Barleans Coconut Oil Classes Certified in Deception Suit

Barleans Organic Oils LLC must face California and New York classes of consumers alleging it deceptively portrayed coconut oils as healthful, following a California federal court finding that common issues predominate over individual ones in the litigation.

Michael Testone, Collin Shanks, and Lamartine Pierre challenged marketing statements such as “Coconut Oil: A Smart Fat.” They allege Barleans deceptively positions coconut oil products as a healthy alternative to butter and various cooking oils, when it’s actually less healthful because of a high saturated fat content.

The plaintiffs, who say they overpaid for the Barleans products because of the allegedly deceptive marketing, ...