ConAgra Faces Fleischmann’s Margarine Trans Fat Class Action Lawsuit

On Tuesday, a class action was filed against ConAgra Foods Inc. alleging that the company misleads consumers about the health effects of its Fleischmann’s brand margarines and vegetable oil spreads.

The ConAgra class action lawsuit takes issue with the food manufacturer’s use of partially hydrogenated oil (PHO) in its margarine, which the complaint claims is an artificially created trans fat linked to numerous health problems like “cardiovascular heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.”

The ConAgra false advertising class action complaint cites numerous studies to assert that “There is no evidence that [artificial trans fats] provide any health benefit, and they are certainly harmful,” and, “There is ‘no safe level’ of PHO or artificial trans fat intake.”

According to the lawsuit, in June of 2015 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined that PHO is unsafe to use in foods and will begin enforcing a ban on PHO in 2018.

Moreover, the false advertising lawsuit states that evidence of the health risks associated with PHO “is more than 20 years old.” Trans fats have been banned in restuarants in New York City since 2006, and in California since 2008. The ConAgra lawsuit claims that Denmark limited trans fat to just 2 percent of calories in all foods in 2004, which “did not appreciably affect the quality, cost or availability of food.”

“Although safe, low-cost, and commercially acceptable alternatives to PHO exist, including those used in competing brands and even in other ConAgra products, ConAgra unfairly elects not to use these safe alternatives in Fleischmann’s in order to increase profit at the expense of the health of consumers,” the class action asserts.

In addition, the artificial trans fat class action alleges that Fleischmann’s brand margarine was deceptively advertised. ConAgra marketed its margarine as “maintaining your healthy lifestyle” because it contained “70% less saturated fats than butter” and “100% less cholesterol than butter.” The complaint alleges that those statements are misleading, especially because butter contains no artificial trans fats. Furthermore, ConAgra violated California law by omitting the artificial butter flavor added to its margarine, according to the class action complaint.

Plaintiff Troy Backus claims that he purchased and ate Fleischmann’s margarine products about once a month for several years, relying on ConAgra’s health claims. Backus states that he learned about the health effects of artificial trans fat and ConAgra’s continued use of PHO in October of 2015, and that he would not have purchased Fleischmann’s brand margarine without the misleading health claims on its labeling.

Backus seeks to represent a class of “All persons who purchased in the United States, on or after January 1, 2008, for household or personal use, Fleischmann’s products manufactured or distributed by ConAgra, Inc. and containing partially hydrogenated oil.” Backus asks the court to make ConAgra stop using PHO in its food products, stop its deceptive advertising, pay for a correctvie advertising campaign to increase awareness of PHO, and pay damages to all class members.

Plaintiff Troy Backus is represented by Gregory S. Weston and David Elliot of The West Firm.

The ConAgra Fleischmann’s Margarine Trans Fat Class Action Lawsuit is Troy Backus v. ConAgra Foods Inc., Case No.3:16-cv-00454, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.