N O T FO R PUB L ICAT IO N UNITED STATES C OUR T OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH C IR C UIT
HOWARD C LAR

K; M IC HAEL SIM S, Pla i ntiffs-Appe lla

nts,
v. PERFEC T B AR , LLC ,

De fe nda n t-Appe l le e . No. 19-15042 D.C . No. 3:18-c v-06006-W HA
M EM O R ANDUM *

Appe a l from

the Unite d

Stat e s Distric t C ourt for the Northe rn Distric t of C a lifornia W illia m Alsup, Distric t Judge , Pre siding Subm itte d Fe brua

ry 14, 2020 * * San Fran c isc o , C a lifornia B e fore : R

AW LINSON a

n d C ALLAHAN, C irc uit Judge s, a nd S. M URPHY, *** Distric t Judge
. 

# FIL ED AUG 11 2020 M OLLY C. DW Y E R, CLERK U. S. CO URT O F APPEALS

* This disposition is not a ppropria te for public at ion a

nd is not pre c e de nt e xc e pt a s provide d

by Ninth C irc uit R

ule 36-3.

* * The pa

ne l una nim ously c onc lude s this c a se is suita ble for de c ision without ora l a

rgum e nt. Se e Fe d. R . App. P. 34(a )(2).

* * * The Honora

ble Ste phe n J. M urphy , III, Unite d Stat e s Distric t Judge for the Ea ste rn Distric t of M ic higa n, sitting by

de signa tion.Howa rd C la rk and M ic ha e l Sim s (Appe lla nts) a ppe a l the distric t c ourt’ s dism issa l of the ir puta

tive c onsum e r c la ss a c tion involving produc t -la b e ling c la im s
a ga inst Pe rfe c t

B a r, LLC (Pe rfe c t B ar). Appe lla nts a lle ge d tha

t Pe rfe c t B ar’ s pa c ka ging le d the m

to be lie v e tha

t the ba rs we re he a lthy

whe n in fa c t a dde d suga

r
re nde re d the ba

rs unhe a l thy . Appe lla

nts a lle g e d tha

t the y re lie d on the following de c e ptive c la im s c onta ine d on the la be ling a nd pa c ka ging: “ 2 0+ Supe rfoods,”

“ 17G PR OTEIN,” and “ THE ORIGINAL REFR IGER ATED PR OTEIN B AR .” Appe l la n ts a lso a lle ge dly

re lie d on two other Pe rfe c t B ar pa c ka ging sta t e m e nts tha

t
re fe rre d to the c re at or of the Pe rfe c t B ar a s a “ h e a lth food pione e r.” W e re vie w d

e nov o a distric t c ourt’ s gra n t of a m otion brought unde

r R ule 12(b)(6) of the Fe de ra l R

ule s of C ivil Proc e d

ure . Se e Dow e rs v . N

ationstar Mortgage , LLC , 852 F.3d 964, 969 (9th C ir. 2017). W e a pply the fa c ia l pla u sibility sta n d ard se t forth in Ashc roft v . Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662 (2009). Se e e .g., K w a n v . SanMe dic a Inte rnational , 854 F.3d 1088, 1096 (9th C i r. 2017). As a fe de ra l c o urt sitting in dive rsity , we a

pply the substa

ntive la wof C a lifornia

whe n
a sse ssing sta

nding to a sse rt a

sta te la w c la im
. Se e Re id v

. J

o hnson &J

ohnson , 780 F.3d 952, 958 (9th C ir. 2015) (a pply ing sta

te la win holding tha

t Appe lla nt
satisfie d the sta

nding re quire m e nts unde r C a lifornia ’ s Unfa i r C om p e tition La

w

2(UC L), Fa l se Adve rtising La w(FAL), and C onsum e r Le g a l R e m e die s Ac t (C LR A )). Appe lla nts a de q uate l y m e t the sta

