General Mills Class Action Says Fruit Snacks Contain Artificial Flavors

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General Mills Inc. and other defendants are facing a class action lawsuit alleging their fruit-flavored snack products are labeled as if they contain only natural ingredients even though they contain artificial flavors.

“Defendants’ packaging, labeling, and advertising scheme is intended to give California consumers the impression that they are buying a premium, ‘all natural’ product with natural flavoring ingredients instead of a product that is artificially flavored,” plaintiff Crystal Hilsley alleges in the General Mills class action lawsuit.

The defendants named in the class action are: General Mills Inc., General Mills Sales Inc., McCann-Erickson USA Inc., Saatchi & Saatchi North America Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Universal City Studios LLC, Viacom International Inc., Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC and Sanrio Company Ltd.

The products challenged in the General Mills class action lawsuit include fruit-flavored candies that are named and modeled after characters from television shows and movie franchises:

• Scooby-Doo Fruit Flavored Snacks
• Despicable Me Fruit Flavored Snacks
• Star Wars Fruit Flavored Snacks
• Dora The Explorer Fruit Flavored Snacks
• Hello Kitty Fruit Flavored Snacks
• DC Superhero Girls Fruit Flavored Snacks
• Shark Bites Fruit Flavored Snacks
• SpongeBob Fruit Flavored Snacks
• Trolls Fruit Flavored Snacks
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fruit Flavored Snacks
• El Chavo Fruit Flavored Snacks
• Thomas and Friends Fruit Flavored Snacks

Hilsley says she purchased the products multiple times since 2011 and paid between $2 and $3 per package of 10 individually-wrapped packages. According to the General Mills class action lawsuit, she was deceived by the products’ labeling and believed they were naturally-flavored.

Hilsley points to the prominent labels on the front of General Mills fruit snacks packages that state: “NO ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS”. She says that this claim is false because the products contain the synthetic chemical called malic acid, which simulates the flavor of real fruit.

According to the General Mills fruit snacks class action lawsuit, if a product represents that it has a characterizing flavor, such as including a picture, word or other mention of a fruit, the product’s front label must indicate that the flavor was simulated with natural and/or artificial flavorings.

“If any artificial flavor is present which ‘simulates, resembles or reinforces’ the characterizing flavor, the food must be prominently labeled as ‘Artificially Flavored’” under California law, according to the General Mills class action lawsuit.

Hilsley alleges the products’ ingredient lists violate both state and federal law by listing the generic ingredient “malic acid” instead of the specific industrial chemical “d-l malic acid” that is actually contained in the products.

General Mills’ competitors label their fruit snacks products appropriately, the class action lawsuit says.

Hilsley filed the General Mills class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and a proposed Class of California citizens who purchased the allegedly mislabeled fruit snacks products in California since Jan. 1, 2012.

The General Mills fruit snacks class action lawsuit asserts claims for violations of California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Unfair Competition Law, and False Advertising Law. The complaint also asserts claim for breach of express warranty and breach of implied warranty.

Hilsley is seeking an order compelling the defendants to stop packaging, advertising, distributing and selling the allegedly deceptively labeled products, to relabel or recall all of the existing deceptively packaged products, and engage in a corrective advertising campaign.

She is seeking restitution, actual damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, expenses and costs of suit.

Hilsley is represented by David Elliot of The Elliot Law Firm.

The General Mills Fruit Snacks Class Action Lawsuit is Crystal Hilsley v. General Mills Inc., et al., Case No. 3:18-cv-00395-L-BLM, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.