Kellogg’s Nutrigrain Breakfast Bars, Cracklin’ Oat Bran Contain Weed Killer/Probable Carcinogen Glyphosate, Class Action Claims

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Kellogg’s Nutrigrain Soft Baked Breakfast Bars and Cracklin’ Oat Bran cereal are at the center of a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the products contain glyphosate, a weed killer and dry agent commonly sprayed on preharvest wheat, barley and oats in the United States. According to the 16-page lawsuit, testing conducted recently by the non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that the two specified Kellogg’s products contain the probable carcinogen. Glysophate adheres to the crops Kellogg’s uses because the company’s cleansing process fails to remove glyphosate residue, the complaint says.

Filed in California, the lawsuit argues that the presence of any amount of glyphosate in Kellogg’s products is material to consumers—and their children, the case points out—in that the pesticide has no nutritional value and is absent from numerous other comparable products. Kellogg’s, the lawsuit alleges, knew that its Nutrigrain Breakfast Bars and Cracklin’ Oat Bran contain glyphosate—or, conversely, could not guarantee that the products do not contain the chemical—yet did not disclose such anywhere on the products’ labels. A step further, the suit alleges Kellogg’s “actively concealed” that its products contain or likely contain glyphosate by prominently featuring on its labels that the breakfast bars and cereal are “naturally flavored,” loaded with “8g whole grains,” and contain “no colors from artificial sources.”

“By failing to disclose that the Products contain or likely contain glyphosate and glyphosate is a probable carcinogen and continuing to sell the Products in packages omitting this information,” the case alleges, “[the defendant] has and continues to deceive and mislead consumers, including [the plaintiff].”

The lawsuit looks to cover a class of consumers who purchased Kellogg’s Nutrigrain Soft Baked Breakfast Bars and Cracklin’ Oat Bran cereal in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Washington. Alternatively, the case asks the court to certify a California-only subclass of consumers who bought the defendant's products.