Husain v. Campbell Soup Company

Background

Syed Husain brought a putative class action against Campbell Soup Company concerning Kettle Brand Air Fried potato chips. Husain alleged that the chips were cooked using an oil fryer, even though the front label described them as “Air Fried.” He said he bought the product in November 2023 based on that representation and would not have purchased it had he known the product was cooked in oil.

Husain asserted claims under California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, and Consumers Legal Remedies Act. Campbell moved to dismiss, arguing among other things that Husain lacked Article III standing and had not plausibly alleged that reasonable consumers would be deceived.

Standing

The court held that Husain sufficiently alleged an injury in fact, which is a concrete injury required for federal standing. Husain alleged that Campbell made a false representation about the product and that he would not have bought it had he known the representation was false. The court rejected Campbell’s argument that this issue should be resolved as part of standing because whether the label was actually misleading went to the merits of the claims.

Failure to State a Claim

The court applied the reasonable-consumer standard under California consumer-protection law. That standard asks whether a significant portion of the public or the targeted consumers, acting reasonably, could be misled by the labeling.

The court concluded that the front label did not plausibly deceive reasonable consumers. Although the label said “Air Fried,” it also stated, in the same text box, “Kettle Cooked Air Finished.” The court understood that phrase to convey a two-step process: cooking first in kettles and then finishing with air. The court also concluded that reasonable consumers would commonly understand “kettle cooked” potato chips to involve cooking with oil, not water or steam.

The court further held that, even if the front label were ambiguous, the rest of the packaging resolved the ambiguity. The back-label diagram showed the chips being batch-cooked in kettles and then air-fried. The ingredients list identified vegetable oils, including canola, sunflower, and/or safflower oils. Based on the full packaging, the court found it implausible that reasonable consumers would believe the chips were cooked exclusively by air and without oil.

Because Husain did not plausibly allege that reasonable consumers were likely to be deceived, the court concluded that he failed to state a claim under the Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, or Consumers Legal Remedies Act. The court did not reach Campbell’s remaining arguments.

Disposition

The court found that further amendment would be futile because additional factual allegations could not change the representations appearing on the product labels. Judge Charles R. Breyer granted Campbell’s motion to dismiss, denied leave to amend, and dismissed Husain’s complaint without leave to amend.