Combos class action claims company deceptively advertises ‘real cheese’ filling

Combos class action overview: 

• Who: Mars Wrigley Confectionery U.S. LLC is facing a class action lawsuit over the cheese content of its Combos Cheddar Cheese Baked Pretzel Stuffed Snacks.
• Why: The class action claims Combos baked pretzel snacks are primarily made using processed, non-cheese ingredients, not the “real cheese” and “cheddar cheese” claimed on the label.
• Where: The Combos class action was filed in federal court in Florida.

A new class action lawsuit claims Mars Wrigley Confectionery U.S. LLC falsely advertises some of its Combos baked pretzel products as containing real cheese when they in fact are primarily made of processed, non-cheese ingredients.

The Combos class action accuses Mars Wrigley of using less than 2% real cheese in its Combos Cheddar Cheese Baked Pretzel Stuffed Snacks, despite advertising “real cheese” and “cheddar cheese” on the product’s label. It claims the product mostly actually contains palm oil, dairy product solids and bakers’ cheese, none of which can be considered real cheese, according to the lawsuit.

“By replacing real cheese with palm oil and dairy product solids, the filling lacks the quality, nutritional, and savory attributes that consumers expect from a label indicating a ‘Filling Made with Real Cheese.’ “ the Combos real cheese lawsuit says.

Ingredients are cheap, less nutritional alternatives, Combos class action claims

The lawsuit is similar to a similar Combos lawsuit filed in federal court in New York in June 2023.

Like the June lawsuit, the new Combos class action claims the ingredients Mars Wrigley uses in its Combos cheddar cheese baked pretzel snacks are lower-cost, filler and bulking components that lack the nutritional value of real cheese.

The bakers’ cheese the 2024 Combos class action claims is used in the cheddar cheese baked pretzel snacks is not real cheese, but is actually a type of cream cheese that is not subject to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s standards for cheese, according to the lawsuit.

“Even the most predominant component of the less than two percent cheese blend, bakers’ cheese, is not what consumers would expect from real cheese, especially considering the fresh block of cheddar cheese and cheddar cheese shreds on the front label,” the Combos real cheese lawsuit says.

Meanwhile, the dairy product solids allegedly used in the pretzel snacks are just byproducts of cheese manufacturing, while the palm oil purportedly used in the snacks not only do not count as real cheese, but also contain “harmful trans fats and no protein,” the lawsuit says.

Have you purchased Combos based on the “real cheese” claims on the label? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by William Wright of The Wright Law Office PA.

The Combos real cheese class action lawsuit is Pistorio v. Mars Wrigley Confectionery U.S. LLC, Case No. 2:24-cv-00090, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers Division.

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