Update: Dove Milk Chocolate Ice Cream Bars False Advertising Class Action Tossed

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Mars False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: Mars has dodged a false advertising class action lawsuit.
• Why: A federal judge rejected allegations that the company’s advertising of its Dove ice cream bars misleads consumers.
• Where: The case was litigated in New York.

A class action lawsuit alleging Mars deceptively advertises its Dove ice cream bars has been thrown out by a New York federal judge without leave to amend.

The lawsuit was filed in 2021 by Steven Beers, who alleged Mars, the manufacturers of the ice cream bars, hides that the bars contain vegetable oils and leads consumers to believe the bars are made solely with cocoa butter, which Beers contends is necessary for “real milk chocolate.”

However, U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel rejected Beers’ argument, saying in her ruling that “the ingredient list does not reflect that coconut oil and palm oil were used in lieu of cocoa butter in making the milk chocolate; rather, the label makes clear that the milk chocolate (made as Plaintiff would like, with cocoa butter) is combined with other elements to create the product’s coating,”

She also rejected Beers’ argument that the labeling “with milk chocolate” and “silky smooth” made the bars seem like they have more milk chocolate than they do, or that that labeling would lead consumers to think the bars were made exclusively with milk chocolate.

“The label simply says, ‘with milk chocolate’ indicating (accurately) that that ingredient is prominently featured in the product,” Seibel wrote. “It is nothing more than a conclusory leap to allege that a reasonable consumer reads those statements to implicitly mean that the product necessarily contains no vegetable oils.”

Mars’ lawyers, who argued successfully to toss the lawsuit, said in their motion to dismiss that Beers’ lawyer, Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC, had filed more than 200 similar “shoddy” complaints against food manufacturers, many of which were being thrown out or trimmed.

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The Dove Milk Chocolate False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit was Steven Beers v. Mars Wrigley Confectionery US LLC, Case No. 7:21-cv-00002, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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