Clif Bar Class Action Says Bars Contain Imitation White Chocolate

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Clif Bar & Company misleadingly labels its Clif Bar and Luna White Chocolate Macadamia bar products in order to deceive consumers into believing they contain real white chocolate when they actually don’t, according to a class action lawsuit filed Tuesday in California federal court.

Plaintiffs Jamie Joslin and Courtney Davis claim that they viewed the products’ labels and relied on the representations that they contained white chocolate.

According to the Clif Bar class action lawsuit, the products actually contain “inferior confectionary ingredients that are not white chocolate at all.”

The plaintiffs claim that they, along with putative Class Members, were deceived into purchasing an inferior product, for which they allegedly overpaid. Clif continues to sell the allegedly misbranded products, according to the Clif Bar class action lawsuit.

“Defendant has collected millions of dollars from the sale of their Products, which they would not have otherwise earned, through these unfair and deceptive practices,” the Clif Bar class action lawsuit says.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration defines white chocolate as “the solid or semiplastic food prepared by intimately mixing and grinding cacao fat” with dairy ingredients and nutritive carbohydrate sweeteners, according to the Clif Bar class action lawsuit.

“Real white chocolate’s flavor is partially imparted by milkfat,” the Clif Bar class action lawsuit says. “Accordingly, U.S., Canadian, and European regulators all define white chocolate as having at least 3.5% milkfat.”

However, the Clif bars and Luna bars that purportedly contain white chocolate do not have any milkfat or any of the other dairy ingredients included in the FDA’s definition of white chocolate.

The federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act states that a food is misbranded if it is an imitation of another type of food unless the label prominently states that it is an imitation, the Clif Bar class action lawsuit says. All 50 states and the District of Columbia have laws that incorporate federal law, according to the Clif Bar class action.

“Defendant violates statutes enacted in each of the fifty states and the District of Columbia that are designed to protect consumers against unfair, deceptive, fraudulent and unconscionable trade and business practices and false advertising,” the Clif Bar class action lawsuit states.

Joslin and Davis filed the proposed Clif Bar class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and a proposed nationwide Class of consumers who purchased Clif Bar White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Bar and Luna White Chocolate Macadamia Bar during the applicable limitations period.

The Clif Bar class action lawsuit asserts claims for violations of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, California’s Unfair Competition Law, California’s False Advertising Law, violations of the New York Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, and common law fraud.

The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages, restitution, injunctive relief, attorneys’ fees and costs, and other relief the court deems just and proper.

Joslin and Davis are represented by C.K. Lee of Lee Litigation Group PLLC and David Makman of Law Offices of David A. Makman.

The Clif Bar White Chocolate Class Action Lawsuit is Jamie Joslin, et al. v. Clif Bar & Company, Case No. 3:18-cv-04941-JSC, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division.

UPDATE: On Nov. 27, 2018, Clif Bar consumers say a class action lawsuit over mislabeling should continue despite the company’s motion to dismiss the case.

UPDATE: On Dec. 2, 2019, a federal judge approved an amended complaint alleging that Clif Bar & Co. misled customers in advertising that its energy bars contained white chocolate as opposed to an imitation.