‘I Heart Keenwah’ Contains More Rice than Quinoa, Class Action Lawsuit Claims

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action has been filed in New York against I Heart Foods Corp. over allegations the company’s “I Heart Keenwah” snack contains less quinoa than is represented on the product’s label. While the label of the defendant’s I Heart Keenwah snack touts “quinoa puff” as its main ingredient, the lawsuit argues the presence of “a rice ingredient” as the second- and third-listed components of the products—not to mention the process by which the quinoa puffs are actually puffed—indicates they likely contain more rice than quinoa. This is misleading, as the presence of quinoa has a “material bearing on price and consumer acceptance of the product,” the lawsuit alleges.

The complaint’s central argument revolves around the claim that quinoa flour is not the predominant ingredient in the defendant’s quinoa puffs, which themselves are derived from corn meal pellets that are later “puffed” through frying or baking. Expanding on the science behind the puffs themselves, the lawsuit claims puffed foods produced through extrusion, the process by which the aforementioned pellets are made, “must have an appropriate balance of starch, moisture, lipids, crude fiber and protein” to maintain their structure after expansion. Puffed foods consist mainly of corn or rice due to their low fat, high starch content, the lawsuit says.

“The products’ misleading representations include the product name in large capitals on the front and back panel, the back panel text only discussing quinoa, the emphasis on the high protein content, implied to be the result of the quinoa and ‘quinoa puff’ being an ingredient,” the complaint reads. “This gives a reasonable consumer the erroneous impression that quinoa (quinoa flour) is present in an amount greater than is the case, in terms of percentage and absolute amount, because there is no mention other than the small font ingredient list that other components make up a ‘quinoa puff.’”