Florida Crystals Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Alleged Greenwashing of Sugar Products

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Florida Crystals sugar products are misleadingly marketed as eco-friendly, given that the brand’s pre-harvest sugarcane burning practices harm the environment and the health of nearby residents.

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The 57-page complaint accuses the sugar giant and parent company Fanjul Corporation of deceiving environmentally conscious consumers by “greenwashing” their lines of Florida Crystals Regenerative Organic Certified Sugars and Florida Crystals Specialty Raw Cane Sugars.

Specifically, the case takes issue with Florida Crystals products’ green-dominated packaging with front-label claims representing the sugar as derived from “Farming to Help Save the Planet” and farms that “help fight climate change & build healthy soils.”

In reality, the lawsuit alleges, the defendants affirmatively choose to burn the extra leaves off sugarcane stalks before harvest—a “notoriously dirty” practice that contributes to climate change—even though greener slashing methods are readily available.

According to the filing, Florida Crystals’ pre-harvest burns produce “towering ash plumes” and release substantial volumes of toxic air pollutants, including greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and warm the planet.

The complaint claims these burns occur daily during harvesting season in Florida’s main sugar-producing region known as the Glades, exposing surrounding communities to hazardous emissions. Studies show that Glades residents, who are disproportionately poor and people of color, experience elevated rates of smoke-related conditions such as chronic asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer, the Florida Crystals lawsuit contends.

“Recognizing the threats these emissions pose to air quality, the environment, and human health, governments around the world have aggressively restricted or banned sugar preharvest burning to reduce emissions of methane and other powerful greenhouse gases and other air pollutants,” the suit explains.

Florida Crystals and its billionaire Fanjul family owners have invested heavily in statehouse political lobbying to protect their pre-harvest burning approach, the complaint shares. An exception exists for wealthy communities in eastern Palm Beach County, which, in 1991, convinced the state government to ban cane burning when the winds blow their direction, the suit says. Notably, this area is “headquarters of both Defendants and the hub of the Fanjul family empire,” the filing points out.

“No such restriction protects the largely black and brown communities of the Glades,” the case scathes.

The lawsuit goes on to claim that, contrary to Florida Crystals’ label claims, burning sugarcane before harvest harms rather than promotes soil health. Runoff from the Big Sugar companies’ pollution also contributes to dead zones in adjacent waterways, among other disruptions to South Florida water systems, the case alleges.

“While Defendants may presently have the ‘right’ to continue choosing to burn, rather than slash, what they may not do under false advertising laws is continue to do so, unnecessarily poisoning people and the planet, while falsely portraying themselves as responsible stewards of the planet and the environment prominently on the front label of their products,” the complaint contends.

The suit argues that Florida Crystals’ alleged greenwashing campaign has tricked consumers into buying, or paying more for, sugar products they thought helped save the planet, fight climate change and build healthy soils. The filing cites violations of the Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides and several state laws.

The lawsuit looks to represent all United States residents who, within the applicable statute of limitations period, purchased for purposes other than resale one of the following Florida Crystals products containing one or more of the challenged label representations:

• Florida Crystals Regenerative Organic Raw Cane Sugar;
• Florida Crystals Regenerative Organic Light Brown Sugar;
• Florida Crystals Regenerative Organic Powdered Sugar;
• Florida Crystals Organic Cane Sugar;
• Florida Crystals Turbinado Cane Sugar;
• Florida Crystals Raw Cane Sugar; and
• Baker’s Collection of Regenerative Organic Sugars.

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