Reynolds Can’t Claim Aluminum Foil Is ‘Made in U.S.A.,’ Class Action Contends

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Reynolds Consumer Products faces a proposed class action that alleges the “Foil Made in U.S.A” statement on packages of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil is misleading given one of the product’s raw ingredients is sourced primarily outside the United States. 

The 14-page lawsuit contends that although Reynolds processes and transforms bauxite, the only commercially available aluminum ore, into aluminum foil in the United States using American workers, consumers are unaware that the raw ingredient in the product is sourced from outside the country. 

According to the complaint, the Federal Trade Commission considers it deceptive to label a product as made in the United States unless its final assembly or processing occurs in the country, all significant processing that goes into the product occurs in the U.S., and “all or virtually all” of the product’s ingredients or components are made and sourced in the United States. 

“Assuming that all the processing of the bauxite into foil occurs in the United States, none or virtually none of the raw materials and components used in the Product are sourced in this country,” the lawsuit alleges.

According to the suit, the United States and France were the world’s major suppliers of bauxite, and the world’s major producers of aluminum, until World War II. Since 1981, the case says, none of the bauxite mined stateside has been used for aluminum, and in 2013 the United States mined just 1.3 percent of the bauxite it used, the filing adds. 

The case stresses that without bauxite sourced from outside the United States, it would be impossible to produce Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil. The lawsuit argues that Reynolds fails to qualify the “Foil Made in U.S.A.” claim on product packaging so as to avoid consumer deception about the presence or amount of foreign bauxite in its aluminum foil. Instead, the company, the suit claims, attempts to qualify the statement by limiting its applicability to only the foil itself, and not the foil’s raw ingredients, even if buyers may not understand it that way.

“This is insufficient to qualify the ‘Made in U.S.A.’ claim because consumers are not familiar with the sources of bauxite,” the complaint says. “Reasonable consumers do not understand Defendant’s claim to refer only to the transformation of bauxite into aluminum foil.” 

Overall, the value of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil was “materially less” than represented by the manufacturer, and consumers may not have bought the product, or would have paid less for it, had they “known the truth,” the lawsuit alleges. 

The case looks to cover consumers who bought Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil in Illinois, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, Arkansas, Delaware, Wyoming, Virginia and Oklahoma during the applicable statute of limitations period. 

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