A consumer has filed a putative class action against Mondelez International Inc. alleging the company’s “Go-Paks,” packages of “mini” or “bite” versions of Nabisco cookie and cracker products, contain more than 25 percent slack-fill in violation of California law. Bush v. Mondelez Int’l Inc., No. 16-2460 (N.D. Cal., filed May 5, 2016). The “Go-Paks,” including Mini Chips Ahoy!, Mini Oreo and Ritz Bits varieties, are sold in opaque cups that do not indicate the quantities inside, the complaint asserts. The plaintiff argues that he relied on the cup’s size as a representation of the product he would be receiving and he would not have purchased the product had he known about the amount of slack-fill. For alleged violations of California consumer-protection statutes as well as breach of warranties, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and unjust enrichment, the plaintiff seeks class certification, an injunction, actual and punitive damages, attorney’s fees and costs. Issue…
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A class of consumers in New York and California, represented by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), has brought suit in the Eastern District of New York seeking restitution, actual and punitive damages, and injunctive relief against the Kellogg Co. for allegedly misbranding its Cheez-It® “Whole Grain” snack crackers. The complaint alleges that Cheez-It® “Whole Grain” crackers contain only a small amount of whole grain, but that the product packaging is designed in such a way as to mislead consumers to believe that the product is produced primarily with whole grains. The class contends that the primary ingredient is enriched flour, however, the product package states conspicuously the words “Whole Grain” on five of the six packaging panels. And when purchasing the crackers, lead plaintiffs sought a product that was predominantly whole grain. The complaint further alleges that the class members would not have purchased the Cheez-It®…
Plain food packaging for snack foods decreases purchase intention and brand perception but increases actual consumption among some consumers, according to French and Belgian researchers. Carolina O.C. Werle, et al., “Is plain food packaging plain wrong? Plain packaging increases unhealthy snack intake among males,” Food Quality and Preference, December 2015. Billed as the first to examine “the impact of plain packaging on consumers’ perceptions and actual consumption of unhealthy food items,” the study used brand- and plain-packaged M&M’s® to explore the effects of plain packaging on (i) product and brand attitudes as well as the intention to consume an unhealthy snack, (ii) food intake once consumers have sampled the product, and (iii) food intake when plain packaging is combined with low-fat claims. The results evidently indicate plain food packaging “negatively impacts product and brand attitudes as well as intention to consume an unhealthy snack when consumers only evaluate the packaging.”…
Two consumers have reportedly filed a putative class action against Welch Foods, Inc. and Promotion in Motion Cos. alleging their Welch’s fruit snacks products are deceptively advertised as providing vitamins and nutrients despite being “no more healthful than candy.” Atik v. Welch Foods, Inc., No. 15-5405 (E.D.N.Y., filed September 18, 2015). Welch’s packaging advertises its products as produced from “real fruit” despite using only fruit concentrate, the complaint reportedly alleges, and the packaging implies the vitamins in the fruit snacks are derived from the fruit rather than introduced during the production process. This infusion allegedly runs afoul of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “jelly bean rule,” which targets products that would not otherwise meet the agency’s standards for healthful foods without the addition of vitamins during the production process. See FoodNavigator-USA, September 23, 2015. Issue 580
The University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has issued a report claiming that food companies “disproportionately target their TV advertising for fast food, candy, sugary drink and snack brands to black and Hispanic consumers.” Focusing on restaurant, food and beverage companies that spent at least $100 million on advertising in 2013 as well as participants in the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, the report reviews the number of advertisements for fast food, sugar-sweetened beverages, snack foods, dairy products, 100-percent juice, water, fruits and vegetables that appeared on “Spanish-language TV and black-targeted TV programming.” The authors also used syndicated market research data from Nielsen to compile media spending by brand and product, in addition to estimating “exposure to TV advertising by black, Hispanic, and all children and adolescents in 2013.” In particular, the report notes that 26 companies spent $675 million in food-related advertising on Spanish-language…
