February 7th, 2020
January 2020: A federal judge granted preliminary approval of the settlement agreement. A final fairness hearing is scheduled for September 14, 2020. July 2019: Plaintiffs filed a renewed motion for preliminary approval of the proposed settlement agreement after a June 2019 decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a related case, In Re
January 23rd, 2020
In January 2020, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s for allegedly misleadingly marketing that vanilla is the exclusive flavoring ingredient in its Vanilla Almond Clusters Cereal when, according to plaintiffs, the ingredients list shows that the cereal contains “Natural Flavor” instead of vanilla. (Sanders et al v. Trader Joe’s Company, 20-cv-496, S. D.
January 23rd, 2020
In January 2020, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s Company for allegedly misleadingly marketing that vanilla is the exclusive flavoring ingredient in its Just the Clusters Vanilla Almond Granola Cereal when, according to the complaint, the ingredients list shows that the cereal contains “Natural Flavor” instead of vanilla. (Figueroa et al v. Trader
December 20th, 2019
In December 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s for allegedly deceiving consumers by disguising sugar as “organic evaporated cane juice” in the ingredients list on the product labels of its Organic Corn Flakes. (Lopez-Barnett et al v. Trader Joe’s Company, Case No. 19-cv11469, S. D. NY.) For more of TINA.org’s coverage of
December 3rd, 2019
In November 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s for allegedly misleadingly listing “organic dehydrated cane juice solids” in the ingredients list for its Organic Oats & Flax Instant Oatmeal when, according to plaintiffs, the ingredient is actually sugar. (Chau et al v. Trader Joe’s East Inc., Case No. 19-cv-6596, E. D. NY.)
September 3rd, 2019
August 2019: This lawsuit was transferred to federal court. (Case No. 19-cv-1587, S. D. CA.) July 2019: A class-action lawsuit was filed alleging that Trader Joe’s All Natural chicken products – including its Boneless Chicken Breasts, Chicken Thighs, and Chicken Wings – contain more retained water than disclosed on the packaging. Specifically, the complaint claims
August 8th, 2019
July 2019: A federal judge entered judgment in favor of Trader Joe’s after the named plaintiff failed to respond to the court’s order to explain why the amended complaint should not be withdrawn pursuant to the November 2018 dismissal. Later in July, the named plaintiff filed a Notice of Appeal regarding several court filings relating
July 8th, 2019
June 2019: A federal judge granted Trader Joe’s motion to dismiss concluding, among other things, that the product labeling is accurate and therefore not misleading. July 2018: A class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s for allegedly falsely marketing its Manuka Honey products as being 100% Manuka honey when, according to plaintiffs, the products are
June 4th, 2019
May 2019: This case was transferred from state court to federal court. (Barrere et al v. Trader Joe’s Company, Case No. 19-cv-4297, C. D. CA.) April 2019: A class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s for allegedly deceptively using slack-filled [link to glossary] boxes for its Trader Joe’s Dried Fruit brand products. Specifically, plaintiffs claim
May 15th, 2019
March 2019: This case was voluntarily dismissed because the parties reached a settlement agreement, the terms of which have not been disclosed. 2018: A class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s for allegedly misleadingly implying that its Ts & Js Sour Gummies are made with only natural ingredients by failing to disclose that the gummies
January 7th, 2019
In December 2018, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s for allegedly deceptively marketing its Honey Nut O’s breakfast cereal. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Trader Joe’s sends the message that honey is the primary sweetener in the cereal when, according to plaintiffs, it contains a small amount of honey and the primary sweeteners
September 13th, 2018
In July 2018, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s for allegedly misleadingly marketing its T’s & J’s Sour Gummies to give consumers the impression that they are natural by using the names of fruits in the product name and representing that they contain “NO artificial flavors” when, according to plaintiffs, they contain non-natural,
September 6th, 2018
August 2018: A federal judge dismissed this complaint concluding, among other things, that the marketing does not mislead reasonable consumers because the packaging says that the oil is “flavored” with black truffles, which suggests that it is “designed to taste like black truffles.” May 2017: A class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s for allegedly
May 9th, 2018
Class-action complaint alleges whole fruit ingredients don’t tell the whole story.
May 2nd, 2018
In April 2018, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s for allegedly misleadingly advertising that the only ingredients in its “2 ingredient” fruit bars, such as Trader Joe’s Apple Mango fruit bar, are the whole fruits shown on the product labels when, according to the plaintiffs, the bars also contain other ingredients, including water
February 14th, 2018
In January 2018, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s for allegedly misleadingly representing that its Vitamin E Oil contains only vitamin E oil when, according to plaintiffs, the product is actually a blend of several oils and contains mostly soybean oil. The lawsuit was originally filed in state court and was transferred to
May 31st, 2017
November 2014: Both appeals were voluntarily dismissed. The reasons for the dismissals have not been disclosed. Click on the links below to see each order. Weaver et al Dismissal Narkin Dismissal August 2014: Class members who had objected to the approval of the settlement agreement filed Notices of Appeal regarding the decision to approve it.
July 13th, 2016
In June 2016, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s for allegedly falsely marketing a variety of maple products – including its Frosted Maple and Brown Sugar Shredded Bite Size Wheats and Oatmeal Complete Maple and Brown Sugar – as containing maple when, in reality, maple is not an ingredient. (Stiles et al v.
July 11th, 2016
April 2013: This action was voluntarily dismissed . The reasons have not been disclosed. March 2013: A class-action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s regarding its Calcium Citrate with Vitamin D supplement. According to the complaint, the product labeling and advertising states that one dose of the supplement contains 400 International Units (IU) of Vitamin
June 7th, 2016
May 2016: The parties agreed to dismiss this action. The named plaintiffs’ claims were dismissed and the class members’ claims were dismissed . The reasons for the dismissal have not yet been disclosed. August 2014: A federal court suspended a class-action lawsuit filed against Trader Joe’s in 2013 pending the FDA’s determination of when the