Recently, there have been both positive and negative developments in California regarding “All Natural” consumer class action litigation. By way of background, these cases are typically brought under California’s Unfair Competition Law (Bus. & Prof. Code §17200), False Advertising Law (Bus. & Prof. Code § 17500) and Consumer Legal Remedies Act (Civ. Code §1750) regarding alleged false and misleading labels on food and beverage products.
Plaintiffs have begun to expand the focus of this litigation into new industries, including cosmetics, personal care products, and home cleaning supplies. The list of challenged ingredients also continues to expand. Additionally, some plaintiffs are pursuing claims simply where the product label contains the term “natural,” even if it did not state “100% Natural” or “All Natural.”
On the other hand, there have been a handful of recent court decisions demonstrating that a motion to dismiss these consumer class actions can succeed, including under the “reasonable consumer” test, the primary jurisdiction doctrine and standing. This is a positive trend in California, given that in many earlier cases courts routinely denied motions to dismiss, leaving defendants with two bad options—further litigation or costly settlement.
For more information on this topic, including a list of the ingredients often challenged in these lawsuits, see my article, “All Natural: Label Making: Are You a Class Action Target in California.”