On Friday, Judge Manish S. Shah granted Whole Foods’ motion to dismiss a case in the Northern District of Illinois that had originally been filed against them in October of 2021. The case originally filed by plaintiff Kayla Cerretti accused Whole Foods of falsely advertising their organic chocolate ice cream bars.
The product in question, as recounted by the judge, is further described on its packaging as “Organic Vanilla Ice Cream Dipped in Organic Chocolate,” and made “with the finest organic ingredients.” The product is shown surrounded by chunks of chocolate. In the initial complaint, it was detailed that Whole Food’s is well-known for its “organic and high-quality grocery products.”
Cerretti noted in her complaint that when she bought the aforementioned ice cream bars, she expected the ice cream coating to be made primarily of actual chocolate ingredients like chocolate liquor and cocoa butter, as she claims was advertised However, the product ingredient list reveals that “the chocolate in Whole Food’s ice cream bars was more palm kernel oil than it was organic chocolate liquor or organic coca butter by weight, although it did include those ingredients.”
Cerretti’s initial complaint cited violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, breaches of express warranty, implied warranty of merchantability and the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, fraud, and unjust enrichment.
Whole Foods filed a subsequent motion to dismiss the suit since they asserted that the plaintiff failed to state a valid claim within her complaint. The motion filed by Whole Foods to dismiss the case was granted by Judge Manish S. Shah. The dismissal states that the plaintiff’s interpretation of the labeling on the ice cream bars was “unreasonable.”
Cerretti’s initial claim for negligent misrepresentation was dismissed with prejudice, while her statutory and common-law fraud claims, the warranty claims, and unjust enrichment and injunctive relief claims were dismissed without prejudice. Cerretti will have until April 22, 2022 to filed an amended complaint.The plaintiff was represented in the litigation by Spencer Sheehan, while the defendant was represented by Blaxter Blackman LLP and the Law Offices of Joseph D. Ryan.
