What is ‘natural?’
Legal battles arise without clear definition
In recent years, one bright spot in an otherwise lackluster market for packaged foods, beverages and consumers products has been merchandise promoted as “natural.”
Consumers, increasingly wary of products that are overly processed or full of manufactured chemicals, are paying premium prices for natural goods, from fruit juices and cereals to shampoos and baby wipes.
But as a spate of lawsuits and consumer advocacy efforts show, one person’s “natural” is another person’s methylisothiazolinone.
The problem, consumer groups and even some manufacturers say, is that there is no legal or regulatory definition of what “natural” is.
On one side are companies eager to cash in on consumers’ willingness to pay higher prices for natural products by slapping “all natural” labels on them. At times, the claims have stretched the limits of credulity — like “All Natural” 7UP, Pop-Tarts “Baked With Real Fruit” and Crystal Light “Natural” lemonade. On the other side are a cadre of plaintiffs lawyers — nicknamed “the Food Bar” — that have filed more than 300 lawsuits seeking class-action status in the last three years. Those claims involve allegations of misrepresentations, just on food labels, of the term “natural” and other descriptions.
Increasingly, the lawsuits are moving beyond food and focusing on consumer goods like baby wipes and cleaning products.
“The lawsuits you see are only a fraction of the claims that are made,” said David T. Biderman, a partner at Perkins Coie who defends food companies in class-action lawsuits. Behind the scenes, Biderman said, plaintiffs’ lawyers are sending letters to companies and threatening to file lawsuits over labels they argue are misleading or violate consumer protection laws. Those letters, Biderman said, are often rejected, go away or are resolved with a small payment.
Proponents say that, in lieu of clear regulation, consumers have been protected by these lawsuits, pointing to a number of cases in which manufacturers have altered their labels. General Mills, which faced at least two federal lawsuits claiming that its Nature Valley granola bars contained artificial ingredients, replaced labels that once read “100% Natural” to say they are “Made With 100 percent Natural Whole Grain Oats.”
Critics say a big chunk of the settlement money lands in the pockets of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, and does not financially benefit consumers.
When it comes to commonly used terms like “natural” or even “healthy,” the various agencies that oversee food and beverages and advertising have been slow to come up with definitions.