CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - The class action lawsuit over its "Simply" granola products is simply ridiculous, Quaker Oats says.
The company filed a motion to dismiss the case Jan. 23 in Chicago federal court, stating the legal theory behind it is "invalid to its core." The lawsuit says consumers expect nothing but what's in the titles of the products because they contain the word "simply."
At issue are the Simply Granola - Oats, Honey & Almonds and Simply Granola - Oats, Honey, Raisins & Almonds. Lawyer Robert Abiri of Custodio & Dubey says customers expect those ingredients and those ingredients only.
But the granolas also contain wheat, sugar, inulin and "inflammatory vegetable oils."
"Plaintiffs are treating the brand name and the flavors of the granola as statement about the ingredients in the products," Quaker Oats' motion says.
"That theory conflicts with federal law, because [the] FDA has long authorized manufacturers like Quaker to state or depict the flavor of their product on the front of a package - even when (unlike here) the pictured ingredient is not in the product at all.
"Moreover, no objectively reasonable consumer would read the brand name 'Simply Granola' to mean that every ingredient is listed on the front label."
The class action alleges violation of consumer protection acts in Illinois, Iowa, Arkansas, New York and California, among other claims.
The suit says consumers are led to believe they are purchasing a product with "clean, simple" ingredients with Quaker's use of "simply" on the package labeling. The plaintiffs allege that due to Quaker's false representations, consumers pay more for the products after being led to believe they are premium products.
"Plaintiffs’ theory that such labeling is deceptive would impose a rule that FDA has never adopted—that the primary recognizable flavors cannot be identified on a package unless the manufacturer also states on the front label that the product contains additional ingredients," the motion says.
Quaker is represented by Andrew Tulmello and Arianna Scavetti of Wil, Gothshal & Manges in Washington, D.C., and Erike Ives of Fox, Swibel, Levin & Carroll in Chicago.