Krispy Kreme Class Action Says Maple Donuts are Falsely Advertised

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Krispy Kreme faces a class action lawsuit alleging that the company falsely advertises their donuts as containing natural ingredients.

Plaintiff Irina Agajanyan recently filed a class action lawsuit against the Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation, arguing that their donuts do not contain the natural ingredients their names imply.

Agajanyan calls out the blueberry, maple glazed, and strawberry iced donuts, alleging that they do not contain the named ingredients.

The plaintiff says she purchased blueberry and maple donuts from her local Krispy Kreme. Due to the signage, naming, and appearance of the pastries, she believed they contained real blueberries and maple. However, when she returned home and ate the donuts, she began to suspect that they didn’t contain natural ingredients due to the taste.

Agajanyan alleges that she would not have purchased the donuts if she had known she wasn’t getting any sort of nutritional value from real, natural ingredients. She argues that her assumption that the donuts contained natural ingredients was reasonable due to the names of the items.

“Had Krispy Kreme not misrepresented that Class Products contained Real Ingredients, Plaintiff Agajanyan would not have purchased the Class Products, and would have purchased other products that contained blueberries and maple from the competitors of Krispy Kreme, or would not have purchased them at the prices at which they were offered,” the Krispy Kreme class action lawsuit states.

The nutritional differences between natural and artificial ingredients are vast and the Krispy Kreme class action argues that consumers purchased the products intending to reap the nutritional benefits of the natural ingredients. Blueberries are a “superfood” containing antioxidants which have been shown to inhibit damaging substances in the body. The antioxidants may protect against cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, and cancer, according to the Krispy Kreme donuts class action lawsuit. Maple syrup and maple sugar also contain more than 20 compounds linked to human health benefits, according to the class action.

The Krispy Kreme donuts class action lawsuit claims that the false advertising was intentional, and that Krispy Kreme went to great lengths to make their products seem natural. The plaintiff “reasonably relied on said misrepresentations because Krispy Kreme […] used dark blueberry-like bits in Blueberry Doughnuts to mimic the existence of real blueberries brown colored substance in its Maple Doughnuts to mimic the existence of maple syrup/sugar,” the Krispy Kreme class action lawsuit states.

Agajanyan claims that the false advertising is irresponsible and harmful, and she seeks an order preventing Krispy Kreme from using words like “blueberry” and “maple” in the names of their blueberry and maple donuts. “Krispy Kreme’ practice is offensive to public policy and is immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, and substantially injurious to consumers,” the Krispy Kreme donuts class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiff seeks to represent a Class of people who purchased a Blueberry Doughnut or Maple Doughnut after their release. The Krispy Kreme class action lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, statutory damages, restitution, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

Agajanyan is represented by Hovanes Margarian of The Margarian Law Firm.

The Krispy Kreme Maple, Blueberry Donuts Class Action Lawsuit is Agajanyan v. Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation, et al., Case No. 2:18-cv-02885, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.