Quaker Oats Class Action Says Oatmeal is Falsely Advertised

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Quaker Oats now faces two different class action lawsuits alleging the company falsely labels some of its oatmeal products as containing maple syrup or maple sugar when in fact they do not.

Plaintiff Courtney Drey says Quaker Oats labeling for several of its flavored oatmeal products include the words “Maple & Brown Sugar” and an image of a glass pitcher of maple syrup.

In her Quaker Oats class action lawsuit, Drey says she purchased Quaker Oats oatmeal several times. She reasonably relied on the company’s representations that the product contained real maple syrup or real maple sugar, she says.

If Quaker Oats had not allegedly misrepresented the ingredients in its products, Drey says she either would not have purchased them or would have offered to pay substantially less.

Aggravating the defendant’s alleged culpability is the fact that consumers generally consider maple syrup to be a premium ingredient, Drey argues. She says maple syrup has greater nutritional value than other sweeteners thanks to its abundance of naturally-occurring minerals and antioxidants.

Labeling food as containing maple syrup allows a company to command a premium price for that item, she says. But Drey states that Quaker Oats willfully exploited this impression among consumers to charge a premium price without delivering the premium ingredients promised.

Drey claims support for her position from the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association and more than ten other industry organizations. She quotes a statement from the Association saying that the alleged “unchecked misbranding” harms manufacturers who include real maple syrup in their products because it allows manufacturers of cheaper products to compete unfairly.

This class action lawsuit comes shortly after another Quaker Oats class action lawsuit was filed in California making almost identical allegations.

Drey says Quaker Oats’s actions violate the consumer protection statutes of every U.S. state, making them a suitable basis for a nationwide class action lawsuit. She also alleges those actions amount to common law fraud, misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment.

In Drey’s lawsuit, she seeks to represent a nationwide Class that consists of all persons in the U.S. who purchased the following specific Quaker Oats products:

• Quaker Oats Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal (Classic Recipe)
• Quaker Oats Maple & Brown Sugar High Fiber Instant Oatmeal
• Quaker Oats Maple & Brown Sugar Gluten Free Instant Oatmeal
• Quaker Oats Maple & Brown Lower Sugar Instant Oatmeal
• Quaker Oats Maple & Brown Sugar Weight Control Instant Oatmeal
• Quaker Oats Maple & Brown Sugar Organic Instant Oatmeal

She is also proposing a subclass consisting of those Class Members who reside in California.

Drey is asking the court to award actual damages to cover the Class’s losses, punitive damages to deter Quaker Oats from similar conduct in the future, and reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and costs of the litigation. She also wants a court order stopping Quaker Oats from continuing to allegedly mislabel its oatmeal products.

Plaintiff’s counsel is James P. Batson and Christopher V. Langone, both of Chicago.

The Quaker Oatmeal Misbranding Class Action Lawsuit is Drey v. The Quaker Oats Co., Case No. 1:16-CV-04293, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: On Oct. 10, 2017, a California federal judge dismissed a consolidated class action lawsuit that accused Quaker Oats Co. of misleading consumers by selling Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal that didn’t actually contain real maple syrup or maple sugar.