Class Action Claims Kashi Mixed Berry Breakfast Bars Short Buyers on Berries, Honey

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A proposed class action claims Kashi Mixed Berry Soft Baked Breakfast Bars are misleadingly labeled in that they contain smaller amounts of berry and honey ingredients than consumers are led to expect.

Per the 21-page lawsuit, the representations on the product’s front label—including the statements “Mixed Berry” and “Made with Wildflower Honey”—lead reasonable consumers to believe that the breakfast bars contain a significant amount of berry ingredients and are sweetened predominantly with honey. In truth, the suit contends, the breakfast bars’ fruit filling contains more pears and apples than berries, and derives its sweetness mostly from sugar.

“The representations are misleading because they give consumers the impression the fruit filling contains a greater relative and absolute amount of mixed berries and honey than it does,” the complaint, filed August 16 in Illinois, alleges.

The case relays that consumers value berries over other fruits for reasons that include taste and their high nutrient density. This preference is also reflected in market data, which shows that berries, such as strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, are typically more expensive than non-berry fruits, such as apples and pears, the filing states.

According to the case, it is a violation of federal food labeling laws to label the breakfast bar product as “Mixed Berry” when berries are not its characterizing ingredients. The complaint claims the bars’ ingredients list reveals that the “mixed berry filling” predominantly consists of pears, and contains “significantly less berry ingredients than expected.”

The lawsuit argues that consumers were deceived by defendant Kashi Sales, LLC’s misleading labeling and paid a premium for a product that was not worth as much as they were led to believe. Moreover, the Mixed Berry breakfast bars “do[] not even taste like mixed berries, but like pears and apples,” and confer none of the health-related benefits of mixed berries, according to the complaint.

The case further argues that the breakfast bars’ “Made with Wildflower Honey” statement is misleading given the product is sweetened mostly with sugar. Consumers, the suit says, prefer honey over sugar due to its perceived health benefits and are willing to pay a higher price for foods sweetened with honey instead of sugar. According to the case, the Mixed Berry breakfast bars’ sweetener ingredients include tapioca syrup, cane sugar, invert cane syrup and honey, among which honey is present in the smallest amount. Per the lawsuit, consumers who viewed the product’s front label would expect the breakfast bars to contain more honey than they actually do.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in Illinois who purchased the Kashi Mixed Berry breakfast bars during the statute of limitations period and a separate class of those who did so in Iowa, Ohio, Arkansas and Texas.

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