Kern’s Nectar Class Action Alleges Juice Is Not Natural

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Update:

• A California federal judge declined to certify nationwide and California classes proposed in the class action lawsuit that alleged Kern’s Nectar juice misled customers into thinking they were free of artificial flavors. 
• U.S. District Judge Linda Lopez determined that the plaintiffs, Warren Gross and Deborah Levin, failed to provide “any common evidence” to prove that a class of consumers “would have been deceived by the products’ alleged mislabeling.”
• Judge Lopez also ruled that Gross’ and Levin’s own stories about the Kern’s Nectar beverage showed that they were not actually deceived by the product’s label representations nor did their survey evidence prove that other customers thought the labels to be misleading.

(05/18/2020)

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Vilore Foods Company by consumers claiming Kern’s Nectar juices are mislabeled as “100% Natural.”

Plaintiffs Warren Gross and Deborah Levin say Kern’s “Guava Nectar,” “Apricot Nectar,” and “Peach Nectar” products are labeled as “100% Natural,” but they contain ingredients that are not natural. 

The plaintiffs claim that the beverages at issue contain a chemical known as malic acid, which is a synthetic chemical used in products to make manufactured food taste like real fruit.

Gross and Levin say that because each Kern’s Nectar juice contains additional flavoring ingredients that simulate the characteristic flavor, the front label of the products is required by law to disclose those additional flavors.

In addition, the plaintiffs state that the ingredient list violates federal and state law because it identifies malic acid only as the generic “malic acid” and not the specific non-generic name of the ingredient.

The Kern’s Nectar juice class action lawsuit also claims that the products contain undisclosed artificial flavoring made from petrochemicals.

The plaintiffs maintain that the manufacturer of Kern’s Nectar juice puts in a chemical called d-l malic acid, in the form of a racemic mixture of d- and l- isomers which makes the product taste like fresh fruit.

Gross and Levin say in their class action lawsuit that “malic acid” is not naturally occurring but is manufactured in petrochemical plants in the form of benzene or butane through a series of chemical reactions.

“Both the natural and unnatural forms of malic acid are considered GRAS (generally recognized as safe) for use as flavorings; the d-malic acid form, however, has not been extensively studied for its health effects in human beings,” the Kern’s Nectar juice class action lawsuit goes on to state.

The plaintiffs state that, because the Kern’s Nectar juice contains artificial flavor, federal and state laws require that the products display front and back label disclosures that state the product is artificially flavored.

However, the Kern’s Nectar class action lawsuit says the manufacturer of the juice at issue report the products as “100% Natural.”

The plaintiffs also maintain that they were unaware that the beverages contained artificial flavoring when they purchased them. They were under the impression that the products contained natural fruit juice.

“When purchasing the Products, Plaintiffs were seeking a product of particular qualities that were flavored only with the natural ingredients claimed on the label and which did not contain artificial flavoring,” the Kern’s Nectar juice class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs claim that California’s Health & Safety Code states that any food is considered misbranded if it contains any artificial flavoring, artificial coloring, or chemical preservative, unless it is labeled as such.

Gross and Levin say they lost money as a result of the defendant’s conduct as they purchased a prodcut that contained artificial flavors. The plaintiffs go on to say that the defendant’s have gained an unfair advantage by marketing and distributing misbranded products.

The buyers claim that competing natural fruit juice products, such as Meadow Gold, Value Time and Tang accurately label their artificially flavored fruit juices as “Artificially Flavored.”

The defendant, however, conceals the use of artificial flavoring, which allows them to unfairly compete in the marketplace, the plaintiffs state.

 “Plaintiffs were deceived by and relied upon the Product’s deceptive labeling, and specifically the omission of the legally required notice that it contained artificial flavorings,” the Kern’s Nectar juice class action lawsuit maintains.

The plaintiffs claim that they purchased the products thinking they were naturally flavored, based on the product’s deceptive labeling, as well as the failure to disclose that the product was artificially flavored.

Gross and Levin say that, because they reasonably assumed that the juices were free of artificial flavors, they did not receive the benefits of their purchases.

They claim they received a product that was unlawfully labeled and deceived the consumer into believing that it was naturally flavored.

The Kern’s Nectar class action alleges that the plaintiffs would not have purchased the products if they knew that it wasn’t natural fruit juice.

The plaintiffs go on to say that the products were worth less than what they paid for, and that they would not have paid as much as they did absent the defendant’s false and misleading statements.

Prospective Class Members include: “All U.S. citizens who purchased the Product in California on or after June 1, 2014, excluding Defendant and Defendant’s officers, directors, employees, agents, and affiliates, and the Court and its staff.”

Did you purchase Kern’s Nectar juice thinking it was 100% natural? Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiffs are represented by Ronald A. Marron and Michael T. Houchin of the Law Offices of Ronald A. Marron, as well as David Elliot of the Elliot Law Firm.

The Kern’s Nectar Juice Class Action Lawsuit is Gross, et al. v. Vilore Foods Co. Inc., Case No. 3:20-cv-00894, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

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