Class Action Claims Nature’s Path Overstated Products’ Protein Content

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A proposed class action claims Nature’s Path Foods, Inc. has overstated the amount of protein in its breakfast and snack products.

Although the defendant’s Hemp Hearts Granola, for example, states on its front label that it will provide “10g PROTEIN,” amino acid content testing has revealed that the granola contains not more than 7.87 grams of protein, the 33-page lawsuit alleges. Compounding matters, the suit says, is the fact that the product’s label states, “in a small font that is barely legible,” that the “10g PROTEIN” is “per serving with milk.” Without accounting for milk, the granola contains only 3.87 grams of protein, the case relays.

Moreover, Nature’s Path uses “proteins of low biological value to humans,” such as oats, meaning consumers receive even less usable protein per serving than the testing revealed, the lawsuit alleges.

The case out of California federal court claims Nature’s Path has deceptively advertised its products’ protein content in order to capitalize on consumers’ growing desire to purchase healthy foods.

“As described in detail below, Defendant’s advertising and labeling of the Products as containing and providing specific amounts of protein per serving is false, misleading, and intended to induce consumers to purchase the Products at a premium price, while ultimately failing to meet consumer expectations,” the complaint charges.

At the heart of the lawsuit are all Nature’s Path products that state on their principal display panel that they provide a certain amount of protein per serving. According to the suit, the products also state their protein content claims on the nutrition facts panel, with some of the foods, including the Hemp Hearts Granola product, stating protein content both with and without a serving of milk.

The case claims, however, that Nature’s Path has consistently overstated the amount of protein provided by its products. In the case of the Hemp Hearts Granola, amino acid testing has revealed that the defendant’s protein content claim was overstated by roughly 57 percent, the lawsuit attests. 

Moreover, when the protein content is corrected for digestibility, the amount usable by consumers is even less, the suit adds. The case says that a “complete” protein is one that contains all nine essential amino acids, and although whey protein, which is animal-based, contains all nine, the plant proteins used in the defendant’s products rarely do and are not fully digestible by humans, according to the suit.

“Accordingly, Defendant’s use of low quality proteins, even in combination with some higher quality proteins, means that they actually provide far less protein to humans than its Product labels claim, or that amino acid content testing without correcting for digestibility shows,” the complaint alleges.

The lawsuit goes on to claim that Nature’s Path has run afoul of federal and state food labeling regulations by making protein content claims without stating the percent of the daily value of protein provided per serving. Absent the percent of daily value, the defendant’s products are misbranded under the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act and equivalent California state regulations, the suit attests. The case contends that misbranded products “have no economic value and are legally worthless.”

A non-exhaustive list of the Nature’s Path products that make protein content claims can be found here. 

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