Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
A New York woman has filed a class action lawsuit against McCormick & Company Inc., challenging representations that dozens of its products are “natural.”
In a new false advertising class action lawsuit, plaintiff Megan Holve says a range of food products from McCormick are labeled “natural” in a way that is “false, misleading and likely to deceive reasonable consumers.”
Holve says the products at issue actually contain synthetic ingredients that no reasonable consumer would consider “natural.”
The plaintiff claims McCormick labels these products as “natural” to take advantage of consumers’ preference for food that avoids artificial ingredients.
She cites research by the Consumers’ Union that shows 86 percent of consumers understand that a “natural” label indicates a product that contains no artificial ingredients.
Consumers perceive natural foods as being “healthier, better, and more wholesome,” she says. For that reason, they’re willing to pay a premium for natural foods.
According to Holve, McCormick exploits that preference by falsely labeling many of its products as “natural” and charging a higher price than what consumers would be willing to pay if the products were not so mislabeled.
Holve says she bought McCormick Herbes de Provence Roasted Chicken & Potatoes mix sometime during 2014. She says she relied on the indication that the product was “natural” when she chose to buy it. Had she known the product contained synthetic ingredients, Holve says, she never would have bought it.
The plaintiff calls out a list of 29 specific McCormick seasoning blends and gravy mixes, and she makes clear that her McCormick class action lawsuit also implicates “All other substantially similar Products.”
The McCormick products Holve says are falsely labeled as “natural” include the following:
- Adobe Seasoning with Pepper Adobo con Pimenta
- Au Jus Gravy Mix
- Bourbon Spiced Pork
- Brown Gravy Mix
- Brown Gravy Mix – 30% Less Sodium
- Chicken Gravy Mix
- Chicken Gravy Mix – 30% Less Sodium
- Creamy Parmesan and Sun Dried Tomato Penne – Recipe and Seasoning Mix
- Fiesta Citrus Seasoning
- Garlic & White Wine Chicken Scaloppine – Recipe and Seasoning Mix
- Herbes de Provence Chicken and Potatoes – Recipe and Seasoning Mix
- Herb Gravy Mix for Beef
- Hollandaise Sauce Mix
- Homestyle Country Gravy Mix
- Homestyle Gravy Mix
- Mexican Seasoning
- Mushroom Gravy Mix
- Onion Gravy Mix
- Original Country Gravy
- Peppered Country Gravy Mix
- Pork Gravy Mix
- Roasted Garlic and Bell Pepper Seasoning
- Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning
- Sausage Flavor Country Gravy Mix
- Smoked Paprika Chicken Taco – Recipe and Seasoning Mix
- Southwest Seasoning
- Total Seasoning for Beef
- Total Seasoning for Chicken and Fish
- Turkey Flavor Gravy Mix
She alleges these products contain ingredients like citric acid and other ingredients derived from genetically-modified corn – ingredients no reasonable consumer would consider “natural.”
This false advertising class action lawsuit comes at a time when McCormick already has its hands full with several other false advertising class action lawsuits alleging the company underfills its tins of ground black pepper.
Plaintiffs in that class action allege McCormick responded to an increase in the price of black pepper by underfilling tins while at the same time raising its retail price. Several different McCormick class action lawsuits that raised the same issue were consolidated in a single federal court in D.C. in 2015.
In Holve’s mislabeling class action lawsuit, she seeks to represent a plaintiff Class that includes all persons in the U.S. who purchased any of the McCormick products at issue for their own use within the last four years.
She also proposes a New York Class, which would include all New York residents who purchased one of the products within six years prior to filing this class action.
The plaintiff seeks a court order requiring McCormick to stop using “unnatural, synthetic, artificial, and/or genetically modified ingredients” in its products – or in the alternative, to stop representing that such products are “natural.” She also seeks an award of damages, restitution, court costs and attorneys’ fees.
Holve is represented by attorney David M. Kaplan, who is joined by attorneys Michael R. Reese and George V. Granade of Reese LLP and Joshua H. Eggnatz and Benjamin M. Lopatin of Eggnatz, Lopatin & Pascucci LLP.
