Want to know if a grocery product is a healthy choice, or if it contains ingredients that are bad for you? Just scan it! But be careful – one brand says you may be “deceived and confused” by the results, so it’s taking the makers of a popular app to court.
Goya Foods has filed a federal lawsuit against Yuca Corp, the owner of the Yuka app, accusing it of wrongfully telling users that Goya’s products are “hazardous,” “high-risk,” “poor” and “bad.”
Launched in France in 2017, and introduced in the U.S. in 2022, Yuka has become a global phenomenon. More than 55 million shoppers use the app to scan product bar codes in stores, and Yuka provides an instant nutritional or safety rating on a scale of 1-100, calling out specific ingredients it says are cause for concern.
A recent Wall Street Journal report on the app’s popularity said it is “driving food companies crazy,” “changing what grocers sell and consumers buy,” and “prompting some manufacturers to reformulate their products to boost scores.” Yuka’s latest annual Impact Report features testimonials from several manufacturers like Mondelēz, Nestlé and Unilever who have pledged to do just that.
But Goya is taking a different approach. Its lawsuit claims many of Yuka’s ratings are misleading, arbitrary and untrustworthy, and giving consumers the wrong impression about Goya’s products. The company is accusing Yuka of false advertising and engaging in deceptive trade practices, and is seeking financial damages, plus an order that Yuka “cease from analyzing any Goya products” going forward.
As “the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States,” Goya describes itself as “a leading and premier source for authentic Latin cuisine.” Over its nearly 90-year history, the company says it “has developed a reputation for the care it places on the selection of the freshest and finest ingredients for inclusion in its products,” which are trusted by consumers “to be ‘good,’ and ‘good for you.'”
But the Yuka app apparently doesn’t agree. Goya says several of its products have gotten low ratings on the app and have been branded as “unhealthy” or “high-risk,” but “without substantiation or often with flawed or discredited substantiation.”
While Yuka says it “deciphers product labels and analyzes the health impact of food products and cosmetics,” Goya points out that the app’s terms and conditions clarify that Yuka “does not claim to have any scientific authority and only issues opinions about the potential risks associated with ingredients and additives.”
“It is actually only providing an opinion as to what products Defendant believes are healthy and which ones consumers should avoid, without conspicuously acknowledging that all of the ingredients and/or additives that it rates are all compliant with all applicable federal regulations,” Goya argues. “Goya’s products contain additives and ingredients that are all considered safe for human consumption by the relevant legal authorities and regulating agencies in the United States.”
Yuka co-founder Julie Chapon disputes that complying with federal regulations necessarily means that all product ingredients are safe. “Goya uses certain additives in its products that are identified by independent scientific research and/or public health authorities as presenting potential health risks,” she told Coupons in the News. “All these risks and scientific sources our scientific team relies on are transparently detailed in the app. For example, Goya uses food dyes like Red 40 and Yellow 5 — additives the U.S. government has recently announced it plans to ban in the near future.”
Goya says it first became aware of its low ratings in the app last fall, when Yuka introduced a new feature. Users can now click a button to “call out” a brand, by sending the brand’s customer service an automated email, composed by Yuka, about the specific product concerns that Yuka raises.
And since that feature was introduced, Goya says it’s been bombarded with emails. Over the past six months, the company says it has received more than 500 of them, and continues to receive about five each day. This, the lawsuit states, is causing Goya “immeasurable harm to its reputation, as well as lost sales and disillusioned customers, who are urged by Yuca to falsely accuse Goya of selling products with ingredients that are ‘high risk,’ when they are not.” In several cases, “a loyal Goya consumer specifically stated they would no longer purchase a Goya product as a result of Defendant’s false, misleading and deceptive advertising.”
Goya points out that Yuka’s “Call-out User Policy” acknowledges that the new feature could incur some legal risk. “Some food industry manufacturers may take legal action to challenge the validity and legitimacy of this civic initiative,” Yuka warns. By calling out a brand, “the brand being called out could take legal action against Yuka and/or against you.”
Yuka says its prewritten call-out emails “have been carefully drafted” to minimize any legal risk. But Goya says the warning “clearly serves to establish that Defendant is aware, and knows it could be liable, for the extensive harm that Goya has suffered.”
This appears to be the first time Yuka has been sued by a food manufacturer in the U.S., though it has faced several lawsuits in its home base of France – all of which it ultimately won on appeal. “Yuka has already been sued in France by food manufacturers who prefer to take legal action rather than improve their product formulations by removing harmful additives,” Chapon said. As for this latest lawsuit, “we will, of course, defend ourselves to ensure we can continue raising awareness among consumers about this major public health issue.”
Yuka’s Impact Report denounced the French lawsuits as being “aimed at draining Yuka both morally and financially.” And it said the courts’ ultimate rulings upheld “Yuka’s right to alert the public” on health risks in the products they buy. Time will tell whether Goya will reverse Yuka’s perfect record – or whether Yuka will be able to claim another win for itself, and its users.
Image source: Yuka
