Mars Hit With Ice Cream Deceptive Labeling Class Action Lawsuit

Mars Inc. has been hit with a deceptive labeling class action lawsuit over allegations that the front packaging of M&M and Twix brand ice cream bars do not mention that the product contains artificial flavoring.

Lead plaintiffs Linda Cheslow and Mike Xavier of California originally filed the Mars ice cream class action lawsuit in August and the putative class action was removed to a California federal court on Monday.

According to the Mars class action lawsuit, both M&M and Twix frozen treats are labeled as “flavored ice cream,” but unless customers read the nutrition facts they are unaware that the candied dessert contains artificial flavors.

The plaintiffs allege that this action violates U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations as well as California’s False Advertising Law and California’s Unfair Competition Law. The Mars ice cream class action lawsuit claims that the FDA requires the phrase “artificial flavor added” to appear on the “principal display panel” of the food item.

The FDA determined that customers want to know if the presence of flavor in ice cream is a natural ingredient or an artificial flavoring. According to the Mars label class action lawsuit, the federal agency found that consumers generally prefer natural flavors over artificial ones so in an effort to prevent misleading labels, product statements that meet federal standards should include wording that discloses the product is artificially flavored.

The plaintiffs claim that Mars clearly understands the federal requirement as it affirmatively states on the product ingredients that it adds artificially flavoring but omits the disclosure from the front of the ice cream packaging. The Mars class action lawsuit states, “This is because reasonable consumers typically do not look past misleading representations on the front of packaged food to discover the truth in the ingredient list on the back of the package.”

According to the Mars class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs would have not purchased the ice cream products, would have paid less for them or would have purchased a similar, less expensive item had they known the label was misleading. Cheslow claims to have purchased one of the Mars dessert bars every other month between 2010 and 2014.

Cheslow and Xavier are seeking more than $5 million in damages and are asking the court to intervene by prohibiting the ice cream manufacturer from mislabeling their products.

If approved, the Mars deceptive labeling class action lawsuit would be open to all Class Members in California who purchased M&M or Twix ice cream bars.

The plaintiffs are represented by Rosemary M. Rivas and Alyssa Dang of Finkelstein Thompson LLP.

The Mars Ice Cream Deceptive Labeling Class Action Lawsuit is Cheslow, et al v. Mars Inc., et al, Case No. 3:15-cv-04454, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division.