Proposed Class Action Challenges Welch’s Fruit Snacks Health Claims

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