Class Action Against General Mills, LucasFilm, Warner Bros. Over ‘All-Natural’ Fruit Snacks Lands in Federal Court in CA

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A proposed class action filed in San Diego County Superior Court against General Mills, Warner Bros., and seven other high-profile defendants has been removed to District Court for the Southern District of California.

The defendants—which include General Mills Sales, Inc.; McCann-Erickson USA, Inc.; Saatchi & Saatchi North America, Inc.; Universal City Studios LLC; Viacom International Inc.; and Sanrio Company Ltd.—are involved in the fruit snack business, either on the manufacturing end or through the licensing of television and movie characters, according to the lawsuit. Such properties licensed by some of the defendants include Scooby-Doo and Dora the Explorer, as well as characters from Star Wars and Despicable Me, the complaint says.

According to the plaintiff, the defendants’ labeling and advertising of their fruit snack products, the labels for which prominently state “NO ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS,” according to the complaint, is false and misleading under California law:

[The defendants’] packaging, labeling, and advertising scheme is intended to give California consumers the impression that they are buying a premium, ‘all natural’ product with natural flavoring ingredients instead of a product that is artificially flavored.”

The complaint alleges the following products are deceptively labeled as all-natural despite containing a synthetic flavoring chemical—malic acid—that supposedly simulates the snacks’ tart, fruit-like flavor: