Bread Products Mislabeling Lawsuits: Misleading Protein Content?

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org are looking into whether certain bread product makers have misled consumers as to how much protein their products contain — and whether class action lawsuits can be filed.

Specifically, they believe that although the front of certain products’ packaging states that each serving provides a specific amount of protein — such as “7G” or “11G” — consumers may actually receive much less than the stated amount due to the quality of the protein source. The attorneys are now investigating whether these companies violated food labeling regulations by leaving out the percentage of the daily value for protein that each serving of their products contains — which would give consumers a better idea of how much usable protein they are ingesting.

The attorneys believe that some consumers would not have purchased the products at issue, or would not have been willing to pay as much, had they known the items may not provide as much usable protein as represented.

Why Might the Stated Protein Content Be Misleading?

Protein, an essential part of the human diet, can come from both plant and animal sources, but not all protein is nutritionally equal. Generally, protein from animal sources contains all nine essential amino acids — the components of protein that are not produced by the human body and must be supplied through diet. These so-called “complete” protein sources are fully digestible and usable by the body for protein synthesis.

Many plant sources of protein, on the other hand, contain only some of the nine essential amino acids and are known as “incomplete” sources of protein. Therefore, a measurement in grams of the protein provided by a particular food may not be an accurate indication of how much usable protein is gained.

For instance, 6 grams of casein, a protein found in dairy products, provides 13% of the 50 grams of the daily value of protein needed for most adults, while 6 grams of wheat gluten provides only 3% of the daily value. For reference, a food that contains 5% or less of the daily value of protein per serving is considered low in protein.

For this reason, any food that contains a statement about protein content on the front label is required to state the percent daily value of protein per serving in its Nutrition Facts panel. According to food labeling regulations, the percent daily value must be calculated using the protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS), which takes into account a protein’s quality.

How Could Class Action Lawsuits Help?

Class action lawsuits could help consumers get back some of the money they spent on food products that may have been improperly labeled and potentially force the manufacturers to change their products’ labels.

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