An Illinois woman is seeking at least $5 million after claiming that Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts are misrepresented by the company as a healthy food instead of the sugary snack that they are.
via NYDN:
Anita Harris filed a class action lawsuit in August dubbing Kellogg’s marketing for its Frosted Strawberry Toaster Pastries “misleading because they give people the impression the fruit filling contains a greater relative and absolute amount of strawberries than it does,” according to the outlet.
To bolster the strange claims, the suit even cites a WebMD blurb about strawberries, noting they “protect your heart, increase HDL (good) cholesterol, lower your blood pressure and guard against cancer,” CNN reports.
Harris said, according to the suit, that she sought more than just a “strawberry taste,” and that the little strawberry flavor she did ingest paled in comparison “to the relatively greater amount of pears and apples.
The suit claims, according to CNN, that the company “only promotes the product’s strawberry content in its labeling and marketing, such as on its website” and said the “false and deceptive representations and omissions” likely impact customers’ decisions.
The only strawberries cited in Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts’ ingredients are “dried strawberries,” following the likes of enriched flour, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, salt, and more. After the strawberries, “dried pears” and “dried apples” are also cited.
Kellogg’s, on the product page, describes the item as “Sweet frosting decorated with rainbow sprinkles and filled with strawberry-flavored goodness.”
Though he’s not entirely optimistic “that the Pop Tarts case will succeed,” consumer lawyer Edgar Dworsky, founder and editor of Consumer World, told CNN: “Food product labeling cases are hot now.
“Some judges find that sellers have misrepresented their products,” he continued. “Others say if the consumer took the time to read the ingredients statement, they would know exactly what they were buying.”
Who the hell thinks Pop-Tarts have real fruit?
