In January 2017, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Whole Foods alleging that its St. John’s Wort dietary supplement did not contain the amount of standardized extract hypericin (the sole active ingredient) listed on the label. According to the complaint, the product label claims that it contains “0.3% Hypericin, 0.9 mg” when tests show that the product actually contains “just a little above 30% of the label claim.” (Klingberg et al v. Whole Foods Market, Inc., Case No. 17-cv-138, N. D. IL.)
For more information about other class-action lawsuits filed against Whole Foods and TINA.org’s coverage of the company, click here.
Allegations: Falsely marketing that Amazon Prime members receive “FREE Delivery” and “FREE 2-Hour Grocery Delivery” when Amazon charges consumers a $9.95 service fee for grocery deliveries from Whole Foods Market
Allegations: Deceptively using slack-filled packaging and misleadingly marketing its commitment to environmental stewardship
Allegations: Misleadingly marketing the ingredients in Organic 365 Honey Graham Crackers
Allegations: Misleadingly listing “organic dehydrated cane juice solids” as an ingredient when it’s actually sugar
Allegations: Misleadingly marketing ice cream bars as dipped in chocolate when the coating actually contains more vegetable oil than cacao ingredients
Allegations: Misleadingly marketing that the main flavoring ingredient is vanilla when the flavor comes almost exclusively from artificial flavor
Allegations: Falsely marketing lemons and raspberries as the main flavoring ingredients
Allegations: Failing to disclose that foods contain allergens
Allegations: Failing to disclose that vanilla flavor comes from artificial flavors
In October 2020, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Whole Foods Market Group for falsely marketing its 365 Everyday Value Organic Chocolate & Almond Vanilla Ice Cream Bars as coated…
In July 2020, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Whole Foods Market Group for allegedly misleadingly marketing 365 Everyday Value Organic Unsweetened Coconut Vanilla Coconutmilk Beverage as containing “vanilla” when,…
In February 2020, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Whole Foods Market Group for allegedly misleadingly marketing that the flavor in its Organic 365 Rice Milk comes exclusively from vanilla…
In October 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Whole Foods Market for allegedly misleadingly marketing that its 365 Everyday Value Vanilla Soymilk contains vanilla when, according to plaintiffs, the…
In October 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Whole Foods Market Group for allegedly misleadingly advertising its 365 Organic Vanilla Almondmilk as containing vanilla when, according to plaintiffs, the…
In August 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Whole Foods Market for allegedly deceptively advertising that its Starkey Water is pure and clean when, according to plaintiffs, the water…
November 2018: This action was dismissed because the parties reached a settlement agreement, the terms of which have not been disclosed. January 2018: This case was reopened after the appeals…
March 2019: The claims against defendant WFM Distribution were dismissed. June 2018: A federal judge dismissed When a complaint is dismissed without prejudice, an amended version of the complaint can…
November 2017: Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint similarly alleging that Whole Foods overstates the weight of products and, as a result, overcharges customers. June 2017: The Second Circuit Court of…
November 2017: Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint similarly alleging that Whole Foods overstates the weight of products and, as a result, overcharges customers. June 2017: The Second Circuit Court of…
January 2018: The Ference appeal was voluntarily dismissed, the reasons for which have not been disclosed. November 2017: The Sweeney appeal was dismissed for failure to prosecute because the objector…
In January 2018, a false advertising class-action lawsuit was filed against Whole Foods for allegedly misrepresenting the amount of vitamin B in its 365 Everyday Value brand supplements, Liquid Energy…
Multiple lawsuits filed against Whole Foods claiming that the company falsely labels its 365 Everyday Value Plain Greek Yogurt as containing 2 grams of sugar per serving when, according to…
August 2015: A federal judge dismissed these three related actions finding, among other things, that plaintiffs did not properly plead the fraud-based allegations. Click here to read the court’s decision…
October 2014: This action was voluntarily dismissed When a complaint is dismissed without prejudice, an amended version of the complaint can be refiled., the reasons for which have not been…
April 2016: A federal judge dismissed the complaint When a complaint is dismissed with prejudice, it cannot be refiled.. Among other things, the judge found that the complaint fails to…
June 2016: This lawsuit was dismissed because the parties reached a settlement, the terms of which are confidential. November 2013: A class-action lawsuit was filed against Whole Foods Market, Inc.…
January 2016: A federal judge dismissed this lawsuit after the parties reached a settlement agreement, the terms of which have not yet been disclosed. October 2015: This lawsuit was transferred…
These marketing claims are feeling the heat.
TINA.org is currently tracking 70 class actions challenging claims that a variety of foods and beverages are truly vanilla.