SunChips All-Natural? One Man Doesn’t Think So

If you get all puffed up with double scoops of self-righteousness whenever you put your pennies toward munchies with “all-natural ingredients,” such as Frito-Lay’s Tostitos or now-quieter SunChips, instead of the alternative, a New York man is suggesting that you might want to chill out.

New Yorker Chris Shake has filed a “proposed class-action lawsuit” that claims “snacks actually contain corn and oils made from genetically engineered plants.” Shake says in the suit that he paid an extra dime per ounce so he could have all-natural products, but then “independent testing conducted on samples of Frito-Lay products labeled ‘all natural’ uncovered the presence of ingredients — including corn and vegetable oils — made from genetically modified plants,” according to Reuters.

Frito-Lay, a $13 billion division of PepsiCo, argues that it's certain it has met all existing regulatory requirements, but Shake’s suit questions the meanings of those labels altogether: "Genetically modified organisms are created artificially in a laboratory by swapping genetic material across species to exhibit traits not naturally theirs," the suit said, according to Reuters. "Since a reasonable consumer assumes that seeds created in such a way are not 'all natural,' advertising Tostitos and SunChips as natural is deceptive and likely to mislead a reasonable consumer."

The word “natural” doesn’t actually have a “comprehensive, formal definition” when used on food labels except on some meat products, according to the Center for Food Safety, Reuters reports. Last year, CFS filed suit against the Food and Drug Administration to “require food containing genetically modified ingredients be clearly labeled,” Reuters adds.