belVita Class Action: Breakfast Foods Have Too Much Sugar to be Healthy

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Two San Diego residents claim the high sugar content in belVita breakfast foods make the health claims on their labeling false and misleading.

According to plaintiffs Patrick McMorrow and Marco Ohlin, defendant Mondelez International Inc. has been deceptively promoting the belVita line of breakfast foods as being a healthy choice for nutrition-minded consumers. In fact, the plaintiffs claim, these products are packed with enough sugar that no reasonable consumer would consider them healthy.

belVita is a product line marketed by Mondelez International through its subsidiary, Nabisco.

Plaintiffs particularly take issue with the marketing of belVita Breakfast Biscuits, their miniature version belVita Bites, and belVita Sandwiches, which consist of two biscuits with a filling in between. Each of these products comes in several different flavors.

McMorrow and Ohlin argue that Mondelez’s representation of belVita products as healthy is incompatible with the threats to health allegedly presented by the product’s sugar content.

“Despite the compelling evidence that sugar acts as a chronic liver toxin, detrimentally affecting health, Mondelez sells a line of high-sugar belVita Breakfast Products (the ‘Products’) that it specifically markets towards consumers ‘who have health and wellness in mind’ with the goal of increasing the price and sales of its belVita Breakfast Products,” the complaint states.

The belVita class action lawsuit includes photos of the packaging for several varieties of these belVita products. The packaging shows representations about the products’ fiber, vitamin and whole grain content, as well as phrases like “4 Hours of Nutritious Steady Energy” and “a nutritious, convenient breakfast choice that contains slow-release carbs from wholesome grains to help fuel your body for 4 hours.”

According to the plaintiffs, the nutrition information for these products shows a sugar content of eight to 13 grams of sugar per serving, depending on the specific product.

McMorrow and Ohlin cite page after page of scientific studies linking excess sugar consumption to a slew of chronic diseases. Studies referenced in this belVita class action lawsuit link a high-sugar diet to obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, liver disease, inflammation, high cholesterol, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia, cognitive decline, and some forms of cancer.

Both plaintiffs say they, and their proposed Class Members, relied on Mondelez’s representations when choosing to purchase belVita products. Since those representations are false, they claim, the products are worth significantly less than what they paid for them.

McMorrow and Ohlin propose to bring their claims on behalf of a statewide Class consisting of all persons in California who purchased the belVita products at issue for their own personal or household use and not for resale or distribution.

They seek a court order requiring Mondelez to stop making any marketing claims about belVita products that are found to be false, misleading or unlawful and to conduct a corrective advertising campaign. They also seek an award of restitution, compensatory and punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, as well as court costs and attorneys’ fees.

McMorrow and Ohlin are represented by attorneys Paul K. Joseph of Law Office of Paul K. Joseph PC and by Jack Fitzgerald, Trevor M. Flynn, Melanie Persinger and Tran Nguyen of The Law Office of Jack Fitzgerald PC.

The belVita Breakfast Foods Sugar Content Class Action Lawsuit is McMorrow, et al. v. Mondelez International Inc., Case No. 3:17-cv-02327-BEN-JLB, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: On Jan. 29, 2018, plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit accusing Mondelez of falsely labeling its allegedly sugar-laden belVita breakfast biscuits as healthy urged a California federal judge not to dismiss their case.

UPDATE 2: On March 9, 2020, a California federal judge denied Class certification in a belVita lawsuit, taking issue with the proposed Class’ damages model.