World’s largest berry company accused of ‘greenwashing’ strawberries

By Susana Guerrero | SF Gate | July 13, 2026

Read the full article by Susana Guerrero (SF Gate)

"Watsonville-based berry company Driscoll’s has been accused of “greenwashing” its products after a class action lawsuit alleged its strawberries contained forever chemicals.

Attorneys for six people living in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Illinois filed a lawsuit against the California company last month, alleging consumer fraud and deceptive practices, which cited testing that identified residues of eight “highly toxic” pesticides in its conventional strawberries that are known under the acronym PFAS. PFAS are often called forever chemicals because they can take up to 1,000 years to break down.

The study cited in the lawsuit, which was paid for by a consumer advocacy group, reported that the PFAS detected in Driscoll’s conventional strawberries were at “levels prohibited in the European Union, Taiwan, Chile, Korea & Russia.” The group did not include any evidence in the lawsuit of Driscoll consumers getting harmed, and instead argued that the alleged use of environmentally damaging PFAS combined with the berries’ marketing represented consumer fraud."