New York man sues Frito-Lay over “all-natural” claim
Bags of chips manufactured by PepsiCo Frito-Lay brand are seen on a shelf on March 22, 2010 in Miami, Florida.
A New York man is suing Frito-Lay over its claim that Tostitos and SunChips are made with "all-natural ingredients."
The proposed class-action lawsuit filed by Chris Shake in Brooklyn federal court said that according to independent testing, the Frito-Lay snackfoods contained corn and oils made from genetically engineered plants, Reuters reported.
Had Shake known, he says in the suit, he would never have paid an additional 10 cents per ounce on the "all-natural" chips when labeling on products such as Doritos make no such "deceptive" claims, the suit says.
A spokeswoman for Frito-Lay, which is a unit of PepsiCo Inc, said the company was confident the labeling on its packaging "complies with all regulatory requirements."
One year ago, the company announced plans to make 50 percent of its line from "all-natural" ingredients, Newser reported at the time.
Natural News points out that GMOs are "admittedly synthetic," meaning that snackfoods made with GM vegetable and corn oils are anything but all natural.
A similar lawsuit was filed in California federal court last December by Julie Gengo of Richmond, Calif., alleging that Frito-Lay's snack products were fraudulently labeled, Natural News reported.
Named in that action, the cite says, are: Tostitos Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips, Tostitos Bite Size Rounds Tortilla Chips, Tostitos Crispy Rounds Tortilla Chips, Tostitos Multigrain Tortilla Chips, Tostitos Scoops Tortilla Chips, Tostitos Restaurant Style with a Hint of Lime Tortilla Chips, Tostitos Artisan Recipes Fire-Roasted Chipotle Tortilla Chips, Sun Chips Original Flavored Multigrain Snacks, Sun Chips Garden Salsa Flavored Multigrain Snacks, Sun Chips French Onion Flavored Multigrain Snacks, and Sun Chips Harvest Cheddar Flavored Multigrain Snacks.
It also posts a link to the lawsuit.
Both lawsuits are seeking to recover the amount of money allegedly paid by consumers in search of an "all natural" product, with the New York lawsuit estimating that the amount of total damages will exceed $5 million.