NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – Kellogg Co. is the target of a class-action lawsuit that claims the food-manufacturing giant uses deceptive practices when marketing and selling its "graham cracker" products.
The suit filed in the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York by Wanda Watson in February alleges Kellogg Sales Co. creates the impression that the crackers contain mostly, or completely, graham flour rather than the processed white type.
Watson's complaint mirrors other class action suits filed in federal court in New York against several other companies, including Walmart and Target.
In Watson's complaint, she alleges Kellogg makes representations that are "misleading, false, deceptive and unfair because it creates an erroneous impression that graham flour is the predominant or exclusive flour component, as opposed to white flour."
Other products in the "graham cracker" family also come under attack in this suit, including a claim that Kellogg's "honey" cracker varieties are misleading because they do not have honey as the predominant sweetening agent.
"The products fail to conform to reasonable consumer expectations because they contain more sugar than honey," the complaint alleges.
The plaintiff's suit cites claims of deceptive business practices, breach of warranty, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and unjust enrichment.
"The representations as graham crackers and honey graham crackers warranted to plaintiff and class members that they contained nutrients such as fiber and protein, and honey, in superior amounts to what they actually possessed, based on if they were primarily from whole grains and had more honey than sugar," the complaint states. "Defendant warranted such attributes to plaintiff and class members when this was not truthful and was misleading. Defendant owed a special duty based on its outsized role in the cracker industry."
The action follows suits filed in the federal court in New York against Target, Walmart and Mondelez Global.
Freddie Jamison filed his complaint against Target in February, claiming the company's Market Pantry cracker gave the "erroneous impression that graham flour is the predominant or exclusive flour component, as opposed to white flour."
The two other federal suits filed in New York contained similar claims and language.