Food Lion cereal bars class action overview:
- Who: A North Carolina mother has sued the Food Lion chain of grocery stores.
- Why: She claims that the company placed misleading labels on its cereal bars.
- Where: The Food Lion cereal bars class action was filed in a North Carolina federal court.
Food Lion has been hit with a class action lawsuit claiming it places misleading labels on its cereal bars about how natural and clean they are.
Plaintiff Kathy Applegate Bates filed the class action complaint against Food Lion LLC on Sept. 17 in a North Carolina federal court, alleging violations of state and federal consumer laws.
Bates claims the company’s Fruit and Grain Cereal Bars are misbranded and deceptively labeled.
She claims that the cereal bars, available in strawberry, blueberry, apple pie, and mixed berry flavors, are falsely marketed as “naturally flavored” and “made with real fruit filling.” However, she says the bars contain synthetic ingredients, contradicting the company’s clean label claims.
Product contains DL-malic acid, lawsuit alleges
The lawsuit alleges that Food Lion’s use of the artificial flavoring ingredient DL-malic acid in the cereal bars makes its “clean” marketing deceptive.
Bates’ legal team commissioned testing by Krueger Food Laboratories, which confirmed the use of the artificial version of malic acid in Food Lion’s cereal bars, she says.
The lawsuit says the ingredient is derived from petroleum and other synthetic sources, rather than natural fruit, which misleads consumers who are paying a premium for what they believe are all-natural products.
According to federal regulations, DL-malic acid does not occur naturally and must be labeled accordingly. Bates argues that Food Lion’s failure to disclose the synthetic nature of the ingredient violates both federal and state consumer protection laws.
Bates, a mother of several children, claims that she regularly buys clean, natural foods for her family and was misled by the company’s labeling.
She seeks to represent anyone in the United States who bought the products in the last four years.
Bates is suing for breach of warranty and violations of state consumer laws, and is seeking certification of the class action, damages of more than $5 million, fees, costs and a jury trial.
In March, Food Lion was hit with a seperate class action alleging the grocer falsely advertises its Blueberry Fruit & Grain Cereal Bars as naturally flavored when they are primarily produced with artificial flavoring.
What do you think of the allegations in this Food Lion cereal bars class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Inez de Ondarza Si of De Ondarza Simmons PLLC and Charles C. Weller of Charles C. Weller APC.
The Food Lion class action lawsuit is Kathy Applegate Bates v. Food Lion LLC, Case No. 7:24-cv-00864-BO in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District North Carolina.
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