Labeling on Some Chobani Yogurt Is Misleading, Says Consumer Class Action Lawsuit

A new class action lawsuit claims the labeling on some Chobani yogurt misleads consumers by claiming the product has significantly less sugar than other yogurt products.

Chobani’s “Less Sugar” line of Greek yogurt is packaged with labels that say the product has “45% less sugar than other yogurts.” The problem, according to the plaintiffs, is the “other yogurts” don’t include some varieties with sugar contents much closer to the Chobani formula.

There are yogurts on the market made with “non-nutritive sweeteners,” including the increasingly popular stevia, that contain less sugar than those Chobani uses for comparison, the class action lawsuit claims. Chobani’s labeling leads consumers to believe it can claim it has less sugar than any yogurt, according to the plaintiffs.

Donna Brietzke of Massachusetts and Damara Alicea of New York both purchased the “Less Sugar” varieties of Chobani yogurt but feel deceived by the company, they say.

The two filed a federal class action lawsuit against Chobani in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Dec. 31.

In it, they claim Chobani is violating New York’s General Business Law and the company’s conduct regarding the sugar content labeling amounts to negligent misrepresentation, fraud and unjust enrichment.

According to the class action lawsuit, Chobani’s “45% less sugar than other yogurts” claim is a “relative nutrient content claim” that, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, must be “based on a validly selected reference food.”

“However, defendant’s ‘Other Yogurts’ excludes similar yogurts that consumers regard as sufficiently similar alternatives to its product, because they contain non-nutritive sweeteners,” the class action lawsuit says. “When non-nutritive sweetened yogurts are included,” the Chobani yogurt has 25% less sugar, not 45%.

“Reasonable consumers are unable to know or find out that [Chobani’s] comparative sugar reduction claim is based upon cherry-picking the data,” the class action lawsuit argues.

Brietzke and Alicea are asking the court to certify their class action and permit them to represent all other consumers who purchased the “Less Sugar” Chobani yogurt in Massachusetts and New York during the legally allowed time frame.

Their class action lawsuit is aimed at forcing Chobani to halt what they say is a deceptive approach to labeling the yogurt and at obtaining financial compensation for consumers.

“The plaintiffs would not have purchased the product in the absence of defendant’s misrepresentations and omissions,” their class action lawsuit insists. The Chobani yogurt is “worth less than what plaintiffs paid for it and they would not have paid as much absent defendant’s false and misleading statements and omissions.”

Have you purchased the “Less Sugar” variety of Chobani yogurt? Did you choose it because you believed it contained 45% less sugar than all other varieties of yogurt on the market? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

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

The Chobani Yogurt Class Action Lawsuit is Donna Brietzke, et al. v. Chobani LLC, Case No. 1:20-cv-11097, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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