A Hawaii island woman is pleased with a $6.1 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit against the maker of Truvia Natural Sweetener.
Kailua-Kona resident Denise Howerton in July 2013 sued Cargill, manufacturer of the sweetener sold nationwide, claiming it made false and misleading statements about its product being natural.
"She feels good about it," said Lawrence Cohn, her attorney from Kailua-Kona. "But most of the money goes to the class members."
Cohn said Howerton bought Truvia at a Kona Walmart in March 2013 thinking it was natural, but discovered online that it was artificial.
"She thought that it wasn’t right and wanted to do something that would be a benefit to the public," Cohn said.
Cohn declined to make Howerton available for an interview because the case, which was settled last week, is now being appealed by a class member seeking to obtain more money from the settlement.
Howerton was the first to sue Cargill, and her complaint was followed by four others in Florida, Minnesota and California. Those cases on the mainland were later combined with Howerton’s in U.S. District Court in Hawaii.
Cohn said the attorneys didn’t charge the plaintiffs and will recover their fees from the settlement, which includes $1.8 million for attorneys’ fees. All five plaintiffs will also receive $2,000 as "incentive payments."
The settlement was approved Nov. 26 by U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi.
Class members — those who bought Truvia between July 2008 and July 2014 — can receive a $45 cash refund or a $90 voucher for another Truvia product.
According to the lawsuit, Cargill marketed Truvia as "the first natural sugar substitute" primarily made from the stevia plant.
But stevia makes up only 1 percent of Truvia and is chemically processed, using ethanol, methanol and rubbing alcohol, the suit said. Ninety-nine percent of Truvia comes from a synthetic version of a natural sweetener.
"As a result, no reasonable consumer would consider Truvia to be a natural product," the suit said.
Consumers paid up to 300 percent more for Truvia than other artificial sweeteners that did not claim to be natural, the suit said.
In the settlement, Cargill agreed to make changes to its labeling within 90 days and provide more information to consumers about the ingredients in Truvia.
A Cargill spokesman said in a statement that the company stands behind the labeling of its Truvia natural sweetener products.
"Those products are made from natural ingredients and the labeling meets all applicable legal and regulatory guidelines," he said.
