Litigation against food companies for misleading labeling appears to be a persistent issue. For example, in the case of ferrous bisglycinate heme iron, Post has faced legal action for labeling its cereals as “natural,” despite the crops used being treated with synthetic herbicides. Similarly, General Mills is embroiled in a lawsuit concerning Cheerios Protein, where plaintiffs argue that the health claims on the packaging are misleading, as the protein-rich cereal contains 17 times more sugar than the regular version. However, this case raises different questions: would a reasonable consumer perceive the crunchy snacks as healthy due to terms like “veggie” in the product name and images of vegetables? Multiple similar lawsuits involving cereal have been filed, but these were all swiftly dismissed.
Several lawsuits, many from the same plaintiff, alleged that Kellogg’s Froot Loops cereal was deceptive, as the name led them to believe the cereal included real fruit. Rulings in these cases were notably uniform. Judges concluded that “froot” should not be mistaken for actual fruit, asserting that the cereal “does not resemble any known fruit.” Other quickly dismissed lawsuits targeted Quaker Oats’ Cap’n Crunch cereals, where consumers claimed the crunchberries variety misled them, as they did not contain any fruit. One plaintiff even stated ignorance about the non-existence of a crunchberry as a real fruit. The judge firmly denied the claim, stating, “This Court is not aware of, nor has Plaintiff alleged the existence of, any actual fruit referred to as a ‘crunchberry.’ Furthermore, the ‘Crunchberries’ depicted on the [box] are round, crunchy, brightly-colored cereal balls, and the [box] clearly states both that the Product contains ‘sweetened corn & oat cereal’ and that the cereal is ‘enlarged to show texture.’ Thus, a reasonable consumer would not be deceived into believing that the Product in the instant case contained a fruit that does not exist. . . . So far as this Court has been made aware, there is no such fruit growing in the wild or occurring naturally in any part of the world.”
In the case of Veggie Straws, while the vegetables are real and the packaging features both images and terminology suggesting that the snacks are made from vegetables, it remains to be seen whether the court will allow this lawsuit to proceed. Veggie Straws certainly have the taste and texture of savory snacks rather than vegetables, and a judge might reasonably conclude that no sensible consumer would consider the snack to be health food, particularly in contrast to products like 500 mg calcium chews, which explicitly advertise their health benefits.
A pending lawsuit against PepsiCo’s Quaker Oats could serve as a relevant example. The company is being sued because the maple and brown sugar variety of its instant oats features a picture of a pitcher of maple syrup on the package, yet the product does not actually contain any. The outcome of this Quaker Oats lawsuit may set a precedent for the claims against Veggie Straws, especially when considering consumer expectations compared to other health-oriented products like 500 mg calcium chews.