Jessica Alba's The Honest Company is facing a lawsuit over "hazardous" ingredients in one of its baby food products. The lawsuit claims that the company's Organic Infant Formula has "unnatural ingredients."
The suit was filed by the Minnesota-based group Organic Consumers Association (OCA) at the Los Angeles Superior Court. The group claims that The Honest Company's product contains 11 synthetic substances that are not allowed in organic products. This includes sodium selenite, taurine, cholecalciferol and calcium pantothenate.
OCA claims that the alleged ingredients are not included in the National List, which identifies the substances allowed in organic products. The suit said that the inclusion violated the California Organic Products Act (COPA) of 2003.
"The Honest Co. is falsely representing its Premium Infant Formula as 'organic' even though this product contains 11 synthetic substances," said OCA associate director Katherine Paul who labeled the false representation as "unacceptable."
Paul added that these 11 synthetic substances are prohibited in organic products under the federal law.
This isn't the first time Alba's company has been hit by legal complaints claiming that The Honest Company is playing dirty.
In September 2015, customer Jonathan Rubin filed a suit in the Northern California District Court, alleging that several of The Honest Company's items were being advertised as 'organic' items but actually contain "unnatural ingredients." Rubin's suit claimed that some of these "unnatural ingredients" include a "synthetic preservative."
In February, Brad and Manon Buonasera filed a suit against The Honest Company in the New York District Court for the similar reasons. The Buonasera's suit accused Alba's company of falsely labeling its products as "natural" or "plant-based."
A spokesperson for The Honest Company said that the Organic Infant Formula in the most recent lawsuit has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The product has also met all of the nutritional and safety standards.
"It is also certified USDA Organic by an independent third party, in strict accordance with the National Organic Program," added The Honest Company's spokesperson who expressed the company's confidence that the current lawsuit will be dismissed.
