Walmart Natural Pita Chips Class Action Survives Motion to Dismiss

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Last week, an Illinois federal judge trimmed a class action lawsuit alleging Walmart’s Great Value All Natural Pita Chips contain synthetic, artificial and heavily-processed ingredients and are misbranded as being “all natural.”

Plaintiff Erin Terrazzino filed the Walmart class action lawsuit in early 2017 alleging that Walmart’s representation of its Great Value Pita Chips as “all natural” is false, misleading and deceptive because they contain artificial ingredients such as enriched wheat flour.

Terrazzino says she purchased the Great Value All Natural Pita Chips from Walmart’s online store. To view the ingredients, she had to either scroll through pages of web content or click on multiple tabs, the Walmart class action lawsuit says.

She filed the Walmart class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and a proposed nationwide Class of consumers who purchased at least one bag of Great Value All Natural Pita Chips from Walmart since March 3, 2012.

The plaintiff also seeks to represent an Illinois Class of consumers who purchased the pita chips from Walmart in Illinois since March 3, 2014.

The Great Value Pita Chips class action lawsuit asserted claims for breach of express warranty, unjust enrichment and violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act.

Walmart sought to dismiss the all natural pita chips class action lawsuit, arguing that Terrazzino does not have standing to bring claims on behalf of a nationwide Class because she alleges no injuries in any state other than Illinois.

U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood found that the issue of whether Terrazzino has standing to represent a nationwide Class should be addressed at the Class certification stage of the litigation, noting that Terrazzino has not yet filed a motion seeking Class certification.

Judge Wood also rejected Walmart’s bid to dismiss the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act claim, finding unpersuasive the retailer’s claim that the Great Value All Natural Pita Chips packaging discloses all ingredients on the label because, according to the Walmart class action lawsuit, it is possible to purchase the chips online without viewing the list of ingredients.

The judge also noted Terrazzino’s allegations that Walmart’s website makes it inconvenient for consumers to access the product’s list of ingredients.

Walmart also argued that the ICFA claim should be dismissed because Terrazzino failed to allege that the Great Value pita chips were worth less than the $2 she paid, or that she would have paid a lower price for other chips.

Judge Wood found that Terrazzino sufficiently alleged that she suffered actual damages by claiming she paid more for the chips because they were labeled “all natural” and that she would not have purchased the chips if she had known they were not actually “all natural.”

Judge Wood did agree with Walmart that Terrazzino failed to provide the retailer with direct notice before she filed the all natural pita chips class action lawsuit and dismissed the plaintiff’s breach of warranty claim. The judge found that Terrazzino did not allege that Walmart had actual knowledge that the pita chips weren’t all natural.

Terrazzino is represented by James X. Bormes and Catherine P. Sons of the Law Office of James X. Bormes and Kasif Khowaja of The Khowaja Law Firm LLC.

The Walmart All Natural Pita Chips Class Action Lawsuit is Erin Terrazzino v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-01731, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.