Silk Almond Milk Co. Seeks Dismissal of False Advertising Class Action

The maker of Silk Almond milk is fighting back against a class action lawsuit arguing that the claims against the product are nothing more than “an attack on the entire plant-based beverage industry.”

Plaintiff Melanie Kelley brings this class action lawsuit to address if Silk almond products can actually be called “almond milk.”

She centers her argument to address if defendant WhiteWave Foods can use the term “almond milk” to “describe this line of products without engendering consumer deception as to whether almond milk is the same as milk that comes from a cow.”

Kelley is accusing WhiteWave of falsely misrepresenting their products as superior or equal to dairy milk, and contends that they must be labeled as “imitation.”

According to the defendant’s counter, the allegations made by the plaintiff that they misrepresent and falsely advertise their products as a “healthy alternative to dairy milk,” is inaccurate and a “waste of time.”

“The fact that the FDA has standardized milk does not categorically preclude a company from giving any food product a name that includes the word ‘milk,’” the defendant states. “Moreover, the name ‘almondmilk’ accurately describes the nature and content of the Silk Almondmilk products, while ‘clearly distinguishing them from milk that is derived from dairy cows.’”

Kelley argues that Silk Almond beverages, “cannot contain the word ‘milk’ without violating the FDA standard of identity of dairy milk.”

However, WhiteWave contends that consumers are capable of reasoning that “almond milk” has no nutritional equivalency to “milk” nor would a consumer be, “confused by factually accurate marketing statements highlighting certain nutritional differences between the two beverages.”

The Silk Almond products at the center of this issue include:

• Silk Vanilla Almondmilk
• Silk Original Almondmilk
• Silk Organic Original Almondmilk
• Silk Dark Chocolate Almondmilk
• Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almondmilk
• Silk Unsweetened Almondmilk
• Silk Light Vanilla Almondmilk
• Silk Light Original Almondmilk

The Silk Almond class action lawsuit contends that the defendant’s practices are in violation of California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, California’s Unfair Competition Law, and California’s False Advertising Law.

However, WhiteWave argues that the marketing, ingredients list, and nutritional panels are not incorrect, but rather, the plaintiff is alleging that California state law should formulate a “new set of labeling requirements on plant-based beverages.”

Plaintiff demands that WhiteWave: 1) represent their products as “imitation milk,” 2) allow consumers to compare nutritional values to dairy milk, and 3) allow their products to adhere more closely to dairy milk or 4) end their use of using the term “milk” with their plant-based products.

Kelley is represented by Lee A. Cirsch, Robert K. Friedl, and Trisha K. Monesi of the Capstone Law APC.

The Silk Almond Milk Class Action Lawsuit is Melanie Kelley v. WWF Operating Co., Case No. 1:17-cv-00117, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.