Milling & Baking News - December 9, 2014 - 12

Business

Cargill reaches settlement, to
change labels in Truvia case

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12 / December 9, 2014
Milling &

HONOLULU - Without admitting wrongdoing, Cargill has
agreed to pay up to $6.1 million and modify the labeling of
Truvia sweeteners under a class settlement final approval
filed Nov. 26 in a U.S. district court in Hawaii. The plaintiffs
in the case alleged Cargill misled consumers by advertising
Truvia as a natural sweetener and charging more for it than
its sugar-alternative competitors when, the plaintiffs alleged,
Truvia is largely synthetic and produced chemically.
"We are pleased to have reached a settlement with all
plaintiffs involved in this matter and are pleased that the
settlement won approval by the court," Minneapolis-based
Cargill said in a statement on Dec. 1. "The court's order
concludes a settlement process that began last year and
resolves all of the claims on a nationwide basis. We stand
behind the labeling of our Truvia natural sweetener consumer products. Those products are made from natural ingredients, and the labeling meets all applicable legal and
regulatory guidelines."
The district court in Hawaii on May 19
consolidated four separate class-action
lawsuits filed in four different states.
A class settlement agreement was filed
June 19. Cargill did not admit liability.
"Cargill has denied and continues to
deny that the labeling, advertising or
marketing of its Truvia consumer products is false, deceptive or misleading to
consumers or violates any legal requirement, including but
not limited to the allegations that Cargill engaged in unfair,
unlawful, fraudulent or deceptive trade practices, breached
an express warranty or was unjustly enriched," Cargill
said in the June 19 filing. "Cargill is entering into this class
settlement agreement solely because it will eliminate the
uncertainty, distraction, burden and expense of further litigation."
The court's final approval was filed Nov. 26.
"Plaintiffs obtained significant changes by filing this lawsuit to challenge Truvia's label," said Melissa Wolchansky,
an attorney with Halunen & Associates in Minneapolis and
a lead plaintiff's attorney.
Cargill will establish a settlement fund of $6.1 million.
The company in the June 19 filing said it would modify the
labeling of Truvia consumer products and a web site for
Truvia.
If Cargill places "Nature's Calorie-Free Sweetener" on a
Truvia package, an asterisk must follow that tells consumers to visit www.Truvia.com/FAQ for more information.
Cargill also may avoid the asterisk by choosing to omit the
word "nature" and by promoting Truvia as a calorie-free
sweetener from stevia.
The ingredients in Truvia are stevia, erythritol and natural
flavors. The court settlement says Cargill must stop saying
erythritol is produced by a natural process. Instead, Cargill
may say erythritol is produced by a fermentation process.
Cargill in product packaging has agreed to stop saying that
making Truvia is similar to making tea. Instead the company
may continue to say stevia leaves are steeped in water.
On the www.Truvia.com web site, Cargill may continue
to say Truvia is non-G.M.O and does not contain any genetically modified organisms. The web site may continue to
say that no known varieties of genetically modified stevia
are available and that erythritol is produced by a yeast organism found in nature and is not genetically modified. MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.Truvia.com/FAQ http://www.Truvia.com http://www.ndmill.com http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - December 9, 2014

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