Eric Testori, an individual and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Nestlé Health Science US Holdings, Inc., a Delaware Corporation; and DOES 1 through 100, inclusive

District Court, E.D. California·Decided May 11, 2026·No. 1:25-cv-01318·Unknown

Opinion

ERIC TESTORI, an individual and on Case No. 1:25-cv-01318-JLT-CDB behalf of all others similarly situated, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S Plaintiff, MOTION TO DISMISS THE FIRST v. AMENDED COMPLAINT NESTLÉ HEALTH SCIENCE US (Doc. 14.) HOLDINGS, INC., a Delaware Corporation; and DOES 1 through 100, inclusive, Defendants. Testori filed the instant putative class action against Nestle Health Science. (Docs. 1, 14.) Plaintiff claims that Defendant engaged in misleading or deceptive advertisements in connection with the labeling and sale of the Carnation Breakfast Essentials Nutritional Drink, in violation of various California state law. (See generally Doc. 14.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS Defendant’s motions to dismiss. A. Factual Background Eric Testori is a resident of Bakersfield, California, and Nestle Health Science is a Delaware Corporation. (Doc. 14 at ¶¶ 12–13.) Defendant manufactures, distributes, markets, advertises, and sells the Product at issue in this case—the Carnation Breakfast Essentials Nutritional Drink Classic French Vanilla (“Product”). (Id. at ¶¶ 1, 17.) Plaintiff brings this putative class action against Defendant, alleging that the latter engaged in “unlawful and deceptive practices” by labeling the Product “as a ‘nutritional drink’ and highlight[ing] its 10g of protein per serving,” while “fail[ing] to disclose with equal prominence that the Product’s first two ingredients are water and ... 11 grams of sugar per serving.” (/d. at §§ 1, 18.) A picture of the front label of the Product, which contains the allegedly misleading/deceptive statements, is included below. i = “ P a : wl hi <3 a 4.) ¢ La) re a Ges 4» Raa

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Ce | | - ESSENTIALS*. al pes NUTRITIONAL DRINK —

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(Doc. 18-3 at 2.) According to Plaintiff, “Defendant’s failure to disclose the predominance of sugar, coupled with its prominent protein and ‘nutritional’ claims, deceived and misled reasonable consumers into believing that the Product is a balanced, healthful source of breakfast nutrition; when in fact it is a sweetened beverage primarily made of water and sugar. Reasonable consumers would not expect a product marketed as ‘Breakfast Essentials’ to contain more sugar than protein and thus Defendant’s omissions and misrepresentations allowed it to charge a price premium.” (Doc. 14 at § 22.) B. Procedural History Plaintiff filed the instant action on October 6, 2025, and then filed the First Amended

Complaint (“FAC”) on December 8, 2025. (Docs. 1, 14.) Plaintiff’s FAC raises the following four causes of action: (1) California Consumer Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”), (Doc. 14 at ¶¶ 76–83); (2) California false advertising law (“FAL”), (id. at ¶¶ 84–94); (3) common law fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, (id. at ¶¶ 95–103); (4) California unfair competition law (“UCL”), (id. at ¶¶ 104–17); and (5) unjust enrichment, (id. at ¶¶ 118–22). On December 19, 2025, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the FAC for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. (Doc. 18.) The matter is fully briefed and ripe for review. (Pl.’s Opp’n, Doc. 21; Def.’s Reply, Doc. 22.) As indicated, (Doc. 23), the Court took the matter under submission without oral argument. A. Judicial Notice The Court may consider a document if “the plaintiff refers extensively to the document or the document forms the basis of the plaintiff's claim.” United States v. Ritchie, 342 F.3d 903, 908 (9th Cir. 2003); see also Knievel v. ESPN, 393 F.3d 1068, 1076 (9th Cir. 2005). In addition, the Court may take judicial notice of facts “not subject to reasonable dispute . . . [that] can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.” Fed. R. Evid. 201(b). “In the context of a motion to dismiss claims based upon allegedly misleading product labels, the Court may take judicial notice of the images depicting the product labels at issue, without having to convert the motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment.” Garza v. Spectrum Brands Pet LLC, 760 F. Supp. 3d 1039, 1046 (E.D. Cal. 2024). Here, Plaintiff extensively discussed the front label throughout the FAC. (See generally Doc. 14.) The Court therefore takes judicial notice of pictures of the Product’s packaging. B. Legal Standard Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a defendant may move to dismiss a claim for “failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). To survive a motion to dismiss, the complaint “must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). This plausibility inquiry is a “context-specific task that requires [this Court] to draw on its judicial experience and common sense,” id. at 679, and “‘draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party[,]’” Boquist v. Courtney, 32 F.4th 764, 773 (9th Cir. 2022) (quoting Retail Prop. Tr. v. United Bhd. of Carpenters & Joiners of Am., 768 F.3d 938, 945 (9th Cir. 2014)). “Conclusory allegations and unreasonable inferences,” however, “do not provide [] a basis” for determining whether a plaintiff has plausibly stated a claim for relief. Coronavirus Reporter v. Apple, Inc., 85 F.4th 948, 954 (9th Cir. 2023) (citation omitted). A. Preemption Before turning to the details of instant action, the Court finds it helpful to provide a summary of the federal regulatory framework: The FDA regulates three types of claims relevant in this case: express nutrient content claims, implied nutrient content claims, and health claims. See Chacanaca v. Quaker Oats, Co., 752 F. Supp. 2d 1111, 1117 (N.D. Cal. 2010) (citing 21 U.S.C. § 343(q), (r) and 21 C.F.R. §§ 101.13, 101.14). An express nutrient claim is a statement about the level or range of the nutrient in the food product, like “low sodium” or “contains 100 calories.” See 21 C.F.R. § 101.13(b)(1). Food product labels may include an express nutrient claim provided that it “does not in any way implicitly characterize the level of the nutrient in the food and it is not false or misleading in any respect (e.g., ‘100 calories’ or ‘5 grams of fat’), in which case no disclaimer is required.” 21 C.F.R. § 101.13(i)(3). An implied nutrient content claim “describes the food or an ingredient therein in a manner that suggests that a nutrient is absent or present in a certain amount (e.g., ‘high in oat bran’).” 21 C.F.R. §

Eric Testori, an individual and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Nestlé Health Science US Holdings, Inc., a Delaware Corporation; and DOES 1 through 100, inclusive, (E.D. Cal. 2026).

Eric Testori, an individual and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Nestlé Health Science US Holdings, Inc., a Delaware Corporation; and DOES 1 through 100, inclusive (Eric Testori, an individual and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Nestlé Health Science US Holdings, Inc., a Delaware Corporation; and DOES 1 through 100, inclusive) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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