Walmart might be able to draw in millions of shoppers to its stores every single day, but that doesn't mean the retailer hasn't faced its fair share of bad press. In just the last three months, Walmart has had to pull numerous products from shelves as a response to consumer backlash, including food items like coconut milk and ice cream. Now, the company has found itself in hot water again for another product found in its grocery aisle. Read on to find out what Walmart is under fire for selling to shoppers.
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Retailers often have shoppers file lawsuits against them over products.
ShutterstockMost major companies are no stranger to consumer lawsuits. Over the past few months, a number of retailers have been hit with lawsuits from all across the U.S. In April, Kroger was sued by shoppers claiming that the grocer sells non-drowsy cold and fly medications that actually cause drowsiness.
Then just last month, both Walgreens and CVS found themselves at the center of a lawsuit alleging that both retailers failed to warn shoppers about the risks of prenatal exposure to the paracetamol medications they sell.
Now, a new lawsuit is targeting Walmart over a food product.
Walmart is facing a new consumer lawsuit.
ShutterstockWalmart is the latest retailer to get served with a consumer lawsuit for one of its products. On July 5, plaintiff Jeremy Guzmanfiled a class action suit against the big-box retailer in Illinois federal court. According to Top Class Actions, Guzman is suing Walmart on the claim that the company is deliberately misleading shoppers into buying one of its store-brand Great Value mayonnaise products.
Best Life has reached out to Walmart for a comment on the new case but has not yet heard back.
The consumer claims Walmart is falsely marketing a "healthier" mayonnaise.
ShutterstockAccording to the lawsuit, Walmart's Great Value Reduced Fat Mayo With Olive Oil actually contains soybean oil as its predominant oil—not olive oil. Soybean oil is listed before olive oil on the product's ingredient list, and according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ingredients on a product label are required to be "listed in order of predominance, with the ingredients used in the greatest amount first, followed in descending order by those in smaller amounts."
Guzman claims that the retailer is knowingly giving "consumers the impression that the product is made with a healthier type of oil" by featuring olive oil prominently on the label.
"By labeling and promoting the [Great Value mayonnaise] as made ‘With Olive Oil’ with green packaging evocative of the color of olives, consumers expect a significant, non-de minimis amount of olive oil in relative and absolute amounts to all oils used," the lawsuit states.
Walmart could be making a higher profit on this product than it otherwise would be.
ShutterstockGuzman claims that Walmart is purposely misrepresenting its Great Value mayonnaise as being made "With Olive Oil" as a way to "boost sales of a decreasingly popular product." After all, as Top Class Actions explains, "in the past two decades, consumer demand for mayonnaise has reportedly dropped for a variety of reasons, including the perception that mayo includes harmful fats."
On the other hand, olive oil has become more popular over the past 20 years as this type of oil is less-processed and contains more healthy fats than most vegetable oils, making it typically a "much healthier choice" for oil users, according to Healthline. In fact, according to the lawsuit, olive oil sales have surpassed the sales of all other vegetable oils combined in the recent years.
Guzman claims that Walmart has been able to sell its Great Value Reduced Fat Mayo With Olive Oil at higher prices than it otherwise would have if it did not have the prominent olive oil labeling. He also says that he would have not purchased this product—or at the very least, would have paid much less for it—if he had been aware that olive oil was not the main oil used.
And Guzman might not be alone in that. On Top Class Actions' website, several consumers have claimed that they were equally duped by the product. "I bought these items thinking it was a healthier option. I do seek more olive oil in my diet," Lamoette Coleman II wrote. Eric J. Baumert added, "I have used [this] in the past thinking it was a healthier option."
