BENTON, Ill. (Legal Newsline) - Schwan's Consumer Brands faces a class action lawsuit because its brand of apple pie that boasts it is made with real butter actually contains a higher level of palm oil.
Rachael Barnett and her lawyer Spencer Sheehan filed suit Sept. 18 in Illinois federal court. The case concerns Mrs. Smith's-brand apple pie, which has "Made With Real Butter" on the front of its box.
Customers prefer real butter for a variety of reasons, the suit says, while noting the back of the package has an ingredients list that shows palm oil is more prevalent than butter in the pie's shortening butter blend.
"The amount of butter is de minimis or negligible, in absolute and relative amounts to the shortening ingredients used," the suit says. "The ingredient list fails to list the ingredients by their common or usual name and by descending order of predominance by weight, contrary to federal and identical state requirements."
The suit complains "shortening butter blend" shouldn't be listed as second ingredient, because it is mostly palm oil.