Shopper Seeks Class Action Against Aluminum Foil Company Reynolds for False Advertising
A consumer filed suit in New York on March 27 alleging that the aluminum foil brand Reynolds, which her complaint called “a staple of Americana,” harmed consumers by falsely advertising that its foil was made in the U.S. (Anaya Washington v. Reynolds Consumer Products LLC, S.D.N.Y. # 24-02327).
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Anaya Washington said Reynolds sold its foil at higher prices because the foil was labeled “Made in U.S.A.,” even though the mining of the products’ primary input, bauxite, and bauxite’s subsequent processing into aluminum mainly take place outside of the country.
In her complaint to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Washington sought class certification to represent “all persons in New York who purchased the Product from March 26, 2021,” a class that she said could be made up of “thousands, if not hundreds of thousands” of members.
Washington charged Reynolds with violation of New York General Business Law Section 349, 50, which forbids “deceptive acts and practices” while conducting business, and Section 350, which prohibits false advertising. She asked the court for either actual damages or $50 in regard to the first claim and $500 in regard to the second, whichever would be greater.
“Plaintiff and the Class members would not have purchased the Products at a premium price had they known the Products were not actually ‘MADE IN U.S.A.,’” the complaint said.
Companies that “use unqualified claims” that their products are made domestically “can mislead consumers when raw materials used in those products” come from elsewhere, it said. The FTC considers such claims to be deceptive unless either the products’ final assembly or processing occurs in the U.S., all its significant processing occurs in the U.S. or “all or virtually all” of its components are sourced in the U.S., it said.
None of the bauxite mined in the U.S. has been used for aluminum since 1981, her complaint said. Therefore, “all or virtually all” of the bauxite used in Reynolds’ products are sourced elsewhere, she said.
She also said that a “substantial amount” of the bauxite used in Reynolds’ foil is processed into alumina, then smelted into aluminum, outside of the U.S.
Reynolds argued that the “Made in U.S.A.” labels apply only to the foil itself.
“This is insufficient to qualify the ‘Made in U.S.A.’ claim because consumers are not familiar with the sources of bauxite, the locations where bauxite is transformed into alumina, or the locations where alumina is transformed into aluminum,” Washington’s complaint said. “Reasonable consumers do not understand Defendant’s claim to refer only to the processing of aluminum ingots into aluminum foil.”