Consumers claiming that Vitamin Shoppe engaged in deceptive and misleading labeling of a trans-resveratrol supplement filed a putative class action in a California federal court this week.
According to a report on Law360 (subscription required), Vitamin Shoppe’s Reservie Trans-Resveratrol supplement is marketed as containing trans-resveratrol, touted as an antioxidant, from French grape seed and organic muscadine grapes and seeds. The lawsuit alleges, however, that most of the trans-resveratrol in the product actually comes from Japanese knotweed, a less expensive and non-organic source that does not appear on the product label. As a result, consumers say they were deceived into overpaying for the product.
This is not the first such claim against the company. In another lawsuit filed in September, the plaintiffs alleged that Vitamin Shoppe deceptively labeled and marketed its BodyTech Whey Tech Pro 24, BodyTech 100% Casein, and BodyTech Primal Pro products by boasting about the amount of digestive enzyme Aminogen the supplements contained.
Food and supplement mislabeling cases have trended sharply upward, as discussed in a series of Sommers Schwartz videos. If you suspect that you have purchased a food, beverage, or nutritional supplement that does not live up to the promises on its label, please contact our Complex Litigation Group today.
