Lindemuth-Miles Article on Food Labeling Class Actions Published

“Action-Snacked Year: Food Labeling Class Actions On The Rise,” an article by Akin Gump litigation counsel Stephanie Lindemuth and associate Shanna Miles has been published by The Temple 10-Q, Temple University’s Beasley School of Law’s business law magazine. Shanna Miles is herself an alumna of Temple’s law school.

The article, which previously ran in a longer version in New York Law Journal (see here), discusses the increase in the frequency of filings of U.S. consumer class action lawsuits targeting foods for allegedly false and misleading labeling—an increase of 30 percent nationwide in 2020 over 2019.

The authors note, “Although this trend may appear to threaten the food and beverage industry with the prospect of endless court entanglements and expensive nationwide discovery, in the New York federal courts these cases are increasingly being dismissed early before gaining any traction.” The article then offers examples from a number of class actions that have been dismissed at the motion-to-dismiss phase by courts applying the “reasonable consumer” standard.

One of the examples is that of class actions targeting “vanilla-flavored” foods that have been dismissed, as well as one alleging cookie labeling misled when stated that the cookies were made with “real cocoa.” In these cases, courts have found that the labeling, such as that for cookies made with “real cocoa” would not mislead a reasonable consumer as to the nature and extent of the real cocoa content.

The authors write, “On their face, these cases underscore that accuracy matters and that it pays to avoid any hint of overstatement in describing popular food ingredients.  Labels that emphasize the defensible fact of content alone are better suited to defeat a claim of deception at the early threshold motion stage.”

Regarding these and other examples of consumer class actions provided in the article, the authors write that, “On balance, these cases reinforce that the ‘reasonable consumer’ inquiry is context-specific, but also that dismissal at the 12(b)(6) stage is attainable.  Indeed, courts in New York are viewing ‘reasonable consumers’ as far more savvy, and far less vulnerable, than plaintiffs’ allegations often suggest.”

To read the full article, click here.