For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s The Myth of Natural page.

In 2011, class action lawsuits were filed against both Naked Juice and Kashi, as well as their parent companies PepsiCo and Kellogg’s, for mislabeling and deliberately lying to the public about what is in their products. The main concerns were GMOs and the label “All Natural.” Both the processes used to create the various ingredients and the substances themselves may create harmful effects in the bodies of unwary consumers.

In September 2011, a class action lawsuit was filed against Naked Juice in the U.S. District Court in California. The crux of the case is that Naked Juice was lying to consumers by deliberately mislabeling its products as “All Natural” and free of GMOs. Naked Juice failed to inform customers that the products sold under these labels are loaded with synthetic chemicals in place of the naturally-occurring vitamins that are found in the fruits and vegetables claimed to be used on the bottle. The suit explicitly shows the differences in molecular structure between the naturally occurring vitamins and the synthesized versions that are included in the beverages. Anyone that has taken a general chemistry course would easily be able to see that these substances are not essentially the same as the American public has been led to believe. These “vitamins” are also handled differently in the body, placing more stress on the body’s elimination system to release any of the toxic substances that are produced within the body from eating the synthesized substances.

After reading through the list of ingredients that Kashi uses in its products and how they are produced in the class action suit that was filed against them in California in August 2011, it is quite clear these are not “natural” in any way. They contain both synthetically produced ingredients as well as ingredients that are bathed in the chemicals used for gasoline refining. The suit alleges that these substances may still remain in trace amounts in the final product.

The attorney who filed both cases, Yvette Golan, confirmed in an interview with blogger, Max Goldberg that, though both companies have hired the “heavy guns,” their motions to dismiss the cases were both denied. This means that both cases will continue to the discovery stage. That’s good news for those who care about their health and take time to read labels. Consumers reasonably expect the labels on products to be an accurate representation of what is inside the package. Golan also plans to file class action suits on the state level in Florida, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Hawaii.