Prairie Farms Ice Cream Contains Artificial Vanilla Flavoring, Lawsuit Claims

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action lawsuit claims the small batch vanilla bean ice cream made by Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. is mislabeled in that the packaging fails to disclose that the product contains artificial flavors.

The front of Prairie Farm’s ice cream features statements that the product is “premium vanilla bean ice cream,” “small batch,” “farmer owned,” “made with local milk & cream,” and contains “natural ingredients,” according to the complaint. Faced with these representations, the lawsuit argues, a reasonable consumer would expect the frozen dessert to be flavored with real vanilla beans—a belief bolstered by the presence of “vanilla bean” in the product’s ingredients list.

Also listed among the ice cream’s ingredients, however, is the term “natural flavor,” the case states. The inclusion of this item, the suit contends, suggests that Prairie Farm’s vanilla bean ice cream is not only flavored by real vanilla beans as the packaging represents, but also contains artificial vanilla flavor. From the complaint:

The lawsuit claims the defendant’s ice cream likely contains vanillin, an artificial vanilla flavoring that is typically produced for commercial use through a synthetic process, or other artificial flavors. By failing to list the presence of such flavoring on the ice cream’s front packaging, Prairie Farms can charge a premium price for the product based on consumers’ false belief that the ice cream contains only natural flavors, the case alleges.

The plaintiff says he would not have purchased the product, or would have paid less for it, had he known that the ice cream contained artificial flavors.