(CN) — Two residents in Northern California sued Campbell Soup Company and Snyder’s-Lance on Monday, claiming the company’s Pop Secret popcorn products contain “extremely high levels” of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, known as PFAS.
Described as “forever chemicals” because they don't degrade naturally in the environment, PFAS — used in everything from firefighting foam to household items — have been linked to various health problems, including liver and immune-system damage and some cancers. They are also found in Pop Secret’s 10 flavored popcorn products, according to plaintiffs in the federal class action filed in the Northern District of California.
The Campbell Soup Company and Snyder’s-Lance manufacture and market their Pop Secret microwave popcorn with labels advertising “premium popcorn” without artificial preservatives, flavors or dyes. The companies tout the products as being "'100% whole grain,’ ‘0% trans fat [per] serving,’ ‘made with non-GMO corn’ and ‘no high fructose corn syrup,’" according to the complaint, and the labels do not mention anything about PFAS.
Citing an independent analytical test from Consumer Reports in 2022, the plaintiffs — led by California residents Serina Santiago and Ashley Wright — claim the premium popcorn contains “3,641 parts-per-million of total fluorine content, demonstrating that it is contaminated with PFAS.”
“Defendants’ popcorn is unlike other microwave popcorn products on the market. Other products do not contain PFAS,” the plaintiffs say in the complaint, indicating that, while other brands contain less than 10 parts-per-million of fluorine content, federal regulations technically define anything containing more than 100 parts per million as “hazardous waste.”
Santiago and Wright say the fluorine comes from the microwavable popcorn bags. Consumer Reports previously tested more than 100 food packages from restaurant and grocery chains. The product with the greatest amount of fluorine, they say, was a container of Nathan’s hot dogs at 876 parts-per-million.
“Here, defendants’ premium popcorn have over four times this amount,” the plaintiffs say in their complaint.
Santiago and Wright also claim experts have previously concluded that if a product has fluorine levels over 20 parts-per-million of fluorine, the producer intentionally added the forever chemicals.
“Thus, the tests results show that defendants have purposefully added PFAS to the products,” the plaintiffs say in the complaint. “Insofar as it made its way into the products by accident, it follows that it was due to inadequate manufacturing process controls by either defendants and/or its agents.”
In addition to the plaintiffs’ sweeping accusations against the companies, they cite three other studies that found microwavable popcorn bags contain high levels of forever chemicals. One study from the University of California, for example, concluded that people who regularly consume microwave popcorn have notably elevated levels of the chemicals in their bodies. Another study published in Environmental Health Perspectives in 2019 found that people who ate microwaveable popcorn every day over a year had 63% more PFAS in their bodies than the average person.
Still, the plaintiffs insist Pop Secret contains more PFAS in its bags while competing products do not. Representatives from Campbell did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.
The plaintiffs say that by omitting their popcorn’s chemical content from consumers — all while advertising a safe and healthy snack option — the defendants have misled popcorn lovers into purchasing something they would not have otherwise bought. Their claims include violations of California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Unfair Competition Law and a breach of implied warranties.
Attorneys Zachary Crosner, Chad Saunders and Craig Straub of Crosner Legal in Beverley Hills, California, represent the putative class. Straub, who signed off on the class action, did not immediately respond for comment.
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