‘100% Natural’ Splenda Naturals Stevia Contains Only Synthetic Ingredients, Class Action Lawsuit Says

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims the maker of Splenda Naturals Stevia products has misled consumers by deceptively marketing the sweetener as “100% Natural.”

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According to the 41-page lawsuit, the packaging’s prominent all-natural claim is misleading because Splenda Naturals Stevia products are made of stevia leaf extract and erythritol—two synthetic ingredients manufactured through a variety of biochemical processes in industrial factories.

In addition to the “100% Natural” labeling claim featured on each product, defendant TC Heartland, on its website, has “oversimplifie[d]” the two ingredients’ production methods, and misrepresented the processes as natural, the suit contends.

Until early 2023, when the company removed the all-natural claim from product labeling and website descriptions, Heartland had also featured on each Splenda Naturals Stevia package a fine-print disclaimer that “re-defined” the term “natural” to include ingredients that have undergone “minimal” or “common” processing, the case shares. As the complaint tells it, the defendant added the disclaimer to product packaging in an attempt to “avoid liability for the misrepresentation.”

The filing charges that even though Heartland has since phased out the “100% Natural” claim and modified the disclaimer’s language to disclose that the ingredients are, in fact, synthetic, Splenda Naturals Stevia products bearing the allegedly false all-natural representations are still available for purchase and sold to consumers through major retailers.

The suit alleges that, notwithstanding the products’ recent marketing changes, reasonable consumers who view the now-outdated labeling may still be misled to believe the sweetener contains no synthetic ingredients.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who, at any time in the past six years, purchased any Splenda Naturals Stevia product bearing the statement “100% Natural” for personal use, and not for resale.

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