(NEW YORK) — A woman from New York is suing The Kellogg Company for $5 million because she says the company’s Whole Grain Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts product doesn’t have enough strawberries in its filling.
Elizabeth Russett filed a class-action lawsuit on Oct. 19 with lawyer Spencer Sheehan against Kellogg’s for falsely advertising the contents of its pastry. She now has 90 days to serve the complaint to the defendant, Kellogg Sales Company.
“The strawberry representations are misleading because the Product has less strawberries than consumers expect based on the labeling,” the lawsuit says.
“The amount of strawberry ingredients is insufficient not merely to provide the nutrient benefits of strawberries but to provide a strawberry taste.”
The lawsuit asks for $5 million in damages under the Class Action Fairness Act and a jury trial, claiming that customers wouldn’t have purchased the treats repeatedly had they known it had fewer strawberries than expected.
In an interview with ABC News, Sheehan emphasized the need for corrective action and said his plaintiff was “not asking for too much.”
Russett is joined by three other plaintiffs — Illinois’ Stacy Chiappetta and Anita Harris and New York’s Kelvin Brown — who are also represented by Sheehan.
The plaintiffs differ in the version of Pop-Tarts’ suite of strawberry products they have filed the complaint against. Brown and Harris are fighting against the Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts, Chiappetta against Unfrosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts and Russett filed against the Whole Grain Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts.
Despite its name, the Whole Grain Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts’ box states the pastries have less than 2% of pears, apples and strawberries with dried pears and dried apples listed before dried strawberries. The product is described on the company’s website as having “sweet frosting decorated with rainbow sprinkles and filled with strawberry-flavored goodness.”
“The Product’s common or usual name of ‘ Whole Grain Frosted Strawberry Toaster Pastries,’ is false, deceptive, and misleading, because it contains mostly non-strawberry fruit ingredients,” Russett’s lawsuit says.
The plaintiff also takes issue with the absence of information regarding artificial flavoring and added coloring on the front label and marketing materials.
Kellogg’s said in a statement to ABC News: “While we don’t comment on pending litigation, we can tell you the ingredients in and labeling of all of our Pop-Tart products fully comply with all legal requirements.”
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