This story has been updated with The Honest Company’s response.
Jessica Alba’s The Honest Company is being taken to court over claims that its organic infant formula contains 11 “synthetic substances that are not allowed in organic products.”
A suit has been filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court by the Organic Consumers Association, a Minnesota-based organization that represents the views of around 850,000 members, subscribers and volunteers over organic product matters. You can view the legal document here, made available by The New York Post.
One of the products, Honest’s Organic Infant Formula, is alleged to contain a host of synthetic ingredients among its 40 that were listed. This includes sodium selenite, “an extremely hazardous and toxic synthetic compound”; taurine, “a synthetic additive that has been associated with negative brain and nervous system effects in animals”; cholecalciferol, “an irradiated substance”; and calcium pantothenate, “a synthetic compound produced from formaldehyde.”
The suit alleges that the 11 ingredients in question do not appear on the National List that identifies nonagricultural substances that can be used in organic products, and also violates the California Organic Products Act of 2003. “Thus, Honest’s infant formula, which is falsely labeled as “organic,” violates COPA,” the suit stated.
Alba’s company, which has received a $1.7 billion-valuation on the back of its eco-friendly products, has been hit recently by a string of lawsuits. One suit filed in February claimed the company “falsely” and “deceptively” labeled its cleaning products as natural when it contained toxic ingredients, while another lawsuit filed last September listed a similar complaint. The company has stated before that “these allegations are without merit.”
A representative from the company told Fortune that the product named in the suit, Organic Infant Formula, has already been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, and meets all safety and nutritional standards. “It is also certified USDA Organic by an independent third party, in strict accordance with the National Organic Program. We are confident this lawsuit will be dismissed,” the spokesperson said.
