Kraft Mac & Cheese class action filed over ‘no preservatives’ label

Kraft class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Plaintiff Cecil Brinker filed a class action lawsuit against The Kraft Heinz Co.
• Why: Kraft labels its Mac & Cheese products as having no artificial flavors, preservatives or dyes despite containing citric acid, the lawsuit says. 
• Where: The case was moved to federal court in Missouri from St. Louis state court.

A Missouri consumer has filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Kraft Mac & Cheese is falsely labeled as containing “no preservatives” because the product contains citric acid.

While citric acid occurs naturally in fruit, the variety used in Kraft Mac & Cheese serves as a preservative, the lawsuit says. This alleged false labeling is in violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.

“Citric acid, while non-toxic and permitted as an additive, is indisputably a synthetic preservative, being categorized as such by essentially every single government, scientific and academic institution considering the question,” the Kraft mac and cheese class action lawsuit says.

Mac & Cheese class action targets five products

The class action lawsuit targets five Mac & Cheese products: original flavor, spirals, three cheese, value size and thick ‘n creamy.

Brinker says she would not have made the purchases had she known the statements on the front of the box were incorrect. 

“Average and reasonable consumers such as plaintiff do not read the fine print on the rear side or side of the package when purchasing the products,” the Kraft Mac & Cheese class action says. “Moreover, although it is well-established scientifically (and in the various other manners set forth infra), the reasonable consumer does not recognize citric acid as a preservative.”

Even if a consumer knew that citric acid is a preservative, the Kraft class action lawsuit says the average consumer takes less than 20 seconds to make any individual purchasing decision in a store, meaning only the front label is generally read in that amount of time.

An Illinois federal judge trimmed a class action lawsuit filed against The Kraft Heinz Co. in January 2023 alleging it allows dangerous toxins in its popular macaroni and cheese products

Do you purchase Kraft mac & cheese due to its advertised claims? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Daniel F. Harvath of the Harvath Law Group LLC.

The Kraft class action lawsuit is Brinker v. The Kraft Heinz Food Co., Case No. 4:24-cv-00704-MTS, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Eastern Division.

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