Atkins Class Action Lawsuit Challenges ‘Net Carbs’ Labeling

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UPDATE 2: On Sept. 1, 2020, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks from Atkins net carbs settlement worth as much as $35.90. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!

UPDATE: January 2020, the Atkins net carbs class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim. 

Atkins Nutritionals is facing another mislabeling class action lawsuit claiming its promise of no “net carbs” ignores its products’ sugar alcohols content.

Plaintiff Joseph Colella says defendant Atkins Nutritionals Inc. has refused to change the labeling on its products even after admitting that its definition of “net carbs” is “indefensible.”

According to Colella, this definition allows Atkins to make a false promise that its products contain no “net carbs” by excluding an entire class of carbohydrates called sugar alcohols.

“Simply put, the calculation that Atkins employs is knowingly false and misleading, meaning that the labeling and representations regarding net carbs violates New York consumer protection laws,” Colella claims.

Atkins promotes a low- to no-carbohydrate diet as an effective weight loss method. The company markets books and food products in connection with that diet.

Colella quotes Atkins’ definition for “net carbs” from its website as “the total carbohydrate content of the food minus the fiber content and sugar alcohols.” The website says these types of carbohydrates are the ones that affect blood sugar, and therefore they’re the only ones a person on an Atkins diet needs to worry about.

Food products marketed under the Atkins brand use malitol, a sugar alcohol, as a replacement for other carbohydrates, Colella says.

But scientific research suggests that sugar alcohols, and particularly malitol, have a significant effect on blood sugar levels, according to this Atkins class action lawsuit.

Colella quotes the Diabetes Teaching Center at the University of California as saying, “[D]on’t be fooled – sugar alcohols are still a form of carbohydrate, and they still affect your blood sugar levels, if not as dramatically.” A doctor from the Mayo Clinic advises that sugar alcohols “can increase your blood sugar level.”

Several other scientific sources are on record as agreeing that sugar alcohols raise blood sugar levels – not as much as other types of carbohydrates, but still to a significant degree.

For that reason, Colella argues the labeling on Atkins food products is grossly misleading. He claims it deceives dieters into buying products they would not have purchased otherwise.

This action is at least the third false advertising class action lawsuit that Atkins has been hit with this year. In July, plaintiff Johana Garcia filed a claim alleging that malitol and malitol syrup raise blood sugar levels in a way that can’t be disregarded without misleading consumers.

Another claim filed just a month later by plaintiff Cheryl Fernandez says Atkins deceives consumers by downplaying the effect that sugar alcohols have on blood sugar. Fernandez is raising claims for violation of California consumer protection laws.

Colella seeks to represent a plaintiff Class covering all New York State citizens who purchased Atkins products in the state of New York that were labeled with the “net carbs” calculation at issue.

He seeks a damage award including statutory and punitive damages, restitution and disgorgement of related revenues, and pre- and post-judgment interest on all amounts outstanding.

Colella’s attorneys are David A. Straite of Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP, Matthew L. Dameron of Williams Dirks Dameron LLC, and Jay Barnes of Barnes & Associates.

The Atkins Net Carbs Mislabeling Class Action Lawsuit is Colella v. Atkins Nutritionals Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-05867, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.