SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A federal judge has thrown out a class action lawsuit that claimed a woman who bought "Fat Bombs" thought they would be healthier than they are.
San Diego judge Larry Alan Burns dismissed the case March 17, leaving lawyer Charles Weller two weeks to file an amended complaint. His case, brought on behalf of plaintiff Kasama Brand, said Slimfast used its brand name and claims of zero sugar and zero added sugar to mislead consumers into thinking Keto Fat Bombs are diet foods.
Slimfast argued in its motion to dismiss that the name "does not remotely suggest a low- or reduced-calorie food."
"(T)he (first amended complaint) doesn't allege that all SlimFast products are low-calorie," Burns wrote in rejecting the argument Slimfast used its brand name to deceive consumers.
"Instead, it alleges Brand relied on SlimFast's 'reputation for quality and association with low-calorie foods and weight loss' and 'the advertising material for and front label on the products, including the prominent zero- and zero-added sugar claims' to conclude the products were low- or reduced-calorie.
"The FAC doesn't identify which particular advertisements Brand relied on to form her belief that all SlimFast products are low-calorie, nor does it allege she actually relied on the unidentified advertisements."
The lawsuit cites Food and Drug Administration regulations that state "Consumers may reasonably be expected to regard terms that represent the food contains no sugars or sweeteners... as indicating a product which is low in calories or significantly reduced in calories."
“(Brand) makes this implausible claim even though the product packaging declares the calories per serving in large, bold-face type exactly where consumers are accustomed to calories being declared, and even though the name of the products—Keto Fat Bombs—does not remotely suggest a low- or reduced-calorie food,” the motion to dismiss says.