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A federal judge in Florida has a $3.99m deal to resolve a proposed class action accusing Kasha of misleading shopper by labeling products made with GMOs as ‘all-natural’. Kashi — which agreed to settle a similar case in California last year for $5m — was accused of misleadingly and unlawfully labeling cereals, bars, snacks and pizzas as ‘All-Natural’ and/or containing ‘Nothing Artificial’ when in fact they contain “bio-engineered, artificial and synthetic ingredients.”
The plaintiffs took particular issue with: “GMO soy, GMO soy-derivatives, GMO corn, GMO corn-derivatives, pyridoxine hydrochloride [vitamin B6], alpha-tocopherol acetate [vitamin E], hexane-processed soy ingredients, and calcium pantothenate [vitamin B5],” which they argued, a reasonable consumer would not expect to find in products labeled ‘all-natural’.
In an order on the case last fall, US district judge Joan A Lenard said the plaintiffs’ suit “sufficiently alleges that a reasonable consumer would expect a product labeled ‘all natural’ to be free of GMOs.”
While anti-GMO activists argue that GMOs are the text-book example of something that isn’t ‘natural’, other observers argue there is nothing ‘natural’ about many conventional plant breeding techniques either- and that none of the food crops grown commercially today would have occurred ‘naturally’.
While scores of ‘all-natural’ lawsuits are still moving through the courts, none have yet gone to trail. Many of these cases are withdrawn or ultimately thrown out, but mounting a defense can be costly and time consuming, and several high-profile defendants have chosen to settle to avoid the expense of protracted litigation.
Read full, original post: Judge approves $3.99m deal in Kashi GMO false advertising lawsuit
