Winston Wins Dismissal for The J.M. Smucker Company in Proposed Class Action

Winston won dismissal for The J.M. Smucker Company (Smucker) in a proposed class action in California alleging that the labeling of Jif peanut butter as “natural” is misleading because Jif may contain sugar derived from genetically modified (GMO) beets.

In its motion to dismiss, Winston argued that the plaintiff Graham Forsher’s allegations were too general and lacked adequate facts to back his claim that GMO sugar beets are unnatural. In his complaint, Forsher alleged only that many third parties claim GMO ingredients are unnatural because they are made in a lab. Furthermore, he merely stated that half the sugar production in the U.S. comes from GMO sugar beets, but didn’t provide any allegations to demonstrate that Jif contains sugar derived from GMO beets.

Forsher also failed to specifically define what constitutes “unnatural genetic material,” and whether the sugar in Jif peanut butter contains any offending genetic material, if the sugar is indeed derived from GMO sugar beets. U.S. District Judge John R. Adams stated, "Whether GMOs are created in a laboratory is not relevant to the question about a reasonable consumer’s beliefs about the products and whether they are natural.”

Judge Adams ultimately ruled in favor of Smucker, saying that the plaintiff didn’t claim that the actual Jif brand peanut butter is genetically modified, but rather only one part of one ingredient may have been. He ruled that the claims are speculative and insufficient to show that a reasonable consumer would be misled under California’s false advertising and unfair competition laws.

The Winston team was led by Ron Rothstein.