The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has issued an August 12, 2010, statement and letter lambasting Ben & Jerry’s “All Natural” ice cream and frozen yogurt for allegedly containing “alkalized cocoa, corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, or other ingredients that either don’t exist in nature or that have been chemically modified.” The watchdog has threatened to take its concerns to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state attorneys general if Unilever fails to drop the products’ marketing claim. The group singles out cocoa processed with alkali as “the most frequently used unnatural ingredient,” followed by corn syrup, dextrose, invert sugar, brown rice syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and maltodextrin. Moreover, CSPI maintains that alkalizing cocoa changes its chemical structure and reduces acidity and flavonol content. “Indeed,” states the CSPI press release, “Unilever recently sponsored research to investigate an association between flavonol intake and incidence of…
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A New York resident has filed a false-advertising class action in a California federal court against the companies that make certain ice cream products labeled with the statement “0g trans fat.” Carrea v. Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, No. 10-1044 (N.D. Cal., filed March 11, 2010). Seeking to certify a nationwide class of ice cream purchasers, the plaintiff alleges false advertising under the Lanham Act and violations of the California Consumers Legal Remedy Act and the misleading and deceptive advertising provisions of the state Business and Professions Code. The plaintiff seeks a declaration that the defendants have committed the alleged violations, restitution, disgorgement, compensatory and punitive damages, interest, and costs. He also asks the court to order defendants to destroy all misleading and deceptive advertising materials and products. According to the complaint, the plaintiff relied on the alleged misrepresentations to conclude “that the Products were in fact healthy and relied upon…
