Back to Nature Crackers Class Action Revived Over "Whole Wheat" Claims

A class action lawsuit against Back to Nature Foods, alleging deceptive labeling on their "whole wheat" crackers, has been revived by a federal appeals court after being dismissed in 2023. The lawsuit claims the company misled consumers into believing whole wheat flour was the main ingredient.

Consumers Affected: Consumers who purchased Back to Nature Stoneground Wheat Crackers.

Reason for Lawsuit: The lawsuit claims the prominent display of "Organic Whole Wheat Flour" on the packaging is misleading, as the crackers primarily contain unbleached enriched white flour.

Court: The case was initially dismissed by a New York federal court but has been revived by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and will now return to the lower court for further proceedings.

A class action lawsuit alleging deceptive labeling on Back to Nature Foods' Stoneground Wheat Crackers has been revived by a federal appeals court. The suit claims that the company misled consumers into believing that whole wheat flour was the primary ingredient in the product.

Appeals Court Revives Consumer Lawsuit Over Deceptive Labeling

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court's dismissal of the case, finding that the plaintiff, Gracemarie Venticinque, had presented sufficient evidence to support her claim that the product's labeling was misleading.

The court compared the case to a similar consumer class action lawsuit against Kellogg's (Mantikas v. Kellogg Co), where a consumer alleged that the phrase "made with whole grain" on certain Cheez-It crackers was misleading.

“Plaintiff has plausibly alleged that a reasonable consumer would read the words “Organic Whole Wheat Flour” on the front of the box and conclude that whole wheat flour is the predominant type of flour in the crackers,” the judges ruled.

The Second Circuit also maintained that the front of the package is “not merely ambiguous, but arguably falsely implies that a prominently-mentioned ingredient – one ‘that obviously was the products’ primary ingredient’ predominates.”

Lawsuit Claims "Whole Wheat" Crackers Mislead Consumers

Venticinque, who filed the lawsuit in September 2022, argued that the prominent display of "Organic Whole Wheat Flour" on the front of the cracker box led consumers to believe this was the predominant ingredient. However, the crackers primarily contain unbleached enriched white flour.

"Plaintiff and other Class Members have been injured inasmuch as they, having viewed the Product label, paid a premium for the Product which, contrary to Defendant’s representation, was misleading and deceptive," the complaint stated. ​​"Accordingly, Plaintiff and other Class Members paid more than what the Product they bargained and received was worth."

In August 2023, a New York federal court initially dismissed the case, but the appeals court found that the packaging could mislead a reasonable consumer. The case will now return to the lower court for further proceedings.

This is not the first time Back to Nature Foods has been in the hot seat over its products. In 2022, the company recalled 1,855 cases of Cheddalicious Cheese Flavored Crackers after discovering that the boxes contained animal-shaped crackers instead of the advertised product.

Case Details

• Lawsuit: Gracemarie Venticinque v. Nature Foods Company LLC
• Case Number: 23-1236
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Plaintiffs' Attorneys

• Michael R. Reese (Reese LLP)
• Lisa S. Mankofsky (Center for Science in the Public Interest)
• Kenneth D. Quat (Quat Law Offices)