McDonald’s Customers Make Pleas to Keep Vanilla Ice Cream Class Action Lawsuit Alive

UPDATE 2: 

• On April 23, 2021, an amended complaint in the McDonald’s vanilla class action lawsuit was filed. Top Class Actions will continue to provide updates as we learn more.

UPDATE:

• On March 24, 2021, a California federal judge dismissed the McDonald’s vanilla class action lawsuit, but gave the plaintiff 30 days to amend their claims.

Plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against McDonald’s are standing by their claims that consumers expect real vanilla to be in their vanilla ice creams. The argument was made in a 31-page opposition refuting a motion by the fast-food giant to have the case dismissed.

The move is the latest in a legal fight over McDonald’s ice cream, the vanilla bean, and what it means to be vanilla flavored.

Earlier this month McDonald’s argued that it’s “utterly implausible” for a reasonable consumer to believe their vanilla ice cream’s flavor came from vanilla beans.

“A reasonable consumer ordering a soft serve cone at a quick-service restaurant understands, based on experience and common sense, that the term ‘vanilla’ on the menu board refers only to the flavor, not the ingredients,” the company asserted in its motion to dismiss. 

Lead plaintiff Eugina Harris fired back saying McDonald’s is wrong about consumers’ ice cream expectations. Top Class Actions is committed to helping right consumer wrongs by reporting on lawsuits filed over misleading claims. We’ll follow the legal action and let you know if a settlement is reached.

Class Action Lawsuit: Nothing Natural About McDonald’s Vanilla Ice Cream

Harris filed the class action lawsuit last September, after learning the fast food chain’s vanilla cones aren’t made from authentic vanilla beans. She argues consumers are being deceived and paying a premium for ingredients that aren’t natural.

McDonald’s markets the ice cream as being a premium product, with natural flavorings, Harris said in the initial complaint. She claims that she took the use of “natural” to mean the ice cream contained vanilla beans not vanillin, its synthetic counterpart. 

Harris responded to McDonald’s request to toss the case on the grounds that most people don’t expect vanilla beans as an ingredient in its ice cream. 

Harris rejected this sentiment, pointing to a previous case that determined that a “reasonable consumer” shouldn’t have to look beyond the front label to find out the real ingredients. At a minimum, Harris says, “artificial vanilla” should be listed, not “vanilla” as the flavoring ingredient. 

Class Action Lawsuit Dismissed

US District Judge Richard Seeborg issued an order on March 24, 2021, tossing the plaintiffs’ claims.

McDonald’s “motion to dismiss is granted, with leave to amend, for failure to allege sufficient facts to support a plausible claim of misrepresentation and economic injury,” stated the order.

Plaintiffs will have 30 days to amend their claims to address problems identified by Judge Seeborg. Specifically, the judge found that the class action failed to show “more than a sheer possibility that reasonable consumers would be misled” into thinking McDonald’s vanilla ice cream contained real vanilla.

The judge also concluded that the plaintiff had failed to establish that consumers paid any sort of premium on the ice cream based on representations about its vanilla flavor, tossing claims for economic injury.

Despite dumping the main claims, the judge rejected other arguments by McDonald’s in favor of dismissal.

Class Action Lawsuits Challenge Vanilla Flavored Foods

Harris isn’t the first consumer to take issue with the alleged lack of real vanilla in McDonald’s vanilla ice cream. In March 2020, plaintiffs in New York filed a similar class action lawsuit claiming that consumers were deceived by the restaurant.

“The representations are misleading because though the flavor is represented as vanilla, the vanilla taste and flavor is not provided exclusively by vanilla but from non-vanilla sources,” plaintiff Emelina Webber asserted in the class action lawsuit.

Harris’ legal representation, Sheehan & Associates, has reportedly worked on more than 100 lawsuits surrounding the use of vanilla as ingredients, according to Inside Edition. 

Many of those legal actions are still active, including a fight against Orgain Vanilla Almond Milk, Core Powder protein shakes and vanilla flavored Monster drinks. 

A class action lawsuit against Califia Farms challenging its vanilla almond milk claims settled with Class Members getting paid.

What do you think about these class action lawsuits filed over vanilla flavored food? Do you expect your McDonald’s ice cream to be made with real vanilla? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below!

Harris is represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC and Scott C. Borison of Borison Firm LLC. 

The McDonald’s Vanilla Ice Cream Class Action Lawsuit is Harris v. McDonald’s Corp., Case No. 3:20-cv-06533-RS, in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. 

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