PORTLAND, Ore. (Legal Newsline) – Reasonable consumers understand that “Just Fruit” products at Kroger grocery stores contain more than just fruit, an Oregon federal magistrate judge says.
John Acosta issued his report and recommendations on a proposed class action lawsuit against Kroger’s line of jams under the “Just Fruit” label. Lawyers at Piucci Law, Milstein Jackson and Casey Law Firm allege customers are blindsided to find out the jam contains fruit syrup and other sweeteners.
But Acosta says the lawyers are not giving reasonable consumers enough credit, especially considering the ingredients, which are all derived from fruit, are listed right on the label.
“The FDA makes clear fruit syrups contain added sugar which can derive from processed fruits or fruit juices and that such sugars, whether from fruits or other sources, must be listed as an added sugar on a product’s nutrition label,” Acosta wrote.
“Consequently, the added sugars in the fruit syrup found in the Product are just as likely to be from processed fruit as other sugar sources.
“Even assuming Vitort’s assertion that fruit syrup consists mostly of added sugar is true, the added sugar could be fruit based and Vitort does not allege otherwise.”
Lawyers filed the case last year, and Acosta’s report and recommendations will now be submitted to Judge Marco A. Hernandez, who will either adopt them or disagree.
Kroger filed its motion to dismiss Nov. 5, arguing plaintiff Sarah Vitort’s interpretation of “Just Fruit” is “subjective, implausible and unreasonable.”
The motion cites a 2015 ruling in a similar case in which the judge wrote “One can hardly walk down the aisles of a supermarket without viewing large pictures depicting vegetable or fruit flavors, when the products themselves are largely made up of a different base ingredient. Every reasonable shopper knows that the devil is in the details.”
The class action says reasonable consumers have paid more for a product they expected to be made solely out of fruit than they would have if they had known the jam contained other ingredients.
“Ms. Vitort cannot manufacture consumer confusion based on her subjective expectations regarding the type and form of fruit that the product should contain,” Kroger’s lawyers wrote.