Federal lawsuit accusing General Mills of deceiving consumers into believing its Fruit Roll-Ups, Fruit by the Foot snacks are made with real fruit can go forward, judge rules

LOS ANGELES , May 11, 2012 (Industry Intelligence) – A judge is allowing to go forward a federal lawsuit accusing General Mills Inc. of deceiving consumers into believing its Fruit Roll-Ups and Fruit by the Foot snacks are made with real fruit, Reuters reported May 11.



The judge ruled that consumers could reasonably be misled by the packaging on the products claiming that the snacks are “made with real fruit” and thus would not read the fine print.



Annie Lam, a resident of Daly City, California, brought the case last October. Lam said General Mills incorrectly described the ingredients of its fruit snacks, citing strawberry-flavored Fruit Roll-Ups that contain "pears from concentrate" but no strawberries.



The packaging was likely to deceive consumers into believing the snacks are healthful and natural, rather than a combination of artificial, non-fruit ingredients, Lam said in the lawsuit.



General Mills spokeswoman Maerenn Jepsen said the company does not discuss pending litigation.



The primary source of this article is Reuters, London, England, on May 11, 2012.

