Trader Joe is sued by Contra Costa's wife over manuka honey

Trader Joe's, famous for picking and selling food products from around the world, is accused of having cut a variety of extremely expensive honey with minor honeys, but to sell it as if it were was pure

. The trial is "manuka" honey, produced in New Zealand by bees feeding on nectar from the manuka tree, and prized for its so-called healing properties.

"While the demand for manuka honey has increased, the supply of natural manuka honey with According to the lawsuit that was brought by a woman from Contra Costa County and two other people who said they bought the Manuka honey at Trader Joe's, the antibacterial potency remains limited. "As a result, the price of a bottle of manuka honey can be up to 10 times higher than that of ordinary honeys. manuka. "

Trader Joe's, headquartered in Monrovia, did not immediately answer questions about The grocery chain sells manuka honey, with jars labeled" 100 "New Zealand Manuka honey" and some labeled "New Zealand Manuka honey", according to the lawsuit.On one way or another, any reasonable consumer would think to get 100 manuka honey percent, complainants claiming certification of appeal collective

"The declaration of ingredients mentions only one ingredient, the manuka honey". Contra Costa resident Lynn Moore had spent $ 23.99 on a bottle of Manuka Honey from Trader Joe, purchased from Amazon, after seeing an advertisement on Amazon with a picture of the product, depending on the costume. The label on the honeypot shown in the ad said "100% New Zealand manuka honey," says the suit.

A man from New York and a man from North Carolina also bought manuka honey from Trader Joe's. they concluded that they were receiving pure manuka honey, depending on the suit.

None of the three would have bought honey if he had known that it was not 100% manuka, according to the lawsuit

"The Declaration of Ingredients and the Representation" 100% New Zealand manuka honey "both communicate the same message, namely pure manuka honey and not a mixture of manuka honey and other honeys."

But honey n & # 39, was not even pure manuka, two of the plaintiffs claimed.Testing done in a research laboratory owned by the New Zealand government revealed that the bottle of Moore contained only 62.6% of manuka and that of New York 57 , 3%, depending on the process, only for its taste, but for its healthy properties, which depend on the specific purity level. "

Controlling the purity of manuka honey can be difficult, and" reasonable consumers "know that the concentration of manuka may vary according to the brand "" As a result, they attach importance to representations that communicate a higher level of purity, "said the lawsuit. "Reasonable consumers would be deceived by the misrepresentations of (Trader Joe's)
because they would reasonably assume that (Trader Joe's) fulfills his legal duty to market his product honestly. [19659002] "They would reasonably assume that a producer would not represent a honey as pure manuka without first having tested it to make sure it was true. "