General Mills Class Action: Chocolate Cheerios Don’t Contain Real Cocoa

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A class action lawsuit claims that the chocolate version of General Mills’ popular cereal Cheerios, along with several other varieties, do not contain real cocoa, despite labeling that touts the products are “Made with Real Cocoa.”

According to lead plaintiff Oscar Lopez, Chocolate Cheerios, Cocoa Puffs, Chocolate Toast Crunch, Chocolate Chex and other seasonal cereals, are actually made with cocoa processed with alkali.

Cocoa powder is the “core” of chocolate’s flavor and the use of real cocoa powder would be a primary reason for consumers to purchase the chocolate version of a product, Lopez states.

According to the General Mills class action lawsuit, cocoa is made from cocoa beans. The beans are processed through several stages into cocoa powder, but the cocoa is not all of the same quality depending on the remaining fat. These powders can be further processed using an alkalization process.

“Alkalization makes the cocoa powder less acidic though it modifies and reduces flavanols and detracts from the ‘real cocoa’ taste,” notes the General Mills class action lawsuit.

General Mills “has tapped into consumer demand for ‘real ingredients’ by promoting the presence of ‘real cocoa,’ as ‘nearly three-quarters of U.S. consumers find it important to be able to recognize the ingredients in the products they buy,’” the lawsuit states, citing a Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery article.

By using the term “real cocoa,” General Mills is misrepresenting to consumers that the cocoa used has not been treated with alkali, alleges the Cheerios class action lawsuit.

“No reasonable consumer would expect that a product promoted as containing ‘real cocoa’ or ‘100% real cocoa’ would also contain or be made with alkalis because ‘real’ is understood to be the ingredient in its most simplified and reduced form, and cocoa which does not contain alkalis is readily available,” contends the General Mills cereal class action lawsuit.

The Cheerios class action lawsuit accuses General Mill of deliberately trying to deceive consumers into thinking their cereals, including Chocolate Cheerios, Cocoa Puffs, and others contain the high fat so-called real cocoa, rather than the lower quality cocoa treated with alkali.

“It is misleading to refer to the cocoa as ‘real cocoa’ because the cocoa was processed with and contained alkali, an unnecessary addition to the cocoa powder and which detracts from that aspect of the cocoa which is paramount – the chocolate-y flavor,” states the Chocolate Cheerios class action lawsuit.

The plaintiff seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased any of General Mills’ chocolate flavored cereals that are advertised as being made with real cocoa, but contain cocoa processed with alkali.

Lopez also seeks to represent a New York subclass.

The class action lawsuit accuses General Mills of violating state consumer protection laws, fraud, and unjust enrichment.

The plaintiff is seeking damages, as well as a court order permanently stopping General Mills from touting it cereals as “Made from Real Cocoa” when they are allegedly not.

Lopez and the proposed Class are represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC.

The General Mills Chocolate Cereal Class Action Lawsuit is Lopez v. General Mills Sales Inc., Case No. 2:19-cv-01841, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.