Malic acid… a fertile area of opportunity for class action lawsuits?
There is a slew of cases right now involving malic acid, an ingredient that can serve multiple functions in a food, including flavor, flavor enhancement, and pH control. The theory of the plaintiffs is that malic acid is an artificial flavor, so they have sued a number of companies saying that when you put ‘no artificial flavors’ on your label, that’s false because they contain malic acid. The response from the companies has been: that’s not what we’re using it for. Many courts have declined to dismiss these cases because it is a factual question, so this is an area that continues to foster a lot of litigation. Angel Garganta, Venable
