Cosgrove et al. v. Blue Diamond Growers
Overview
Cosgrove et al. v. Blue Diamond Growers (U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, December 7, 2021): Finding that consumers consider vanilla to be a flavor and not a particular ingredient, a federal district court dismissed a case filed against Blue Diamond Growers based on their marketing of vanilla almond milk. Parties alleged that the marketing was deceptive and misleading in violation of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act and federal/state consumer protection laws because the so-called vanilla milk contained only trace amounts of vanilla. Neither vanilla bean nor extract were listed as ingredients, even though the plaintiffs admitted the milk tasted like vanilla. In dismissing the claims, the district court found that identifying a product as vanilla implies only the taste of vanilla and not that the product contains vanilla bean or extract. As a result, there was no legal deception in the marketing. Read the full decision here.
View all cases in the Judicial Trends in Public Health – February 16, 2021.