General Mills is one step closer to having to either clean up its Nature’s Valley granola bars, or drop the words “100% Natural” from the product’s packaging.
Last year, OCA, along with Moms Across America and Beyond Pesticides, sued General Mills over the “100% Natural” labeling after tests revealed that the popular snack is contaminated with glyphosate.
The cereal giant rounded up its lawyers, who promptly filed a “motion to dismiss” the lawsuit. But a D.C. Superior Court judge said not so fast.
In fact, the Court ruled that a reasonable jury could find that General Mills’ “Made With 100% Natural Whole Grain Oats” claims were misleading to consumers. The Court also ruled that nonprofits have the right to file this type of lawsuit in D.C. on behalf of consumers.
Why go to the trouble and expense of suing General Mills? Because like so many other companies, General Mills knows that consumers think the word “natural” means healthy and pesticide-free, even though it doesn’t. And like all the other fake natural brands in the $90-billion “fake natural” market, it profits from that deception.