products are mislabeled in violation of federal and Oregon consumer protection laws.

As an example, Silva provides photos of the front and back label for a container of Rite Aid glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate supplement.

On the back label, the Supplement Facts section shows that each four-capsule serving contains 1000 milligrams of d-glucosamine sulfate and 800 milligrams of chondroitin sulfate.

But the front label indicates the supplement content per serving without stating that a full serving requires four capsules. Language on the label says “1000 mg/800 mg” and “60 capsules,” but it doesn’t indicate the serving size or how much of each ingredient is contained in each capsule.

Silva says this front label deceives consumers as to the number of servings they’re paying for when they buy the bottle. She argues the “60 capsules” indication on the front label gives the false impression that the bottle contains 60 servings, with 1000 milligrams of glucosamine and 800 milligrams of chondroitin sulfate in each capsule.

In fact, the bottle contains only 15 four-capsule servings. As a result of the alleged mislabeling, purchasers end up getting only a quarter of the servings they think they’re paying for, Silva claims.

The same problem appears on in-store price labels and on Rite Aid’s retail website, Silva says. A screen capture from the Rite Aid website shows the glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate supplement is described as “Rite Aid Glucosamine/Chondroitin, 1000/800mg 60 ea.,” with no indication of the serving size or number of servings per container. Similar information appears in a photo of an in-store price sticker.

This labeling flies in the face of specific FDA regulations, according to this Rite Aid class action lawsuit. Under FDA rules, it’s not enough to present the ingredient contents and serving size in the Supplement Facts section on the back label.

There are rules that apply specifically to the front label, requiring it to show “a declaration of the net quantity of contents” in terms of weight, measure, numerical count, or some combination of those. If a statement of numerical count doesn’t adequately represent the contents, it must be combined with other information that adequately shows how much product is contained in the package.

Several other Rite Aid store-brand supplements are promoted with the same allegedly misleading labeling, according to Silva. A Rite Aid calcium supplement has a front label that says “1000 mg” and “100 tablets” but does not mention that the 1000 milligram serving size requires two tablets.

All told, Silva’s Rite Aid class action lawsuit challenges the labeling on 11 different Rite Aid store-brand supplements. She is proposing to represent a plaintiff Class covering all persons in the U.S. who purchased one or more of these products during the applicable class period.

Silva is asking the court for temporary and permanent injunctions barring Rite Aid from mislabeling the products as described here. She seeks an award of restitution and monetary damages, plus court costs and attorney’s fees.

The plaintiff is represented by attorney Rick Klingbeil.

The Rite Aid Supplement Mislabeling Class Action Lawsuit is Silva v. Rite Aid Corp., Case No. 3:18-cv-00305-SB, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.