Jimmy John’s ‘All Natural’ Cookies Contain Highly Processed Ingredients, Lawsuit Claims [UPDATE]
by Erin Shaak
Last Updated on December 2, 2020
Martin v. Jimmy John’s, LLC et al.
Filed: May 27, 2020 ◆§ 4:20-cv-00415
A class action alleges the “All Natural” cookies sold by Jimmy John’s contain a slew of non-natural and highly processed ingredients.
Case Updates
November 25, 2020 – Another Case Filed in Illinois
Jimmy John’s has been hit with another case challenging the “all natural” claims on its triple chocolate chunk and raisin oatmeal cookies.
The lawsuit alleges that because the cookies contain “highly processed, artificial, and/or non-natural ingredients” such as refined flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, sugar, milk powder, soy lecithin and baking soda, the representations that the cookies are “all natural,” “minimally processed” and contain “no artificial ingredients” are misleading and deceptive to consumers.
The case looks to represent Illinois residents who purchased Jimmy John’s All Natural Triple Chocolate Chunk or All Natural Raisin Oatmeal cookies within the past five years.
A proposed class action alleges the “All Natural” cookies sold by Jimmy John’s, LLC and Jimmy John’s Franchise, LLC contain a slew of non-natural and highly processed ingredients.
According to the case, Jimmy’s All Natural Raisin Oatmeal Cookie and Jimmy’s All Natural Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookie are represented on product labels as “minimally processed” and containing “no artificial ingredients.” Contrary to these representations and consumers’ expectations, the cookies contain “a long list of highly processed or artificial and non-natural ingredients,” the lawsuit claims, including refined flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, sugar, milk powder, soy lecithin, and baking soda.
A reasonable consumer, the case argues, would not expect the cookies to contain such highly processed ingredients upon viewing the defendants’ label claims.
The lawsuit alleges that Jimmy John’s purpose in affixing misleading labels to its cookies was to increase profits by charging consumers a premium price for what they believed was an all-natural product while in truth delivering a cheaper, less healthy dessert.
“In sum,” the suit says, “the Cookies contain a long list of ingredients reasonable consumers would consider non-natural, artificial, and/or highly processed, in contradiction of the claims on the front of the labels.”
The case, which looks to cover anyone in Missouri who purchased one of the aforementioned Jimmy John’s cookie products within the past five years, alleges violations of Missouri’s Merchandising Practices Act, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. Initially filed in Jackson County Circuit Court, the lawsuit has been removed to Missouri’s Western District.
Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s newsletter here.
Before commenting, please review our comment policy.