Class Action Claims Packaging for Pepperidge Farm ‘Golden Butter’ Crackers Designed to ‘Mislead’ Consumers [UPDATE]
by Erin Shaak
Last Updated on November 11, 2021
Kamara v. Pepperidge Farm, Incorporated
Filed: October 28, 2020 ◆§ 1:20-cv-09012
A lawsuit claims Pepperidge Farm, Inc.’s “Golden Butter” crackers are falsely labeled in that the front label does not disclose the presence of vegetable oils.
Case Updates
November 11, 2021 – Lawsuit Dismissed
The judge overseeing the case detailed on this page granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss after finding that the Golden Butter crackers’ label would not deceive or mislead a reasonable consumer.
In a November 9 order, U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel concluded that a reasonable consumer would not be misled by Pepperidge Farm’s “Golden Butter” representation given butter is the crackers’ second most predominant ingredient after flour and therefore predominates over vegetable oils.
According to the order, the plaintiff failed to plausibly allege why a reasonable consumer would understand the “Golden Butter” reference to mean that no other “synthetic substitute,” such as vegetable oil, would be used in the product. Indeed, some consumers could view the term as a description of the crackers’ flavor, the judge noted.
“A reasonable consumer who encountered defendant’s packaging would accurately understand the ‘Golden Butter’ cracker to be shortened and flavored with butter,” Judge Castel wrote. “The Complaint does not plausibly allege why a reasonable consumer also would believe that the use of butter precluded secondary usage of other fats or oils, either as an additional shortener or for external application to enhance the crackers’ appearance.”
The judge threw out the remainder of the plaintiff’s claims and denied leave to amend her complaint, noting that she had already been provided with two opportunities to do so.
Pepperidge Farm, Inc.’s “Golden Butter” crackers are falsely labeled in that the front of the product’s packaging does not disclose the presence of vegetable oils, a proposed class action alleges.
Per the case, when a food’s name contains the word “butter,” a reasonable consumer would expect all of the product’s shortening ingredients to be butter free from supplementation with cheaper substitutes such as vegetable oil. Contrary to consumers’ expectations, Pepperidge Farm Golden Butter crackers contain canola, sunflower and/or soybean oil, the 11-page suit says.
According to the lawsuit, consumers prefer butter to chemically produced “vegetable” oils for reasons including taste, health and to avoid highly processed artificial butter substitutes. Butter, however, is more expensive than cheaper vegetable oil alternatives such as soybean, palm or canola oil, the case relays.
The lawsuit argues that the “Golden Butter” representation on the label of Pepperidge Farm’s crackers is misleading given the product contains vegetable oils—a fact disclosed only in the “small print” of the crackers’ ingredient list.
The packaging of Pepperidge Farm’s Golden Butter crackers was “designed to—and does—deceive, mislead, and defraud” consumers, the lawsuit alleges, claiming the defendant has been able to charge higher prices than it would have in the absence of the allegedly false labeling.
Per the case, the plaintiff and other consumers would not have purchased the product, or would have paid less for it, had they known the crackers contained vegetable oils in addition to butter.
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