Lawsuit Claims Breyers Delights ‘Vanilla Bean’ Ice Cream Buyers Misled as to Source of Vanilla Flavor

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A proposed class action claims the front label of Conopco, Inc.’s “Breyers Delights Vanilla Bean Low Fat Ice Cream” is misleading in that it fails to disclose that the ice cream is not flavored with real vanilla beans.

Per the case, the label is designed to mislead consumers into believing the ice cream’s characterizing flavor is derived from vanilla beans when, in truth, its taste comes from a “natural flavor” ingredient.

“Defendant’s deception flows from the fact that the Product does not disclose, on the Product’s front label, that the Product is a vanilla-flavored product that does not contain vanilla as an ingredient in the form of vanilla beans,” the complaint states.

According to the suit, consumers are deceived by the front label’s “prominent[] and conspicuous[]” display of the words “Vanilla Bean” among representations of a flowering vanilla plant and vanilla bean pods. Moreover, “tiny black specks” in the ice cream lead consumers to “mistakenly believe” that the dessert contains vanilla beans, the suit says.

“In truth, however, the Product does not contain vanilla beans,” the complaint claims, alleging that the characterizing vanilla flavor is derived from “natural flavor,” as disclosed in the ice cream’s ingredients list.

The defendant’s vanilla bean representations on the Breyers Delights front label without reference to any wording that would indicate to a reasonable consumer that the product does not contain vanilla beans is “deceptive, misleading, and unjust,” according to the case. Per the suit, consumers reasonably rely on the ice cream’s front label to honestly represent the nature of its ingredients.

The case argues that since the Breyers Delights label does not disclose that vanilla is merely a flavor and not an ingredient, the product’s labeling does not comply with federal and state food labeling laws and regulations.

“Any food product that is expected to contain its characterizing ingredient but does not, and instead is flavored, must disclose that fact to consumers on the Product’s front label,” the complaint states. “Failure to do so misleads reasonable consumers into believing they are purchasing a food product with qualities it does not have and is in clear violation of the law.”

The lawsuit looks to represent Massachusetts residents who purchased the defendant’s product within the applicable statute of limitations period.

Other varieties of Breyers “vanilla” ice cream have been the subject of similar proposed class action litigation that claims the desserts’ labels mislead consumers as to the source of the product’s flavor.

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