đŠ The most vanilla lawsuit of all time
New York attorney Spencer Sheehan has a problem with the likes of Chobani, Wegmanâs and Trader Joeâs. He doesnât believe them when they say theyâre putting vanilla in various food items.
As the WSJ reports, it is leading to the legal question of our times: âIs vanilla really vanilla without vanilla beans?â
This all started with a can of A&W: Sheehan was drinking a root beer and saw it contained the phrase âmade with aged vanilla.â He didnât believe it and soon filed a lawsuit.Â
The food litigation world hasnât seen anything like it: Experts say usually just a couple dozen complaints over the âall-naturalâ qualities of food are seen in a year. In the last two years, more than 100 class action lawsuits related to vanilla have been filed.Â
Pure vanilla vs common vanillaÂ
Vanilla comes from beans growing on rare plants found in countries like Madagascar. Natural vanilla flavor, used by the companies Sheehan has sued, still comes from a plant but not necessarily from vanilla beans. The natural vanilla flavor is about ÂŒ the cost of the pure vanilla extract from beans.Â
Sheehan likens the difference between vanilla and natural vanilla flavor to Chanel and knockoff Chanel: âJust because you canât tell the difference between something real and something fake, that doesnât make it OK.âÂ
The Verdict: Sheehan is creating change. Although many lawsuits have been dismissed and others not yet heard, one company settled a class action case for $3 million and changed its packaging. Wegmanâs has also changed the packaging on one of its vanilla-flavored items after a lawsuit.