The McCormick “Natural” False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Holve v. McCormick & Company Inc., Case No. 6:16-cv-06702, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, Rochester Division.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru vehicle data collection class action lawsuit investigation
May 17, 2024 | Legal News
134 thoughts onMcCormick Class Action Says Seasonings Falsely Labeled as ‘Natural’
I use these products all the time does this apply in Oklahoma?
Can never fugure out how to participate in some of these procceses that seem just to be posted. Is there a way to register?
The case is still moving through the courts and has not yet reached a settlement. Claim forms are usually not made available to consumers until after a court approved settlement is reached. We recommend you sign up for a free account at TopClassActions.com and follow the case. We will update the article with any major case developments or settlement news! Setting up a free account with Top Class Actions will allow you to receive instant updates on ANY article that you ‘Follow’ on our website. A link to creating an account may be found here: https://topclassactions.com/signup/. You can then ‘Follow’ the article above, and get notified immediately when we post updates!
I use this all the time
Keep me up dated
I always buy McCormick seasons and the gravy mixes I spend about $20.00 a month
McCormick has been around for a long time. Why someone would go and file a lawsuit against the makers is ridiculous. If anyone has a disagreement with the product, then don’t use it. Is it going to hurt anyone if their ingredients isn’t all natural? The flavor is still going to remain the same. It’s time for people to calm down and relax.
You can’t tell people your product is “natural” if it isn’t.
Too many people are lawsuit happy and when it’s class action, the only ones that benefit are the lawyers.
I’d be interested to see just WHAT the labels said. In the example above it just says natural spices – it does not say the entire product is natural.
Also, why doesn’t anyone READ THE INGREDIENTS?
In this country businesses are never fined by the government so class actions are the only way to do it. In Finland the lying bankers went to jail, none of the USA bank fraudsters was even prosecuted much less charged with a crime. In the USA the heads of the tobacco companies appeared before Congress and swore their products were safe, then evidence came out they all knew cigarettes cause cancer and had been hiding it for decades. Not one of them was charged with contempt of congress or lying under oath, much less for all the deaths they caused. The USgov kisses the behinds of business. Class actions are the only way to cause pain to businesses. Wait, we could do as China does in severe cases — they try the CEOs and then execute them, or they commit suicide. Be a lot less fraud if the most severe punishments were handed down onto business people who are educated and know better. Is a murder bad? Sure. But what about the chemical murder of thousands of people — far worse. Who goes to jail– the murderer or the mass murdering business people?
We are being exposed to more chemicals everyday obesity is on the rise and cancer is still very bad for you if you want a product that’s the same in the pack as it is in the ground and your willing to pay a premium for it. Then they shouldn’t be able to dump a bunch of chemicals in a packet and call it natural and laugh at the idiots for buying anything.
I use the Adobo as well as several others of the products listed above and I live in New York. How can I join this class action?
The case is still moving through the courts and has not yet reached a settlement. Claim forms are usually not made available to consumers until after a court approved settlement is reached. We recommend you sign up for a free account at TopClassActions.com and follow the case. We will update the article with any major case developments or settlement news! Setting up a free account with Top Class Actions will allow you to receive instant updates on ANY article that you ‘Follow’ on our website. A link to creating an account may be found here: https://topclassactions.com/signup/. You can then ‘Follow’ the article above, and get notified immediately when we post updates!
topclassactions.com does not “Follow” up on any of the actions I have requested.Good luck with this one!
Please email us any questions or concerns at questions@TopClassActions.com. We’d love to hear your feedback and address your concerns!
Thanks for the information I really want in on this one because I have used McCormick gravy mixes and spices for ever and always believing that they were natural and now to find that they are mislabeling it’s really a disappointment.
Same as above concerns, but I live in Wisconsin. Have bought & used many varieties of these mixes.
I use this gravy all the time does this apply in Louisiana?
I use this quite frequently
Does this apply in Hawaii? I use gravy and Adobo all the time