Food Lion cereal bars falsely advertise natural flavoring, class action alleges

Food Lion class action overview: 

• Who: Plaintiff Patrick Jura filed a class action lawsuit against Food Lion. 
• Why: Food Lion advertises its Blueberry Fruit & Grain Cereal Bars as naturally flavored when they primarily use artificial flavoring, the lawsuit claims.
• Where: The Food Lion cereal bars class action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Maryland.

A new Food Lion class action alleges the grocer falsely advertises its Blueberry Fruit & Grain Cereal Bars as naturally flavored when they are primarily produced with artificial flavoring.

The Fruit & Grain Cereal Bars come in packages that prominently display the words “naturally flavored.”

Blueberries derive their flavor, in part, from natural malic acid but the Food Lion cereal bars include a synthetic form of malic acid well above natural flavoring on the package’s ingredients list. L-Malic acid occurs naturally in blueberries, but the D-Malic acid mainly used in the Food Lion cereal bars is artificially created.

“‘Naturally Flavored’ and ‘Made with Real Fruit Flavored Filling’ are false, deceptive, and/or misleading, because the product uses artificial flavoring ingredients to create, simulate, resemble and reinforce its filling’s blueberry taste,” the Food Lion class action claims.

Food Lion class action: Consumers paid price premium for Food Lion cereal bars

Plaintiff Patrick Jura filed the Food Lion class action on behalf of Maryland residents who purchased the cereal bars believing they used natural flavoring.

The cereal bars violate Maryland’s consumer protection statute because Food Lion misbranded the product and misled consumers based on the packaging, the Food Lion class action claims.

Food Lion charged a price premium of $2.39 for eight bars based on the “naturally flavored” claims, the lawsuit says.

“The failure to disclose the source of the product’s blueberry taste misleads consumers who expect its taste to come only from blueberries and natural flavors,” the lawsuit says.

The class is asking for monetary damages, costs and expenses and attorneys’ fees and court costs.

Twin City Foods recalled Food Lion and Kroger frozen corn and mixed vegetables in August 2023 because of potential contamination from listeria monocytogenes.

Have you purchased Food Lion cereal bars because they claimed to be naturally flavored? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan and Associates PC.

The Food Lion class action lawsuit is Jura v. Food Lion LLC, Case No. 1:24-cv-00808-GLR, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Northern Division.

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