A federal judge in the Central District of California has dismissed a lawsuit against Nestle over its use of “all natural” on the packaging of its Buitoni pasta products.  Pelayo v. Nestle USA, Inc., Case No. 2:13-cv-05213-JFW-AJW (C.D. Cal. Oct. 25, 2013). The plaintiff alleged the term “natural” was misleading because the products contain at least two ingredients that are “synthetic” – xanthan gum and soy lecithin.

The court held no reasonable consumer would be misled by the “all natural” label because the plaintiff failed to offer an objective or plausible definition of the phrase “all natural.” Plaintiff’s reliance on the Webster’s Dictionary definition of “natural” (defining “natural” as “not artificial or manufactured”) was of no use because the definition on its face clearly does not apply to the pasta:

“[the pastas] are a product manufactured in mass and the reasonable consumer is aware that Buitoni Pastas are not ‘springing fully-formed from Ravioli trees and Tortellini bushes.’”

The court also held that the plaintiff had failed to allege that any of the challenged ingredients in the products are “artificial” as defined by the FDA. 

Finally, the court noted that the term “all natural” was not only on the front of the package but also on the back immediately above the list of ingredients.  Therefore, the court held that:

“to the extent there is any ambiguity regarding the definition of ‘All Natural’ with respect to each of the Buitoni Pastas, it is clarified by the detailed information contained in the ingredient list.”  This is in contrast to determinations by some courts that reasonable consumers are free to ignore ingredient lists.  See our prior post here.

The judge dismissed the case with prejudice.