The Real Reason Kellogg's Is Being Sued For Its Cereal
Cereal is one of the easiest and most delicious ways to eat a meal quickly. While some cereals are obviously quite sweet, some have caused quite a stir in recent days and it's all to do with their sugar content. If you weren't aware, The Telegraph reported that between 2012 and 2015, the amount of sugar in cereal increased by 18.2% — even the healthy sounding ones. That's why, at least in part, a group of five people filed a class-action lawsuit against Kellogg's.
The primary plaintiffs included four people from New York state and one Stephen Hadley of Texas. They argued that Kellogg's used "deceptive marketing" to get consumers to buy cereals that were labeled as being "heart healthy" and "lightly-sweetened" (via Snopes). Not only was this lawsuit a real one, it actually resulted in a $13 million settlement fund that will ultimately pay out around $16 to each person that successfully files a claim for the class-action lawsuit. The case went before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California and determined that anyone who bought specific boxes of Kellogg's between August 29, 2012 and May 1, 2020 can file for payment (via PR Newswire).
This is why the plaintiffs won the case
Ultimately, the case was won because of Kellogg's use of marketing phrases such as "heart healthy," "healthy," "nutritious" and "lightly sweetened" to describe cereals like Raisin Bran and Smart Start among others (via Snopes). In reality, these cereals as well as the others on the list have much more sugar than these phrases actually describe — especially since some of them were marketed as a means to help people lose weight.
That's why anyone that purchased boxes of "Kellogg's Original Raisin Bran and Kellogg's Raisin Bran Crunch cereals in a package stating 'heart healthy;' Kellogg's Smart Start Original Antioxidants cereal in a package stating 'heart healthy' and/or 'lightly sweetened;' or Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats Bite Size (Original, Maple Brown Sugar, Strawberry, or Blueberry varieties), Big Bites (Original variety), Little Bites (Chocolate or Cinnamon Roll varieties), or Touch of Fruit in the Middle (Mixed Berry and Raspberry varieties) cereals in a package stating 'lightly sweetened'" can participate in the class-action lawsuit, according to Snopes. All you have to do is file your claim by September 7 (via PR Newswire).