Strawberry Pop-Tart Claims Dismissed

An Illinois District Court dismissed a class-action lawsuit that alleged that the labeling on Kellogg Sales Company’s Unfrosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts mislead consumers into thinking that the product’s filling contained only strawberries, or at least a majority of strawberry ingredients, by including the word “Strawberry” and depicting half of a fresh strawberry and red fruit filling on the front panel of the packaging. In reality, the product’s filling also contained dried pears, dried apples, and the color additive Red 40.

The Court held that the claims were not actionable (i.e, a reasonable consumer would not be deceived) largely because the product did not make any representation that the product contained only strawberries or that it contained any particular quantity of strawberries. Interestingly, the Court did not address whether some minimum quantity of strawberry is required in a “strawberry” product and the opinion could be read as holding that a “strawberry” product is not misleading if it contains any measurable amount of real strawberries.

The case is very similar to another pair of class-action lawsuits that we have previously blogged about, one which also relates to the strawberry content of Pop-Tarts, and the other which relates to the strawberry content of breakfast bars. All three cases were filed by Sheehan & Associates.