Whole Foods sued over sugar content in yogurt

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AlabasterVerve
AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Whole Foods sued over sugar content in yogurt

"The suits seek to represent consumers who bought the yogurt from August 2008 to the present at 13 Whole Foods stores in New Jersey and 10 in Pennsylvania. They allege the sugar content in "Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value Plain Greek Yogurt" is more than five times higher than the amount listed on its nutritional label.

The label lists sugar content at two grams per 170 gram serving, but testing has shown 11.4 grams of sugar, according to the suit."

http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/south-jersey/2014/08/12/whole-foods-sued-yogurt/13956977/
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  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    There's some lawyers with way to much time on their hands
  • fit_abbey
    fit_abbey Posts: 24
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    I hate it when a business (store/manufacturer/distributor/restaurant) lies about its food content. Adding more sugar to yogurt makes it taste less tart, and logic says a better tasting food will result in higher sales. So, is what we have here perhaps a company that is altering its food in order to have increased sales (and more profit), at the cost of nutrition to the consumer ??
  • Ringo1812
    Ringo1812 Posts: 18 Member
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    I just love it when these companies get caught and yes I agree everyone of them should be sued. If not why wouldn't they all do it in time. No consequences.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    The carb amount was correct though. Anyone with a brain could have figured it out.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    This has been discussed twice before. It was a dumb error for the company not to catch, but anyone who thinks they had real yogurt that was very low sugar (hint, the sugar here is lactose) is a moron and should be embarrassed.
  • shartran
    shartran Posts: 304 Member
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    Yes, I get what some of you have said, however if you are quickly 'grabbing' something off the shelf and have a quick peruse of the label and are trying to stay lower than 5 grams of sugar content/serving...it would be miss leading.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    _Zardoz_ wrote: »
    There's some lawyers with way to much time on their hands

    Seriously, here's a quote from the link: "DeNittis Osefchen also has filed other class action lawsuits for consumers, including one against Subway over the length of the "Footlong" sandwich"
  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,570 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    This has been discussed twice before. It was a dumb error for the company not to catch, but anyone who thinks they had real yogurt that was very low sugar (hint, the sugar here is lactose) is a moron and should be embarrassed.

    +1000

    Pretty much exactly my response the last time someone posted about this topic.

  • libbydoodle11
    libbydoodle11 Posts: 1,351 Member
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    nicsflyingcircus wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    This has been discussed twice before. It was a dumb error for the company not to catch, but anyone who thinks they had real yogurt that was very low sugar (hint, the sugar here is lactose) is a moron and should be embarrassed.

    +1000

    Pretty much exactly my response the last time someone posted about this topic.

    Yep, +1

  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    Only in the US of A.
  • SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish
    SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Posts: 831 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    This has been discussed twice before. It was a dumb error for the company not to catch, but anyone who thinks they had real yogurt that was very low sugar (hint, the sugar here is lactose) is a moron and should be embarrassed.

    Yes on both counts. But, the company pays for someone to make the label, do the marketing and review this, and they make money off the listing, so they have the responsibility to be accurate. And this is not a "small" company with little money either. Consumers can have drool on their chin and nobody is mislead...if you pay them, its your problem. :P
  • nygrl4evr
    nygrl4evr Posts: 196 Member
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    My mother in law has just moved in with us and is diabetic. I am trying to learn what is okay for her to eat and not to eat. I should be able to trust the food labels to be honest so yes they deserved to be sued. Money is the only language these companies understand so those who say lawyers have too much time on their hands, do you really think Whole Foods would have fixed this on their own? I doubt it.
  • libbydoodle11
    libbydoodle11 Posts: 1,351 Member
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    I have never once looked at the sugar content of any yogurt. Words ending in o-s-e often imply sugar...
  • hollyk57
    hollyk57 Posts: 520 Member
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    stupid-people.jpg
  • mommyrunning
    mommyrunning Posts: 495 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    This has been discussed twice before. It was a dumb error for the company not to catch, but anyone who thinks they had real yogurt that was very low sugar (hint, the sugar here is lactose) is a moron and should be embarrassed.

    It's easy to judge and say consumers should have known but that doesn't alleviate the responsibility of the company to honestly report what is in their product.

    Not every one is educated on nutrition and some may just be learning to read labels. That doesn't make them a moron. It simply means they aren't educated on that subject.

  • Slacker16
    Slacker16 Posts: 1,184 Member
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    mommyrunning wrote: »
    It's easy to judge and say consumers should have known but that doesn't alleviate the responsibility of the company to honestly report what is in their product.
    I have to agree with this.

    While I think the suit is rather frivolous, dismissing a complaint about nutritional information on the basis of common sense would create a bad precedent.
  • 50sFit
    50sFit Posts: 712 Member
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    AlabasterVerve wrote: »
    Whole Foods sued over sugar content in yogurt

    "The suits seek to represent consumers who bought the yogurt from August 2008 to the present at 13 Whole Foods stores in New Jersey and 10 in Pennsylvania. They allege the sugar content in "Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value Plain Greek Yogurt" is more than five times higher than the amount listed on its nutritional label.

    The label lists sugar content at two grams per 170 gram serving, but testing has shown 11.4 grams of sugar, according to the suit."

    http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/south-jersey/2014/08/12/whole-foods-sued-yogurt/13956977/
    I have said it over and over.
    When you're reading labels, how do you really know the product matches those label claims? It's much, much worse when it comes to supplements.
    Jack Lalanne used to say "if man makes it, don't eat it".
    This is why.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfaQo_I7Z_o

  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    Jack Lalanne was before my time but it's uncanny how relevant he still is today. One of my favorites was this "Sugarholics" clip.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9vpPVdewls
  • brewinggirl_butskinnier
    brewinggirl_butskinnier Posts: 108 Member
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    You should be able to trust the label, and food/beverage manufacturers should be well aware of what's in the product and the obligation they have (both legally and morally) to match those labels as close as analytically possible.
    If they're not aware of it, they shouldn't be in the business of making and selling food and beverages for other people to eat.

    Granted it's just my opinion however I manage the labs at a large brewery. I fully understand that if I send product out the door that's different than what the label shows, I risk my job, the company's reputation, and if it's egregious enough, prison (TTB). They let this slide for SIX YEARS. It wasn't like oops we had one bad batch. That's willful in my opinion.



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