ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 30

COUNSEL COMPOUND

Cheez-Its, Obsolete Oils
and the 'Reasonable
Consumer'
By Jeff Leiter

A

s Holly Alfano and I prepared
last month for the interim
meeting of the National
Conference on Weights and Measures
and its consideration of ILMA's obsolete oil proposal, I reviewed a recent
decision by U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 2nd Circuit, holding that the
New York trial court improperly ruled
that Kellogg's labeling of its Cheez-It
crackers as "whole grain" was not
misleading, even though the snacks
were primarily made from enriched
white flour. There are several aspects
of the appellate court's decision that
caught my eye in terms of applicability
to labeling of engine oils and tractor
hydraulic fluids.
The three plaintiffs in the Cheez-It
case (Manitakas v. Kellogg) alleged the
"whole grain" Cheez-It labels violated
New York and California's consumer
protection laws, because the "whole
grain" label claims caused them to
believe that the grain content of the
crackers was predominantly whole
grain. The trial court judge dismissed
the case, relying Kellogg's argument
that the ingredient list on the side panel
of the box clearly stated whole grain
flour as the second or third ingredient,
while the most predominant ingredient
in the cracker, enriched white flour, was
declared first.
The 2nd Circuit rejected the trial
judge's reasoning, stating it does not

30

FEBRUARY 2019

| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG

The issue before the court is whether a
reasonable consumer would interpret the
relevant information on the food package the
same way the plaintiff claims to have read it, and
be similarly misled?"
matter if "the side panel of the packaging discloses further detail about the
product's ingredients. [...] Reasonable
consumers expect that the ingredient
list contains more detailed information about the product that confirms
other representations of the packaging." Stated differently, the appellate
court concluded that a "reasonable
consumer" should not be expected
to consult the Nutrition Facts Panel
to correct misleading information set
forth in large, bold type on the front of
the box. Importantly, the 2nd Circuit
rejected Kellogg's argument that, as
long as all of the details of a product are
disclosed somewhere on the label, the
product is not misleading.
The reasonable consumer shows
up in many class-action lawsuits that
allege harm from supposedly deceptive or misleading packaged food
labels. The issue before the court is
whether a reasonable consumer would
interpret the relevant information on
the food package the same way the
plaintiff claims to have read it, and be
similarly misled.

In undertaking to apply the
reasonable-consumer standard in the
Cheez-It case, the 2nd Circuit agreed
that the product label as a whole
should be considered when undertaking the reasonable-consumer analysis,
but it disagreed that Kellogg can point
to the data in the Nutrition Facts as
relevant information. In discussing
the Nutrition Facts, the appellate
court cited a 9th Circuit decision,
Williams v. Gerber Products, that
"reasonable consumers should [not]
be expected to look beyond misleading representations on the front of
the box to discover the truth from the
ingredients list."
Defense lawyers and the Wall
Street Journal were quick to attack
the Cheez-It decision and the court's
reliance on Williams. They cite multidistrict litigation involving grated
Parmesan cheese claimed to be 100
percent cheese, where the court held
that a reasonable consumer would
review the label as a whole, including
the Nutrition Facts, and understand
that the added cellulose did nothing to


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ILMA Compoundings – February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings – February 2019

Letter From the Ceo
Inside Ilma
What’s Coming Up
New Members
Industry Rundown
In the Know
International Insight
Market Report
The Future Is Now
Moving Forward
Gf-6 Challenges Ahead
Counsel Compound
Washington Landscape
In Network
Member Connections
Portrait
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Cover1
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Cover2
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 1
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 2
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Letter From the Ceo
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Inside Ilma
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 5
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 6
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 7
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - What’s Coming Up
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - New Members
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Industry Rundown
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - In the Know
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - International Insight
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 13
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Market Report
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 15
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - The Future Is Now
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 17
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 18
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 19
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 20
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 21
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Moving Forward
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 23
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 24
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 25
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Gf-6 Challenges Ahead
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 27
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 28
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 29
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Counsel Compound
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 31
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 32
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Washington Landscape
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Member Connections
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - 35
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Portrait
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Cover3
ILMA Compoundings – February 2019 - Cover4
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