Frito-Lay Lawsuit: Class Action Suit Brought Against Company For Using GMOs And Claiming 'All-Natural'

In August, ConAgra was hit with a lawsuit filed by Milberg LLP, arguing that its line of Wesson oils can't be "all-natural" since the oil contains GMOs. The process of genetic modification is in fact unnatural, the suit claims, which should nullify the term "all-natural."

Now, Milberg LLP is suing Frito-Lay for the same reason. The Tostitos and Sun Chips brands contain the claim "made with all-natural ingredients," despite the fact that genetically modified corn and vegetable oil are also used.

Although Milberg certainly has a point, it will likely be hard case to win. The term "natural," at least according to the FDA, is defined as, "ingredients extracted directly from plants or animal products as opposed to being produced synthetically." A definition is different from a regulation, however. The term is not regulated and can therefore encompass -- at least in theory -- ingredients made from GMOs.

GMOs do not currently have to be listed as ingredients in processed food -- PepsiCo, which owns Frito-Lay, uses genetically-modified sweeteners (high fructose corn syrup) in its soft drinks, and does not label them for U.S. consumers.

Quick Poll

Do you think that Frito-Lay is fair to use the term "all-natural"?

Yes -- if the term is unregulated, then Frito-Lay isn't doing anything wrong.

No -- if GMOs are used, then the product isn't "all-natural."

I'm not sure.

VOTE

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Comments

[Naveen Seo]

06:24 AM on 12/26/2011

Thank you for sharing this information.
It will really helpful to solve my confusion

Process $ Chemical Engineering

[c-tom]

06:06 PM on 12/24/2011

Everything we eat has been genetically modified and except for minerals everything we eat is organic. So the lawsuit is going to be hard to win.

[KevinFletcherTweedy]

05:45 AM on 12/23/2011

The last I heard there were absolutely NO standards in the US about putting "natural" on any food or beverage. It's one of the biggest "nothing" words in the food biz and the general usage use that pretty much all labels try to feature it because it's "free from meaning". I suppose you could even label a total synthetic fabric "natural" as it obviously was created from natural petroleum (or whatever). But, then again, we don't generally eat Arnel or Polyester. (Do we!?)

[Proud Bay Man]

04:11 AM on 12/23/2011

Wow, for a moment there, I thought I might have typed theonion.com

[N0NDescript0]

04:00 PM on 12/22/2011

Personally, I don't see any significant contradiction calling a GMO a "natural" product.

Sure, we used molecular science to insert a gene into another organism. If the inserted gene is naturally occurring, then all we did was supersede evolution: the gene might have evolved naturally, we just helped it out. As long as the GMO crop was then cultivated "naturally", then what's the big deal with calling it natural?

Same thing goes for calling GMO crops cultivated organically as "organic" crops. I think there should be a labeling distinction, but it's still organic, since "organic" specifies how it is grow, not where it came from.

[ddanimal]

01:29 AM on 12/23/2011

No conceivable process of evolution could cause the BT gene to be inserted into plants.

There are health risks associated with consuming GM foods.

The big deal is that GM foods are not natural. Typically, the people seeking natural products dont want to eat GM foods. Hence the labeling of GM foods as "natural" is misleading and injurious.

[Brockernation]

04:37 AM on 12/23/2011

There's a great book on this subject: The Seeds of Deception. Check it out.

[BurritoT]

05:02 AM on 12/22/2011

I like to fill these chips with endangered blue fin tuna fish. Tastes great.

[rikster]

10:17 PM on 12/21/2011

all GMO foods should be labeled. the consumer can make the choice.

[BLACKCAT66]

10:39 AM on 12/24/2011

totally agree. Every other country has taken steps in labeling to make sure their citizens have a choice about being used as a lab experiment except this one. Stupid fat Americans could not care less about chemical companies having a strangle hold on their food supply just don't tax their sugary drinks.

[mactownfun]

05:57 PM on 12/21/2011

Frito Lay is based in Dallas. When they first came out with their "All Natural" products, one of their spokespeople was on a local morning news/talk show promoting the products. The host finally got her to admit that the phrase was really just more of a new generic marketing scheme than based on any sort of actual scientific formula of ingredients or facts. I was surprised that she was that honest and would be even more surprised if she worked for Frito Lay much longer after that show.

[Karl Wilder]

04:30 PM on 12/21/2011

The laws need to be changed to truth in labeling. You use GMO it needs to be front and center on your product. WARNING: FrankenFood.

[HazelPethigFan]

09:29 PM on 12/21/2011

Posts like yours need the following warning: stooopid

[Gabe Brummett]

10:20 PM on 12/21/2011

how is truth in labeling stoooopid?

[stjoshy]

01:56 PM on 12/21/2011

i think the FDA needs to do whole shake up of the specifications needed to be able to say all natural.. this is just another case that proves this. they make it to easy for these companies to do just enough to get the seal of a approval from them. maybe there are kickbacks to the FDA in gratitude for the lack of hard line specifications on this subject... just read ur ingredients people and make the decision yourself. if you come across something sketchy then dont buy it ever again. the problem is 9 out of 10 people wont do this and thats what these companies bank on

[carrieanna]

02:05 PM on 12/21/2011

It seems weird that in the 21st century we still can't get food producers to be up front with their ingredients. Wasn't the whole point of nutrition labels so that companies couldn't hide products from consumers? And yet, in our current information age, these guys are still playing fast and loose with the truth.

That said, I voted that Frito Lay is not to blame since "natural" doesn't have any legal regulation. I also doubt people buying Tostitos and Sun Chips actually care about GMO issues.

[Oginikwe]

12:34 AM on 12/22/2011

Not so weird--if we knew, no one would ever buy their products again.

[BLACKCAT66]

10:48 AM on 12/24/2011

The FDA has become a revolving door of food industry & chemical company lobbyist. Many of them are former Monasanto employees who will no doubt work for them again after a stint in the FDA. If you need proof of that just consider why they just won't require GMOs to be lableled on food products. Every other country does.

[gary365]

01:44 PM on 12/21/2011

Now really! Everything constituted of elements up through Uranium is natural; meaning occuring in nature. Recombination of genetic material is how ancient man constructed modern wheat from the almost inedible precursors. Ancient man (and scientists up until the '70's) used "natural selection"; observing small variations in atttributes and selecting the more desirable varients for propogation. So-called "genetic engineering" (using vectors to insert genetic material where it does not frequently occur) is just faster, more certain, and broader - you still have to select the desirable varients from the exttremely numerous undesirable varients.

Get off this rediculous redefining of the English language.

G

[daigz]

07:54 PM on 12/21/2011

Except that natural selection is not a human-regulated process..

[HazelPethigFan]

09:31 PM on 12/21/2011

We've been doing the "human regulated process" of breeeding plants and animals for thousands of years.

[rikster]

10:18 PM on 12/21/2011

work for them..?