Weleda Class Action Says ‘Natural’ Products Contain Artificial Ingredients

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 man claims Weleda products are falsely advertised as “natural” even though they contain many synthetic ingredients.

Plaintiff Russell Hughes claims dozens of products marketed by defendant Weleda Inc. are falsely labeled as “natural” when in fact they contain ingredients that have gone through a substantial amount of non-natural processing. Promoting products this way violates applicable federal and state consumer protection laws, he claims.

The Weleda class action lists more than 40 different Weleda products that are allegedly mislabeled. The list includes toothpastes, soaps, shower gels, body washes, lotions, hand creams, body creams, massage oils, shampoos, conditioners and hair oils, all with wholesome-sounding ingredients in their names like oat, rosemary, calendula and pomegranate.

But a look at the Weleda products’ ingredient lists reveals dozens of ingredients that Hughes says no reasonable consumer would consider “natural.”

Lactic acid, for example, must be synthetically derived for use as a food additive. Glyceryl stearate is recognized in federal regulations as a synthetic substance, Hughes says. Xanthan gum, which has allegedly been linked to illness and death in infants, is derived from sugars that must be fermented and then purified with isopropyl alcohol.

Hughes says he purchased Weleda Calendula Toothpaste and Weleda Men Active Shower Gel from a shop in New York State. In choosing those products, he says, he relied on representations on their labeling that described them as being “natural” or “certified natural.”

According to Hughes, representations like these induce consumers to pay a premium for Weleda products over what they would have paid otherwise.

Consumers value all natural products over others that contain artificial ingredients, he says, and they’re willing to pay more for a product labeled “natural.” By including synthetic ingredients in products labeled “natural,” Weleda gets to charge a higher retail price while using less expensive ingredients, Hughes claims.

“Given that Plaintiff and Class Members paid a premium for the Products based on Defendant’s misrepresentations that they are ‘Certified Natural’ and/or ‘Natural’, Plaintiff and Class Members suffered an injury in the amount of the premium paid,” he argues.

Furthermore, even though the allegedly non-natural ingredients are disclosed on the products’ labels, the average consumer doesn’t have the expert knowledge required to discern that those ingredients are in fact natural, Hughes claims. He says consumers are entitled to rely on the label’s “natural” and “certified natural” representations.

Hughes proposes to bring this Weleda class action lawsuit on behalf of a nationwide plaintiff Class consisting of all persons who purchased the Weleda products at issue anywhere within the U.S.

He seeks a court order requiring Weleda to correct its practices so that they comply with applicable consumer protection laws. He is also asking for an award of damages, court costs, attorneys’ fees and expert witness fees.

The plaintiff is represented by attorneys Jason P. Sultzer, Joseph Lipari and Adam Gonelli of The Sultzer Law Group PC and by Jeffrey Brown of Leeds Brown Law PC.

The Weleda “Natural” Products Class Action Lawsuit is Russell Hughes v. Weleda Inc., Case No. 7:17-cv-02494, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.