SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – Class action lawyers’ plan to get Procter & Gamble to pay up for using the word "nature" on the labels of Pantene shampoos has so far failed.
San Francisco federal judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers on Aug. 31 dismissed the lawsuit, which claims there are unnatural ingredients in Pantene Pro-V Nature Fusion shampoos and conditioners. She is allowing lawyers at Reese LP and Sheehan & Associates to file an amended complaint, however.
Using the word “nature” and showing images like leaves, avocados and vitamins on the packaging leads consumers to believe there are no synthetic ingredients in the shampoos, the complaint says.
“First, Plaintiff has failed to allege sufficient facts to show that a reasonable consumer would be deceived by P&G’s labeling,” Rogers wrote.
“P&G makes no claim as to what ingredients are not included, or the amounts of certain ingredients included, in its products by using the words “Nature Fusion” and the accompanying imagery… Instead, as Plaintiff concedes, P&G’s use of the words alerts a reasonable consumer that the ‘products are composed of a Fusion (or amalgam or mixture) of ingredients that are from nature.”
Plus, P&G’s ingredients list on its bottles show the shampoos and conditioners contain both natural and synthetic ingredients.
“The ingredients include both Persea Gratissima oil, which is another word for avocado oil, and many of the synthetic ingredients identified in the complaint,” Rogers wrote.
“Thus, the Court finds that plaintiff has not sufficiently alleged how a reasonable consumer would be deceived into believing that the products did not contain any synthetic ingredients given the express inclusion of such ingredients on the products packaging.”