Muscle Milk False Advertising Class Action Survives

A legal dispute over how “nutritious” Muscle Milk bars and sports drinks really are has moved into a new phase after a federal judge ruled an amended false advertising class action lawsuit against manufacturer CytoSport can proceed.The ruling is good news for the Plaintiff, who was asked in April to revise her false advertising claims to provide more sufficient evidence about the nutrition content of Muscle Milk products if she wanted her class action lawsuit to survive.

Plaintiff Claire Delacruz sued CytoSport last summer for allegedly misleading consumers by describing Muscle Milk bars and beverages as “nutritious snacks,” when they were in fact nutritionally equivalent to “fat-laden junk food,” she claimed in the class action lawsuit.

Delacruz claimed that Muscle Milk bars were high in saturated fat and added sugars and that phrases such as “Healthy, Sustained Energy,” “0g Trans Fat,” “healthy fats” and “good carbohydrates” were therefore misleading. She also claimed certain Muscle Milk beverages were loaded with as much, if not more, total fat and saturated fat as a Krispe Kreme doughnut, and that Muscle Milk bars “contain as many calories, as much sugar, and more grams of saturated fat and sodium” than a Snickers bar.

The Muscle Milk class action lawsuit was filed shortly after the FDA sent a warning letter to CytoSport alleging that Muscle Milk products were misbranded as healthy, without adhering to the legal conditions necessary to make such health claims.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken challenged many of Delacruz’s claims earlier this year, but allowed her to amend her class action lawsuit complaint.  Ruling on the case last week, Wilken said CytoSport’s second attempt to dismiss the Muscle Milk class action lawsuit is “granted in part and denied in part.”

Wilken dismissed false advertising claims based on the “good carbohydrates” and “0g Trans Fat” statements, but ruled that claims based on statements that the Muscle Milk products are “Healthy” and a “healthy source of energy” could proceed.

Delacruz is seeking damages and injunctive relief for a proposed class of all U.S. residents who purchased CytoSport’s Muscle Milk Ready-to-Drink and/or Muscle Milk Bars products from July 18, 2007 to the present.

A copy of the original CytoSport Muscle Milk False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit here.

The case is Claire Delacruz v. CytoSport, Inc., Case No. 11-cv-3532, United States District Court, Northern District of California.

UPDATE 1: A federal judge preliminarily approved the Muscle Milk class action settlement on Nov. 18, 2013. We will update our readers as soon as claim filing instructions are available.

UPDATE 2: Claim filing instructions are up! See how to file a claim for the Muscle Milk class action settlement here

UPDATE 3: On July 1, 2014, a federal judge granted final approval to the Delacruz v. Cytosport Muscle Milk class action settlement. Over 33,300 Class Members will receive over $30 each, according to the approval Order. If you get a check, let us know!

UPDATE 4: Checks were mailed to eligible Class Members on Sept. 23, 2014. Congrats to everyone who got paid!