GNC’s Vitamin E Skin Oil ‘Mostly’ Safflower Vegetable Oil, Class Action Case Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that despite advertised claims, GNC’s Vitamin E Skin Oil is “mostly a vegetable oil,” similar to what’s used in cooking, and delivers none of the cosmetic benefits associated with the real thing.

According to the suit, consumers who’ve bought GNC’s Vitamin E skin oil have been misled and shortchanged into purchasing a product that mostly resembles safflower oil. Given that a product’s labeling is material to consumers, the plaintiff alleges GNC mislabeled its oil “with the intention of deceiving” proposed class members. The plaintiff, a Los Angeles County resident, claims that neither she nor other consumers would have bought GNC’s Vitamin E skin oil had they known the product was primarily comprised of safflower oil.

GNC’s deceptive conduct, the lawsuit alleges, threatens both consumers and other companies who “play by the rules.” The case claims GNC has gained an ill-gotten competitive advantage, in particular by intentionally failing to accurately label its product as “safflower skin oil.” To this end, the lawsuit claims GNC misrepresents its Vitamin E skin oil despite the fact that some of the company’s competitors make and sell similar products. Those products, however, are labeled accurately as a “blend,” the suit says, arguing that GNC could easily revamp its labeling of its Vitamin E skin oil to ease consumer confusion yet “refuses to do so.”

Summarily, the lawsuit alleges the defendant has falsely and misleadingly labeled its Vitamin E skin oil for no reason other than to profit from consumer confusion about a product that’s inexpensive to make. 

“There is no practical reason for the false or misleading labeling and advertising of the Product, other than to mislead consumers as to the actual ingredients of the Product being purchased by consumers while simultaneously providing Defendants with a financial windfall as a result of money saved from lower supply costs,” the suit reads.

The case proposes to cover consumers across the United States who bought GNC’s Vitamin E skin oil for personal use within the last four years.