CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) – Nature Valley granola bars supposedly flavored with oats and honey contain very little honey, a class action lawsuit says.
Shannon Hunt and lawyer Spencer Sheehan on May 29 filed a lawsuit against General Mills Sales, alleging the amount of honey is minimal despite the bars being labeled “Oats ‘n Honey” and featuring a honey dipper on their packaging.
“The representations are false and misleading because the product contains ingredients other than oats and honey and contains a de minimis amount of honey relative to conventional sugars,” the suit says.
Consumers hoping to replace unhealthy sugar with honey are duped by the marketing, the suit says. Honey is listed fifth on the ingredients list, while sugar is listed second.
“These back-of-the-envelope calculations indicate honey is roughly 2% of the product’s weight,” the suit says. “Second, laboratory analysis concludes that based on the sweetener profile of the product, the amount of honey is approximately 2%.
“Third, Defendant sells the almost identical product in European markets, where regulations require percentage disclosures of highlighted ingredients.”
Those disclosures confirm the 2% presence of honey, the suit says.