A consumer has filed a putative class action in New York federal court against Tribe Mediterranean Foods alleging that its hummus is not “all natural” because the product contains genetically modified (GM) ingredients, including canola oil and citric acid. Magier v. Tribe Mediterranean Foods, No. 15-5781 (S.D.N.Y., filed July 23, 2015). The complaint asserts that the “all natural” claim on the label precludes Tribe from using any artificial or synthetic ingredients in the hummus, and the plaintiff argues that she paid a higher price for the product believing it to be free of synthetic or GM ingredients. She claims that Tribe violated the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and New York consumer protection statutes and further alleges fraud, unjust enrichment and misrepresentation claims. Meanwhile, in New York state court, a group of consumers has reportedly filed a lawsuit alleging that John Wm. Macy Cheese Crisps, Cheese Sticks and Sweet Sticks contain synthetic…
The Federal Circuit has reversed and remanded a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) decision invalidating Snyder’s-Lance Inc.’s “Pretzel Crisp” trademark after Frito-Lay Inc. challenged the mark as generic. Princeton Vanguard, LLC v. Frito-Lay N. Am., Inc., No. 14-1517 (Fed. Cir., order entered May 15, 2015). TTAB’s decision found that “Pretzel Crisp” is a compound term and not a phrase, so it analyzed “pretzel” and “crisp” separately and found both words to be generic descriptors of Snyder-Lance’s pretzel-cracker product. The Federal Circuit disagreed with this method, holding that TTAB had conducted a “short-cut analysis” by not considering “Pretzel Crisp” as a whole phrase, because “the test for genericness is the same, regardless of whether the mark is a compound term or a phrase.” At the end of its decision, TTAB noted that “were we to analyze [‘Pretzel Crisp’] as a phrase, on this record, our conclusion would be the same, as…
Raising concerns about how the media portrays the concept of food addiction, a new study questions whether endorsement of this model “may cause people to perceive a lack of control over eating which could promote unhealthy dietary behaviors.” Charlotte Hardman, et al., “‘Food Addiction is Real’: The effects of exposure to this message on self-diagnosed food addiction and eating behavior,” Appetite, April 2015. To explore this hypothesis, researchers with the University of Liverpool and University of Bristol directed 60 study participants to read fake new articles describing food addiction as either a “myth” or “real.” The study then used a disguised taste test to measure consumption of “indulgent” and “non-indulgent” snack foods (potato chips, cookies, breadsticks and grapes), in addition to asking participants if they perceived themselves as food addicts. The results evidently showed that “the proportion of self-diagnosed addicts more than doubled (57%) when participants were exposed to information…
A consumer has filed a purported class action against Natural & Tasty LLC alleging that the company misleads consumers by labeling its Goldbaum Quinoa Crisps® as “All Natural” and free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) despite containing ingredients made from corn and soy because “almost all corn and soy grown in the United States are grown from seeds that have been genetically modified.” Slavinski v. Natural & Tasty LLC, No. 15-80451 (S.D. Fla., filed April 7, 2015). The complaint asserts that nearly all U.S. corn and soy are grown from GM seeds, “and as such, almost all corn and corn-based, as well as soy and soy-based ingredients in the United States are in fact unnatural, synthetic, artificial, and genetically modified ingredients.” The plaintiff points to several ingredients in the quinoa product as unnatural, including maltodextrin, whole grain corn flour, corn starch, and vegetable oil. While similar lawsuits have cited the reasonable…
An Environmental Working Group (EWG) investigation has reportedly concluded that 49 processed snack foods contain propylparaben, a preservative commonly found in cosmetic products. In light of its findings and various studies allegedly linking exposure to the chemical to decreased fertility and other hormone-related issues, EWG is urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reconsider the preservative’s current “Generally Recognized as Safe” status as a food additive. “It is of great concern to us that the use of an endocrine-disrupting chemical in our food is considered safe by our own government,” Johanna Congleton, an EWG senior scientist was quoted as saying. “European Union regulators do not permit propyl paraben in food. So why do we?” EWG is soliciting concerned consumers to sign an online petition to food companies that states: “Your company uses the endocrine-disrupting chemical propylparaben in your products! Parabens are being taken out of some cosmetics and food products,…
