Crown Creamery and World’s Fair Vanilla Ice Creams

In October 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Moran Foods for allegedly misleadingly marketing Crown Creamery and World’s Fair vanilla ice creams sold at Save-A-Lot grocery stores to make consumers think the flavor comes from vanilla when, according to plaintiffs, the ingredients list for Crown Creamery French Vanilla Ice Cream shows that the ice cream contains more “Natural Flavor” than vanilla beans, and the ingredients list for the World’s Fair Vanilla Ice Cream shows that the ice cream contains “artificial flavor” instead of vanilla. The complaint also claims that the marketing for the World’s Fair Vanilla Ice Cream does not adequately disclose that the ice cream is artificially flavored because the disclosure on the front of the package appears in a thin blue font on a blue background. In addition, the complaint claims that the ice creams contain annatto, a coloring ingredient, to make the color look more like the flavor comes from vanilla. Plaintiffs also claim that the black specks added to the Creamery Crown French Vanilla Ice Cream to make consumers think the flavor comes from vanilla are likely “flavorless” vanilla seeds that have had all of the flavor extracted from them. (Smith et al v. Moran Foods, LLC, Case No. 19-cv-9453, S. D. NY.)

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