Dunkin’ Donuts Class Action Alleges Company Uses Fake Blueberries

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Dunkin’ Brands Inc. was hit with a class action lawsuit earlier this month alleging the company deceives customers by using imitation blueberries in some of its blueberry-flavored donuts and pastries.

Plaintiff Bartosz Grabowski asserts that Dunkin’ Donuts sells products with names such as “Glazed Blueberry” donuts or munchkins, “Blueberry Butternut” and “Blueberry Crumb Cake,” but that these products do not contain any real blueberries.

Instead, the company allegedly uses imitation blueberries that are the same shape and color of real blueberries, but does not inform customers that the blueberry products do not contain real blueberries.

Grabowski asserts that he and other putative Class Members purchased Dunkin’ Donuts blueberry products under the belief they contained real blueberries.

“Blueberries have the potential to limit the development of severity of certain cancers and vascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, ischemic stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases of aging,” Grabowski alleges in the Dunkin’ Donuts blueberry class action lawsuit. “Research suggests that blueberries are one of the richest sources of antioxidant phytonutrients.”

Although the Dunkin’ Donuts blueberry products are labeled as containing blueberries, Grabowski says the donut company’s blueberry products contain “nutritionally inferior ingredients” such as corn syrup, sugar, gums and artificial food coloring designed to mimic the color, shape and texture of real blueberries, thereby leading consumers to believe the products contain real blueberries.

According to the Dunkin’ Donuts class action lawsuit, consumers are willing to pay a premium price for products that contain blueberries. Dunkin’ Donuts’ blueberry products are uniformly priced higher than the Original Glazed Donut, Grabowski says.

Grabowski alleges consumers who purchase the blueberry products from Dunkin’ Donuts have no way of knowing that they do not contain real blueberries because Dunkin’ Donuts doesn’t provide any information about the products’ ingredients other than the name of the product.

“Even when consuming the Blueberry Products, Plaintiff and other consumers cannot easily decipher whether the filling or glazing they are consuming contains actual blueberries because Defendant has formulated and manufactured the products in a manner that masks the absence of such ingredients,” the Dunkin’ Donuts class action lawsuit alleges.

Other fruit-flavored products sold at Dunkin’ Donuts actually do contain the ingredients advertised in the product name, including the Blueberry Muffin, Strawberry donuts and Apple Crumb donuts, Grabowski alleges. Therefore, he claims the donut company is capable of manufacturing blueberry products that contained real fruit and it should have been aware that its representations regarding blueberry products were likely to deceive consumers.

Grabowski filed the imitation blueberry class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and a Class of consumers who purchased any of the allegedly deceptively labeled blueberry products at a Dunkin’ Donuts store in Illinois.

The Dunkin’ Donuts class action lawsuit asserts claims for violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, common law fraud, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract and unjust enrichment. Grabowski seeks compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive relief, restitution, and other relief deemed proper by the court.

A similar Dunkin’ Donuts artificial fruit flavoring class action lawsuit was recently filed in California federal court.

Grabowski is represented by James X. Bormes and Catherine P. Sons of the Law Office of James X. Bormes PC and Thomas M. Ryan of the Law Office of Thomas M. Ryan PC.

The Dunkin’ Donuts Imitation Blueberry Class Action Lawsuit is Bartosz Grabowski v. Dunkin’ Brands Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-05069, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.