Judge Clears Trader Joe’s of Soy Milk Mislabeling Charges

Grocery chain Trader Joe’s has been cleared in a 2013 class action lawsuit leveled against the company for allegedly misbranding and misleading consumers by using the word “milk” in the packaging of its line of soy milks. Federal District Judge Vince Chhabria dismissed claims that the company was in violation of federal food labeling laws, saying “a reasonable consumer would not assume that two distinct products have the same nutritional content.” Two warning letters previously sent by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to soy milk companies were cited by the plaintiff, but were derided by Chhabria, who said, “There is no conceivable justification for the assertions this letter make about the word ‘soy milk.’” Chabbria’s ruling comes on the heels of a similar case brought against WhiteWave earlier this year, in which charges against Almond Breeze and Silk were thrown out after the companies were accused of misrepresent the exact amount of almonds used in the imagery and labeling of its almond milk products.