Kellogg’s Kashi Brand to Pay $4 Million over “All Natural” False Advertising Lawsuit

Kashi will pay $4 million in a false advertising lawsuit put forth in Florida. The lawsuit claimed that Kellogg’s, the parent company for Kashi, advertised an “all natural” (GM-free) product that was, in reality, full of genetically modified ingredients.

The settlement resolves a class action lawsuit against the company alleging that its products were falsely labeled as being “all natural” and containing “nothing artificial,” suggesting that they were free of genetically modified organisms.

Multiple Kashi products contain GM soy and GM corn, and a district judge argued that this “sufficiently alleges that a reasonable consumer would expect a product labeled ‘all natural’ to be free of GMOs.”

Kashi is also paying for a similar settlement in California:

“In a settlement filed in the southern district of California on May 2, Kashi said it would pay $5m to resolve a class action lawsuit accusing it of falsely advertising scores of products from GoLean bars to Kashi Pita Crisps as ‘all natural’ or with ‘nothing artificial’ when they in fact contained one or more of ‘an array of chemicals’ which the plaintiffs argued a reasonable consumer would consider unnatural”

This is an enormous win considering that the DARK act, which would prohibit states from instituting GM bans or GM labeling, has almost become law. It also is a testament to the changing tide in consumer’s attitude toward Big Food. Not only are citizens saying they want their food labeled, but they will no longer sit idly by while companies like Kellogg’s (or Pepsi, General Mills, etc.) lie about what is in food products.

It is also worth noting that Kellogg’s, again among other Big Food companies, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep consumers in the dark about their food, even though Kellogg’s Vice-President has stated that consumers “want transparency…If we do not care about their interest, they will not care about us.”

In October 2013, Ronald L McDermott, a Kellogg’s Vice-President, was quoted by The Times of India as saying: “Consumers are interested in knowing their food origin. They want transparency in the entire value chain. If we do not care about their interest, they will not care about us.” [1]

However, according to the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s (GMA) membership directory, Kellogg’s is a member of the organization.

The company also contributed over $200,000 to the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s efforts to oppose I-522, the GMO labeling bill put forth in Washington. After the Washington State Attorney General sued the GMA for failing to disclose the donors who funded their multi-million dollar contribution to the No on 522 campaign, the GMA finally revealed that Kellogg’s contributed $221,852 to fight I-522. [2] [3]

The Grocery Manufacturers Association was the largest contributor to the campaign opposing I-522. The GMA has contributed $7,222,500 to the campaign opposing GE labeling in Washington State.

Kellogg’s contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to oppose GE labeling in California as well. The company put forth $790,700 to the campaign opposing Proposition 37 in California in 2012.

REALITY: Kellogg’s DOES NOT support a consumer’s right to know what they are eating. Boycott anyone?

[1] The Times of India

[2] Public Disclosure Commission

[3] The Seattle Times

Featured image courtesy of ClassAction.org