Natural Bliss Oat Milk Creamer Label Misrepresents Vanilla Flavor Source, Lawsuit Alleges

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A proposed class action claims the label of Coffee Mate Natural Bliss Oat Milk Creamer is deceptive in that it does not disclose the product’s vanilla flavor is artificially sourced.

The lawsuit against defendant Nestlé USA, Inc. claims certain representations on the product’s label, including the terms “Vanilla” and “Natural Flavor,” pictures of vanilla beans and the absence of any reference to artificial flavors, mislead consumers into believing the non-dairy coffee creamer is flavored with vanilla from vanilla beans, and does not contain artificial flavors. 

“These representations tell consumers the Product’s vanilla taste is only from natural flavors, including vanilla, even though it contains artificial flavor,” the complaint contends. “Defendant was required to disclose – on the front label and ingredient list – that the Product’s vanilla taste is not from vanilla ingredients, but from artificial flavor.”

According to the lawsuit, the Coffee Mate Oat Milk creamer product is flavored not with real vanilla but with vanillin, a component of vanilla extract that can be artificially produced from a synthetic source or through a chemical process. The case argues that most vanillin is not extracted from real vanilla beans but is produced artificially and must therefore be declared as an artificial flavor.

Further, testing on the Natural Bliss “Vanilla” Oat Milk product has revealed that the product contains a higher amount of vanillin than if it were flavored with real vanilla beans, and lacks “expected amounts” of other aromatic components of vanilla from the vanilla plant, the lawsuit relays. The absence of these compounds, coupled with the levels of vanillin, indicates the creamer contains “at most, a trace or de minimis amount of vanilla,” the suit alleges.

The case goes on to claim that although though the oat milk creamer’s ingredients list states “natural flavor,” it should more accurately identify “vanillin” or “artificial flavor.” Per the suit, consumers have been doubly misled by the fact that the artificial flavor vanillin is not disclosed on the ingredients list or the product’s front label as required by food labeling regulations.

“Although the flavoring used to simulate the Product’s characterizing vanilla flavor is (1) not from vanilla beans, (2) from an artificial petrochemical source and (3) made through an artificial process, Defendant pretends otherwise, conflating the natural and artificial flavoring and deceiving consumers,” the complaint states.

According to the lawsuit, consumers would not have purchased the Oat Milk creamer product, or would have paid less for it, had it not been for the defendant’s allegedly deceptive labeling practices.

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