Class Action Alleges Think! Protein Bars Are Falsely Marketed as Free from Artificial Sweeteners

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A proposed class action lawsuit accuses the maker of Think! protein bars of misleading consumers by claiming its products are made with no artificial sweeteners when they actually contain maltitol syrup, a synthetic sweetener.

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According to the 17-page lawsuit, the products at issue include defendant Glanbia Performance Nutrition, Inc.’s Think! High Protein Bars, including the Brownie Crunch, Chocolate & Crème Cupcake, Chocolate Fudge, Chunky Peanut Butter, Cookies and Crème, Creamy Peanut Butter, Lemon Delight, and White Chocolate Flavor varieties, and its Think! Vegan High Protein Bars, in the Chocolate Mint, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and Sea Salt Almond Chocolate flavors.

The alleged misrepresentations on the Think! products’ labeling are “intentional” and “deceitful,” the case contends, and aim to mislead reasonable consumers who read the explicit “No Artificial Sweeteners” claim on the front label and expect the protein bars to be made with natural sweeteners rather than synthetic.

Maltitol syrup, the artificial sweetener allegedly found in Think! protein bars, is made from a “hydrogenation of high maltose glucose syrups,” the complaint reads. Hydrogenation is a synthetic reaction that alters the chemical makeup of natural components such that they “are different than how they naturally occur,” the filing explains. Thus, any hydrogenated ingredients in the Think! protein bars—namely, maltitol syrup—are considered artificial, according to the suit.

In December 2022, the plaintiff, an Illinois resident, bought a box of Think! High Protein Bars in the Creamy Peanut Butter variety, the lawsuit says. Like other consumers, he believed the products contained no artificial sweeteners because of the explicit claim on the front label telling him so, the case charges.

The defendant’s alleged misrepresentations have allowed the protein bars to be sold at a premium price, the suit alleges, and consumers like the plaintiff would not have paid as much or purchased the products at all had they known they contained maltitol syrup, an artificial sweetener.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who bought any of the products mentioned on this page anytime from January 5, 2018 until the date of class certification.

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