7-Eleven Donut Holes Don’t Live Up to Packaging, Class Action Lawsuit Says

A new class action lawsuit claims 7-Eleven donut holes don’t contain as many blueberries as the packaging leads consumers to believe, which amounts to consumer fraud, among other things, the plaintiff claims.

The 7-Eleven donut holes, which are sold in packages that resemble clear plastic cups and say “Blueberry” in bold blue lettering on them, don’t contain whole berries, the class action lawsuit says. Instead, they are made with “blueberry bits,” according to the listed ingredients. Those “bits” are made from blueberries, maltodextrin, corn starch, sugar, sunflower lecithin and “natural flavor.”

They also contain blue food coloring, which gives the “misleading impression” the donut holes contain more berries than they actually do, the plaintiff says.

“The representation as ‘blueberry’ is misleading because the product contains a smaller amount of blueberries than consumers expect based on the label,” the class action lawsuit says. “Consumers prefer foods which get their taste from a characterizing food ingredient, i.e., blueberries in blueberry donut holes, lemon in lemon biscotti … even when blueberry flavor is extracted from blueberries, it undergoes harsh processing in a laboratory, as opposed to being used in their whole form after being picked from the field.”

The class action lawsuit was filed Dec. 26 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by consumer Henry Moncure. He is seeking the court’s certification of and permission to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who bought the blueberry variety of 7-Eleven donut holes.

Moncure and his lawyers claim 7-Eleven violated New York state general business laws, have become unjustly enriched and have committed negligent misrepresentation in “taking advantage of consumers’ cognitive shortcuts made at the point-of-sale and their trust in [the] defendant, a well-known and respected brand or entity in this sector.”

Based on the 7-Eleven donut holes’ ingredients, the snacks should be labeled to say they are blueberry flavored or even are natural blueberry flavored, the class action lawsuit’s complaint insists.

“The added flavor is needed because the amount of blueberries in the Product is insufficient to independently provide a blueberry taste,” it says.

According to Moncure’s legal team, sales of 7-Eleven donut holes exceeded $5 million during the timeframe of the proposed class action lawsuit.

Moncure and his attorneys argue consumers like him buy products that contain blueberries for various reasons, including to reap the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits of the fruit. Blueberries are considered a superfruit that pack a lot of nutritional and health benefits.

Antioxidants are a boon to the human immune system, and foods such as blueberries, which are high in antioxidants, can help lower blood pressure and promote bone health, the class action lawsuit says.

Have you ever purchased blueberry 7-Eleven donut holes because you thought they had whole blueberries in them? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Lead plaintiff Moncure and the proposed Class Members are represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC.

The 7-Eleven Donut Holes Class Action Lawsuit is Henry Moncure, et al. v. 7-Eleven Inc., Case No. 1:20-cv-10935, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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