Eat Real Snacks Class Action: Quinoa, Hummus Chips Falsely Advertised

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A New York man claims that snack foods sold under the Eat Real brand are mislabeled to make consumers think they contain more premium ingredients than are actually there.

According to plaintiff Franco Condon, defendant Eat Real Snacks USA LLC mislabels some of its chips and puffs in a way that makes consumers mistakenly think they contain predominantly quinoa, lentil or chickpea ingredients.

Condon alleges these products are actually made mostly of corn, rice, or other ingredients that do not provide nearly the same nutritional value or stir the same consumer demand.

“Plaintiff and reasonable consumer[s] get the impression from the representations that the substantive, non-seasoning and functional ingredients, in the Products either consist entirely of quinoa, lentils and chickpeas or at a minimum that those ingredients are present in an amount which greatly exceeds any other non-substantive ingredients,” the Eat Real Snacks class action lawsuit reads.

But that’s not the case for Eat Real Quinoa Puffs, Quinoa Chips, Lentil Chips and Hummus Chips, according to this Eat Real Snacks class action lawsuit. Condon points out that the ingredient list for Quinoa Puffs lists corn meal as the first ingredient.

While quinoa flour is the first ingredient listed on the label for Quinoa Chips, Condon notes that the next two ingredients on the list are corn flour and corn starch – raising the possibility that the product could contain more corn than quinoa.

He makes a similar point about Eat Real Lentil Chips and Hummus Chips. Those products’ respective first ingredients are lentil flour and chickpea flour. But Condon points out that those ingredients account for less than half of the products’ contents, so that the products consist mostly of ingredients other than the lentil and chickpea ingredients that headline their labeling.

Because of these proportions, he claims, “the Lentil and Hummus chips contain more potato and rice ingredients than those derived from lentils and chickpeas.”

Condon says it’s misleading for Eat Real to emphasize quinoa, lentil and chickpea ingredients all over its product labels when those ingredients comprise only a minor portion of the products’ actual contents.

The presence of the promised ingredients “has a material bearing on price and consumer acceptance of the product,” he claims. Demand is high among conscientious consumers for all three of those ingredients, as they offer considerable nutritional benefits and can be produced using more sustainable agricultural practices.

That demand translates to a premium that Eat Real Snacks can charge for these products. Condon says each bag of Eat Real snacks retails for $4.99, significantly more than the prices charged for competitor products that don’t contain quinoa, lentil or chickpea ingredients.

Yet because Eat Real snacks allegedly contain less of the advertised ingredients than consumers are led to expect, those who purchase these snacks aren’t getting the value for which they’re paying that premium, according to Condon’s complaint.

Condon plans to represent a nationwide Class covering all consumers who purchased Eat Real Quinoa Puffs, Quinoa Chips, Hummus Chips or Lentil Chips during the applicable statutory limitations period.

He seeks a court injunction directing Eat Real Snacks USA to correct its allegedly misleading labeling. He is also asking for an award of damages, including treble and punitive damages, plus court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Condon’s attorneys are Joshua Levin-Epstein of Levin-Epstein & Associates PC and Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC.

The Eat Real Snacks Mislabeling Class Action Lawsuit is Condon v. Eat Real Snacks USA LLC, Case No. 2:18-cv-01497-ADS-SIL, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.