- A class-action lawsuit filed on Monday in a California District Court alleged that dog food products containing citric acid and/or tocopherols were falsely and misleadingly advertised with representations such as “Made Without … Artificial Preservatives” and “Nothing Artificial.” Flick v. M.I. Industries, 3:26-cv-01470 (Law 360 subscription required).
- Citric acid and tocopherols (a form of vitamin E) can be naturally derived. However, Plaintiff alleges that 99% of the world’s citric acid is synthetically produced and that therefore, by implication, Plaintiff is using (or is at least highly likely to be using) synthetic citric acid. Plaintiff notes that natural tocopherols exist in a “d” form while synthetic tocopherols exist in a “dl” form (many compounds exist in mirror image molecular structures of each other, the “d” and the “l” forms). However, Plaintiff does not connect this allegation to Defendant’s products or make clear how it was inferred that Defendant’s tocopherols are synthetic.
- Plaintiff also indicates that citric acid and tocopherols are used to “prevent or retard deterioration of the products” and therefore meet the definition of “chemical preservative” in 21 CFR 101.22(a)(5).
- Foods containing citric acid and tocopherols and making “no artificial preservative” claims have been previously targeted by class-action plaintiffs.