Kroger class action alleges company falsely advertises blueberry cereal bars

Kroger blueberry cereal bars class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiffs Chelsea Garland and Leroy Jacobs filed a class action lawsuit against The Kroger Co.
• Why: The Kroger class action alleges the grocery giant falsely advertises its blueberry cereal bars as “Made With Real Fruit” and fails to disclose that the product’s flavoring is derived from artificial ingredients.
• Where: The Kroger lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

The Kroger Co. falsely advertises its blueberry cereal bars as being “made with real fruit” when the blueberry flavor is actually derived from artificial flavoring ingredients, a class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiffs Chelsea Garland and Leroy Jacobs say they relied on the Kroger cereal bars’ label and packaging, which depicts pictures of blueberries and describes the product as being “made with real fruit.” Based on these representations, they say they expected the blueberry flavoring was from actual blueberries and natural flavors, not artificial flavoring.

Although the product’s ingredient list includes blueberries and natural flavor, it also contains the synthetic form of malic acid, the plaintiffs allege.

Federal law requires companies to disclose that its products contain artificial flavoring, and California and Illinois have adopted the federal regulations into their state laws, according to the Kroger class action lawsuit. 

“To facilitate an honest marketplace and protect consumers, the rules required that the source of a food’s taste, whether the pictured ingredients, natural flavors from those ingredients, or completely synthetic sources, be conspicuously disclosed to the buyer as part of a food’s name,” the Kroger lawsuit says.

Artificial flavoring is not conspicuously disclosed on Kroger cereal bars, plaintiffs claim

Kroger recognizes consumers’ growing demand for naturally flavored products, and therefore falsely suggests its Kroger cereal bars are “naturally flavored” with real blueberries, the Kroger lawsuit says.

According to the ingredients list on the Kroger cereal bars, the products contain more malic acid than they do natural fruit flavoring.

“Since the ingredients are listed in order of predominance by weight, listing ‘Malic Acid’ before ‘Natural Flavor’ means the filling contains more artificial fruit flavoring than natural fruit flavor,” the Kroger class action lawsuit explains.

However, Kroger allegedly does not conspicuously disclose that the blueberry flavor is derived from artificial ingredients on the front label or the fine print on the back of the package.

The plaintiffs claim the product is misbranded because consumers expect the taste to be only from natural blueberry ingredients and other natural flavors, not from synthetic malic acid.

The Kroger blueberry cereal bars lawsuit asserts claims for violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, Consumers Legal Remedies Act and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.

Another recent Kroger class action lawsuit alleged the grocery chain misleadingly advertises “farm fresh” eggs.

Do you agree that Kroger falsely advertises its blueberry cereal bars by claiming they are “mwade with real fruit”? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Garland and Jacobs are represented by Manfred P. Muecke of Manfred APC.

The Kroger cereal bars lawsuit is Chelsea Garland, et al. v. The Kroger Co., Case No. 3:24-cv-00240-LL-BLM, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

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