Lawsuit Alleges ‘Three Cheese’ Bagel Bites Are Misleadingly Labeled [UPDATE: DISMISSED]
by Erin Shaak
Last Updated on August 22, 2022
Jackson v. Kraft Heinz Foods Company
Filed: October 2, 2021 ◆§ 1:21-cv-05219
A lawsuit claims “Three Cheese” Bagel Bites are misleadingly labeled in that the front label fails to disclose the alleged presence of “filler[s]” ingredients.
Illinois
Case Update
August 22, 2022 – Bagel Bites Lawsuit Tossed for Good
The judge overseeing the case detailed on this page has dismissed the plaintiff’s claims with prejudice, finding that labeling on the Bagel Bites would not mislead a reasonable consumer.
In an August 3, 2022 order, U.S. District Judge Charles Ronald Norgle stated that the plaintiff’s claims fail because “nothing about the Product’s label is false, misleading, or deceptive” in the eyes of the law.
“[A] product that says it contains mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce when the Product does, in fact, contain mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce is not misleading to the reasonable consumer simply because its label does not list its additives,” Judge Norgle wrote.
Although the plaintiff claimed reasonable consumers would not expect starch, whey, nonfat milk or thickening agents to be in a product advertised as containing mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, the complaint made no mention of what a reasonable consumer of Bagel Bites would expect, the order noted.
Judge Norgle pointed out that when purchasing “junk food” or “processed food” such as Bagel Bites, reasonable consumers would expect there to be at least some processed ingredients.
“At the very least, any consumer would at first glance of the Product know that it is not pure mozzarella cheese or tomato sauce, but a frozen pizza bagel containing various other ingredients,” the judge wrote. “To suggest that a reasonable consumer expects pure (i.e. without additives) mozzarella or tomato sauce when buying a bite-size frozen bagel pizza ignores the true nature of the product as a sum of pizza ingredients, including but not limited to, mozzarella and tomato sauce.”
The judge stated that the plaintiff’s allegations are a “fanciful interpretation” of the product’s label that fails to take into account who is actually consuming the Bagel Bites product and how they would understand and react to the label.
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A proposed class action claims Ore Ida-brand “Three Cheese” Bagel Bites are misleadingly labeled in that the front of their packaging makes no mention of apparent “filler[s]” that supplement the product’s cheese and tomato ingredients.
According to the case, defendant Kraft Heinz Food Company has failed to disclose on the product’s front label that the snack’s mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce components have been supplemented by “filler” ingredients—including starch, nonfat milk and whey, and “non-tomato thickeners” such as cornstarch, respectively. These “filler” ingredients are meant to give consumers the impression that the Bagel Bites contain more mozzarella and tomato ingredients than they actually do, the complaint claims.
Per the suit, Kraft Heinz has sold more Bagel Bites, and at higher prices, than it would have absent the allegedly misleading labeling, “resulting in additional profits at the expense of consumers.”
The lawsuit contends that consumers who view the “Mozzarella” and “Real Cheese” representations on the Bagel Bites’ front label would not expect the product is made with, in truth, “a cheese blend” that includes starch, nonfat milk and whey. Per the suit, the defendant has used these components, which are disclosed on the product’s ingredients list, as “cheaper, filler ingredients” to replace milkfat, “the most valuable component of milk” in mozzarella cheese, the filing stresses.
“Defendant promises ‘mozzarella cheese,’ with no less than 45 percent milkfat,” the lawsuit says.
The case further alleges that the use of the National Milk Producers Federation’s “REAL” dairy seal on the Bagel Bites’ front label exacerbates the deception because it falsely implies that the product has met the agency’s “rigorous and exacting certification process” with regard to its dairy ingredients.
Moreover, the lawsuit claims the representation that the Bagel Bites product is made with “tomato sauce” is misleading in that the sauce contains non-tomato thickening ingredients that consumers would not expect to be included. According to the case, the product’s ingredients list notes that the sauce contains “modified corn starch” and “methylcellulose” as the fourth and sixth ingredients, respectively. These “thickening agents” are generally considered to be “adulterants for tomato sauce” because they are used as a replacement for the “valuable tomato ingredients,” the lawsuit alleges.
“By using cornstarch and methylcellulose, consumers get thirty-five percent less tomatoes,” the complaint attests, asserting that consumers value tomatoes for both their taste and nutrient density.
The lawsuit alleges the “Three Cheese” Bagel Bites product is worth “materially less” than its represented value given the presence of the non-mozzarella and non-tomato ingredients.
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