Kellogg Hit With Mother’s Cookies Trans Fat Class Action Lawsuit

Kellogg is facing a possible $5 million class action lawsuit from a California shopper who alleges that Mother’s Cookies contain a food additive that is toxic to consumer’s health.

Lead plaintiff Shavonda Hawkins filed the Kellogg class action lawsuit yesterday alleging that there is “no safe level” of partially hydrogenated oil which is one of the ingredients in Mother’s Cookies.

Hawkins says she bought the Kellogg brand cookies several times a year not knowing they contained trans fat. The Mother’s Cookies class action lawsuit states that Hawkins suffered physical injury from repeatedly eating the Kellogg treats due to the inclusion of partially hydrogenated oil.

According to the Kellogg trans fat class action lawsuit, consuming PHO in any amount increases consumer risk of developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes, organ damage and alzheimer’s disease.

The plaintiff alleges that Kellogg could use a number of safer alternatives to trans fat and points to a recent decision by the FDA that will eventually ban the substance. Last summer, the FDA began taking steps to remove artificial trans fat from the U.S. food supply. According to the agency, eliminating trans fat is expected to prevent thousands of heart attacks each year.

Hawkins claims that she was unaware of the dangers of consuming trans fat and didn’t realize that Kellogg was “still selling this product illegally.” The lawsuit states that while Hawkins is a reasonably diligent consumer, she would not have been able to discover the dangers of consuming trans fat because like most consumers she is not an “expert in nutrition.”

Last October, Hawkins filed a similar trans fat class action lawsuit against the makers of Fast Bites sandwiches, AdvancePierre. In that complaint, Hawkins claimed that the microwave sandwich maker was placing profits above consumer health when they decided to use PHO instead of healthier alternatives.

In the Fast Bites class action as well as the Kellogg Mother’s Cookies class action, Hawkins accuses the two food manufacturers of violating California’s Unfair Competition Law by using partially hydrogenated oils, which have been banned in many parts of the world due to their trans fat content.

According to the Kellogg class action lawsuit, Hawkins also seeks to disgorge the cookie maker from the sales of Mother’s Cookies “which were acquired through acts of unfair competition.”

Hawkins states that she, along with potential Class Members, are entitled to financial compensation for buying a “worthless” product.

The trans fat cookie class action lawsuit claims that Hawkins continues to suffer “emotional harm from knowing that she unwittingly injured herself and others through the consumption of the cookies.”

If approved, the Kellogg trans fat class action lawsuit would be open to all Class Members who purchased Mother’s Cookies products in the U.S. within the last eight years.

Hawkins is represented by Gregory Weston and David Elliot of The Weston Firm.

The Kellogg Mother’s Cookies Trans Fat Class Action Lawsuit is Shavonda Hawkins v. Kellogg Co., Case No. 3:16-cv-00147, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: On Dec. 13, 2016, the class action lawsuit alleging Kellogg used partially hydrogenated oil, also known as “trans fat,” in its Mother’s Cookies was dismissed by a California federal judge who found the claims “frivolous.”