nding re quire m e nts to pursue c la im s unde r the U C L, FAL, a

nd C LR A. A c onsum e r who “ re lie s on a produc t la

be l a n d
c ha lle nge s a

m isre pre se ntation c onta ine d the re in c an sa tisfy the [UC L] sta

nding
re quire m e nt . . . by

a lle ging . . . tha

t he or she would not ha

ve bought theproduc t but for the m i sre pre se ntation.” K w ik se t C o rp. v . Sup. C

t . , 246 P.3d 877, 890 (C a l. 2011); se e also Hinojos v

. K ohl’s C orp. , 718 F.3d 1098, 1103 (9th C ir. 2013) (re c ogniz ing tha

t the UC L a

nd FAL sta

nding re quire m e nts a

re ide ntic a l); Re id , 780 F.3d at 958 (sa

m e for the UC L, FAL, a

nd C LR A); K le in v . C he v ron U.S.A., Inc
. , 202 C a l. App. 4th 1342, 1375 (2012) (sa m e for the UC L a

nd C LR A ). Appe lla nts’ sta te la w c la im s pre dic ate d on the the ory that the ba rs we re
m isla be le d a re pre e m pte d by the Nutritional La

be ling a n d Educ ation Ac t (NLEA), the Food, Drug, a

nd C osm e tic s Ac t

(FDC A), and a c c om

pa ny ing re gula

tions. Se e Haw k i ns v . K roge r C o . , 906 F.3d 763, 769 (9th C ir. 2018) (“ The [NLEA] am e nde d the [FDC A] to e sta

b lish uniform

food la be ling re quire m e nts” ). The NLEA pre e m pts a l l sta te la w c la im s tha

t “ dire c tly or indire c tly

e sta blish a ny re quire m e nt for the la be ling of food tha

t is not iden tic a l to thefe de ra l re quire m e nts.” Id. (c ita tion a nd inte rna l quota

tion m arks om itte d).

3To the e xte nt Appe lla nts’ c la im s a dva

n c e the notion tha

t Pe rfe c t B ar m a de
an im prope r he a l th c la im

due to a dde d suga

r le ve ls in theba

r, those c l a im s a

re not via b le
. Se e 21 C .F.R . § 101.14(a)(1) (de fining a he a lth c la im a s a “ c la im m a de on the l a be l or in la

b e ling of a

food . . . tha

t e xpre ssly

or by im plic ation . . .
c ha ra c te riz e s the re lationship of a ny substa nc e to a dise a se or he a lth-re late d
c ondition” ). Howe ve r, the NLEA a nd its a pplic a ble re gula tions a re sile n t on whe the r suga

r le v e ls pre c lude a

produc t from

m aking he a lth c la im s. Se e 21 C .F.R
. § 101.14(a)(4) (e x c luding suga r from an e num e ra t e d list of nutrien t le v e ls tha t m a y pre c lude a

produc t from

m aking he a l th c l a im s). In Haw k ins , we he ld tha

t unde r the NLEA “ no sta te m ay dire c tly

or indire c tly e sta blish a ny re q uire m e nt for the la

be ling of food tha

t is not identic a l to the fe de ra l re quire m e nts.” 906 F.3d a t 770 (c ita

tion a nd inte rna l quota

tion m arks
om i tte d). Allowing a

c la im of m isbra

nding unde r C a l ifornia la w ba s e d on
m isle a ding suga

r le ve l c o n te nt would “ i ndire c tly e sta blish” a suga r la be ling
re quire m e nt “ that is not identic a l to thefe de ra l re quire m e n ts,” a re sult fore c lose d by our pre c e d e nt. Id. 1 AFFIRM E D.

1 B e c a u se Appe lla

n ts a c knowle dge d tha

t the ir c la i m s unde r N.Y. Ge n. B us. L. §§ 349 (Unfa

ir De c e ptive B usine ss Pra c tic e s) a nd 350 (Fa lse Adve rtising) a

re gove rne d by sim ila

r sta nda rds, the se c la im s a lso fa i l. 4