​​Snyder’s Class Action Claims Butter Snaps Pretzels Contain No Real Butter

Snyder’s False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: Pretzel maker Snyder’s-Lance, Inc has been hit with a false advertising class action lawsuit.
• Why: Karen Kowal says the company’s advertising of its ‘Butter Snaps Pretzels’ is “false, deceptive and misleading” because the pretzels lack any real butter.
• Where: The case is pending in Illinois district court.

Pretzel maker Snyder’s-Lance, Inc.’s advertising of its  ‘Butter Snaps Pretzels’ is “false, deceptive and misleading” because the pretzels lack any real butter, a class action lawsuit alleges.

Karen Kowal is accusing the company of violating the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and other state consumer fraud acts.

She says Snyder’s manufactures, labels, markets and sells Butter Snaps Pretzels in yellow-colored packaging under the Snyder’s of Hanover brand and includes the term “natural flavor,” on the ingredients list, meaning “consumers would mistakenly expect those products contained non-negligible amounts of those ingredients”

However, the pretzels are actually made using “Enzyme Modified Butterfat,” which she says is not real butter but consists of “literal ‘fractions’ or microscopic drops of real butter to which enzymes are added.”

“These enzymes cause the butter to release volatile and non-volatile fatty acids to give consumers the impression a product contains more butter than it does by enhancing the butter taste,” the lawsuit explains.

Snyder’s Pretzels Contain More Vegetable Oil Than Butterfat, Plaintiff Says

She adds that the pretzels contain more vegetable oil, a traditional substitute for butter, than “butter flavor,” shown through the listing of canola oil ahead of “Enzyme Modified Butterfat” on the ingredient list.

Kowal says she bought the pretzels multiple times because she expected them to contain a “non-negligible amount of butter ingredients.” She adds that she and other consumers consumers would not know that “Enzyme Modified Butterfat” has little to no connection to real butter.

The lawsuit says that butter has always been a natural food, made by churning cow’s milk, but “unscrupulous dealers have continually sought to substitute real butter with synthetic, butter-like products.”

Kowal says Snyder’s sold the pretzels for a price premium compared to other similar products, at $3.69 per 12 oz, “a higher price than it would otherwise be sold for, absent the misleading representations and omissions.”

She wants to represent an Illinois class and a multistate class of consumers from Iowa, Arizona, Ohio, Alabama, Louisiana, West Virginia, Michigan, Texas, Arkansas, Virginia and Oklahoma.

She seeks certification of the class, damages, injunctive relief, legal fees and costs and a jury trial.

Let us know if you’ve tried the Butter Snaps Pretzels in the comments section below!

The consumers are represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates, P.C.

The Snyder’s Pretzel False Ad Class Action Lawsuit is Kowal v. Snyder’s-Lance, Inc., Case No. 1:22-cv-00441, in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division.

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