Combos Contain Less ‘Real Cheese’ Filling Than Consumers Are Led to Expect, Class Action Says

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A proposed class action claims Mars Wrigley Confectionery US has misled consumers by marketing its popular Combos snack as containing “real cheese” when, in fact, the filling is made predominantly with lower cost “filler” ingredients.

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The 10-page lawsuit says that despite the front-label claim that the baked cracker snack has a “[filling] made with REAL CHEESE”—a statement found just above an image of a block of cheese—the ingredients list indicates that the product contains “Less Than 2% of: [] Bakers and Cheddar Cheese Blend.” The suit relays that instead of “real cheese,” the snack is filled predominantly with “dairy product solids,” also known as whey permeate—a “by-product of the by-product” of cheese-making which is not an ingredient found in any “real cheese.”

Though “dairy product solids” are cheaper than real cheese and used as filler ingredients to add volume to food products, they “lack the nutritional value of real cheese in terms of proteins and other vitamins and minerals,” the case explains.

The complaint argues that Mars Wrigley’s representation of the snack is deceptive because a reasonable consumer would be led to believe that the Combos are predominantly made with real cheese, and would have to read the ingredients list carefully to discover otherwise.

The plaintiff, a New York resident, bought cheddar cheese Combos in the last few years and assumed, based on their labeling, that the snack was made with a significant amount of real cheese, the filing shares. According to the case, the woman would not have paid as much for the snack, or purchased it at all, if she had known that the filling was mostly made with lower-quality cheese substitutes.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone residing in New York who purchased a Combos product during the applicable statutes of limitations period.

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