GMO vegetable oil lawsuit to proceed

Several consumers can proceed with a lawsuit alleging they were deceived by vegetable oil labeled as “100 percent natural” despite containing genetically engineered ingredients.  In 2015, a federal judge in California agreed to certify the lawsuit against the Conagra food company as a class action, allowing other consumers to be included in the litigation. However, the case was put on hold while Conagra challenged the class certification before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The 9th Circuit has now rejected Conagra’s arguments that the case doesn’t meet the requirements for class action status, allowing the litigation to continue. Conagra had claimed there was no way to reliably determine which consumers had bought its Wesson brands of cooking oils, and so there was no “administratively feasible way” to identify class members.