CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - Reasonable parents buying formula for their toddlers can't possibly be misled by the claims on Gerber's Good Start Grow products, the company says.
The products are fortified with vitamins D and E as well as iron to help fill gaps in nutrition for toddlers, but the lawsuit filed June 14 in Chicago federal court by attorney Spencer Sheehan says the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee advises that children over 12 months old need whole cow's milk, water and healthy foods.
That committee says transition formula "is not recommended," the suit alleges.
"Plaintiff challenges the label’s design, including its accurate description as a 'milk based powder, alleging it is confusingly similar to Gerber’s infant formula label, while ignoring that the label conspicuously discloses the Product is a 'Toddler Drink' with 'tailored nutrition for toddlers' from '12 to 24 months,'" a Sept. 26 motion to dismiss says.
"Plaintiff also compares the Product to whole cow’s milk (which is not appropriate for infants) and complains the Product is not as healthy because it contains more sugar and less protein."
Consumers can't be deceived because the product does not claim to be a substitute for whole cow's milk, nor does it say it provides 100% of a toddler's nutritional needs, the motion adds.
The lawsuit claims such transition formulas were introduced to deal with declining sales since mothers have increasingly chosen breastfeeding.
“Companies like Defendant capitalize on consumers’ familiarity and acceptance of federally approved infant formula and continue selling it to them when their children are no longer infants, defined as zero to twelve months old,” the suit says.