in Newswire Published on September 21, 2021

Kellogg Has Misrepresented MorningStar Farms Products as ‘Veggie,’ Class Action Alleges [UPDATE]

Last Updated on December 8, 2022

Kennard v. Kellogg Sales Company

Filed: September 17, 2021 ◆§ 3:21-cv-07211

Kellogg has misrepresented a number of MorningStar Farms products in that their predominant non-water ingredient is not vegetables, or even vegetable-based, but grain or oil, a class action claims.

Defendant(s)

Kellogg Sales Company

Law(s)

California Business and Professions Code California Unfair Competition Law California Consumers Legal Remedies Act

State(s)

California

Case Update

December 7, 2022 – MorningStar “Veggie” Products Lawsuit Dismissed

The lawsuit detailed on this page was dismissed after a federal judge found that Kellogg’s use of the term “veggie” on its MorningStar products would not mislead a reasonable consumer into thinking the foods were primarily made out of vegetables.

According to a September 14 order, Kellogg had argued that the term “veggie” in the context of its product labels refers to vegetarian foods, specifically meat substitutes, and does not imply that there is any particular quantity of vegetables among the products’ ingredients. U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick agreed that the plaintiff’s allegations “are implausible,” finding that Kellogg’s use of “veggie” is, at most, ambiguous.

The judge went on to state that any ambiguity in the term could be cleared up by the other representations on the products’ packaging.

“The packaging … provides no indication that any particular vegetable or class of vegetables is present in the Products,” Judge Orrick wrote. “Instead, the majority of the photographs on the packaging show the Products clearly mimicking meat as vegetarian meat substitutes. Consumers can also readily identify the actual ingredients in the Veggie Products from the ingredient list that complies with federal law.”

Judge Orrick further found that the plaintiff’s survey results—which appeared to show that more than 80 percent of the respondents were misled to believe the defendant’s products were made mostly or entirely of vegetables—could not be relied upon because the survey questions were misleading.

As the judge had already given the plaintiff leave to amend her complaint, the case was dismissed with prejudice.

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Kellogg Sales Company has misrepresented a number of MorningStar Farms products in that their predominant non-water ingredient is not vegetables, or even vegetable-based, as consumers are led to believe, but grain or oil, a proposed class action claims.

The 16-page lawsuit, brought in California on September 17, claims that although the name and marketing of the following MorningStar Farms meat alternatives prominently include the word “VEGGIE,” the ingredients list on the products’ packaging reveals that vegetable-based components, or actual vegetables, are second fiddle to, for instance, “water, wheat gluten, [and] corn syrup solids”:

MorningStar Farms Veggie Burgers:

Grillers Prime Burgers
Grillers Originals
Meat Lovers
Cheezeburger

MorningStar Farms Veggie Dogs:
- Corn Dogs
- Veggie Dogs
MorningStar Farms Veggie Chik’n:
- Chik’n Nuggets
- BBQ Chik’n Nuggets
- Zesty Ranch Chik’n Nuggets
- Sweet Mustard Chik’n Nugget
- Original Chik Patties
- Buffalo Chik Patties
MorningStar Farms Veggie Meal Starters:
- Italian Sausage Style Crumbles
- Meatballs
MorningStar Farms Veggie Breakfast:
- Bacon Strips
- Original Sausage Patties
- Sausage, Egg, & Cheese
- Sausage Links
- Hot & Spicy Sausage Patties
- Maple Flavored Sausage Patties
MorningStar Farms Veggitizers:
- Buffalo Wings
- Parmesan Garlic Wings
- Popcorn Chik’n
- Pepperoni Pizza Bites
- Sausage Pizza Bites
- Chorizo Nacho Bites
- Spicy Popcorn Chik’n.

“Because the predominant ingredient in each of the Veggie Products is grain or oil, Kellogg’s representation that the Veggie Products are ‘VEGGIE’ is false or at least highly misleading to the reasonable consumer,” the complaint contends.

Spotlighting MorningStar Farms’ “Veggie Dogs” as an example, the lawsuit relays that the product’s packaging states that it “Contains 2% or less of” various ingredients aside from water, wheat gluten and corn syrup solids, a dry version of corn syrup. Only some of those ingredients, such as “hydrolyzed vegetable protein,” are vegetable-based, the suit says.

The lawsuit alleges Kellogg’s labeling of the MorningStar Farms products as “VEGGIE” violates both California and federal food labeling laws, including because the manufacturer fails to disclose the percentage of vegetables in the products. According to the suit, consumers have lost money by buying MorningStar Farms products over similar meat alternatives “without misleading labeling”:

“In purchasing the Veggie Products, Plaintiff read and relied on Kellogg’s description of the Products as ‘VEGGIE.’ Those representations, however, were false or at least highly misleading, and had the capacity, tendency, and likelihood to confuse or confound Plaintiff and other consumers acting reasonably because, as described herein, the Veggie Products’ predominant ingredients are not vegetables or vegetable-based, but grain- or oil-based.”

Absent the allegedly false and misleading labeling of MorningStar Farms “veggie” products, consumers would have paid less for the items, or may not have bought them at all, the case alleges.

The suit looks to represent consumers who bought any of the MorningStar Farms products listed above in California within the last four years.

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