YummyEarth Hit With Deceptive Marketing Lawsuit Over Ingredients List

A new deceptive marketing lawsuit accuses YummyEarth Inc. of “going out of its way” to advertise its products, including its YumEarth Organic Vitamin C Pops, as healthy by listing “evaporated cane juice” as an ingredient instead of calling it what it really is: sugar.

Labels have become increasingly important as a way for consumers to make informed decisions about what to buy and what to pay for certain products.

Products marketed as healthy, for example, may encourage a consumer to pay a premium when compared with similar options. When the manufacturer uses confusing or misleading language designed to trick the consumer into purchasing a product based on misleading statements, however, this could lead to a false or deceptive marketing lawsuit.

The YummyEarth Deceptive Marketing Lawsuit

California plaintiff Summer Sandoval alleges in a class action lawsuit filed September 8 that she purchased YumEarth Organic Vitamin C Pops earlier this year, and she was willing to pay more for the product over other similar products, because sugar was not listed as the most prominent ingredient.

Sandoval’s deceptive marketing lawsuit takes issue with the term “evaporated cane juice,” which was used instead of “sugar.”

“The Food and Drug Administration (‘FDA’) has warned manufacturers and advertisers not to use the term ‘evaporated cane juice’ because: (1) it is false and misleading; (2) the term violates a number of labeling regulations requiring products to be labeled with the usual and common names of ingredients and to accurately describe those ingredients; and (3) ‘evaporated cane juice’ is not juice,” states the YummyEarth class action lawsuit.

The deceptive marketing lawsuit accuses YummyEarth of violating California false advertising law and the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which carry similar guidelines. The FDCA states that a food item is misbranded when the label is misleading or false in any way or if it does not contain the required information listed on the label.

According to the YummyEarth class action lawsuit, both California and federal labeling regulations have been violated because the term “evaporated cane juice” is misleading for consumers because the primary ingredients are syrup or sugar.

Sandoval is seeking to represent all persons in the United States who purchased YumEarth Organics Vitamin C Pops labeled with “evaporated cane juice” at any time in the past four years.

The YummyEarth Deceptive Marketing Class Action Lawsuit is Summer Sandoval v. YummyEarth Inc., Case No. 17-cv-01832, Superior Court of the State of California, For the County of San Bernardino.

Did you purchase a product that was deceptively labeled? You may be eligible to file a deceptive marketing lawsuit or join a class action lawsuit against the company. Fill out the form on this page for a FREE case evaluation.