Hershey Beats Lawsuit Over ‘No Artificial Flavors’ Labeling

Hershey Co. beat a proposed class suit alleging it deceptively labeled Brookside dark chocolate because the three named plaintiffs didn’t show they were fooled specifically by the candy’s “no artificial flavors” labeling, the Northern District of California said.

Howard Clark, Todd Hall, and Angela Pirrone alleged the label was misleading because Brookside candy is flavored with synthetic malic acid.

But there is a distinction between the terms “artificial ingredient” and “artificial flavor,” the court said: Artificial ingredients include all artificial flavors but artificial flavors don’t include all artificial ingredients.

Clark admitted he took the “no artificial flavors” statement as a ...