Consumers Challenge Maple Sugar Content in Quaker Oats’ Oatmeal

A California resident has filed a putative class action alleging Quaker Oats Co. mislabels its instant oatmeal as containing maple syrup despite containing no syrup or maple sugar. Eisenlord v. Quaker Oats Co., No. 16-1442 (C.D. Cal., filed March 1, 2016).

Citing a letter from the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the complaint asserts that adding maple sugar to a product can allow a company to charge a premium price. The plaintiff argues that he relied on the name of the product and a prominent image of maple syrup on the packaging to believe that the oatmeal contained maple syrup, and had he known “that the product did not contain maple syrup or maple sugar as an ingredient, he would not have purchased it.” For allegations of fraudulent inducement and violations of California’s consumer-protection statute, the plaintiff seeks class certification, damages, an injunction and attorney’s fees.

Issue 596