General Mills, the makers of Fruit Roll-Ups, Gushers, and other delicious fruit snack goodness, are being sued for “making misleading health claims.”
Fruit Roll-Ups, Foot by the Foot and Fruit Gushers are being marketed as being “naturally flavored, low fat, and a good source of Vitamin C.” The official court documents, which were filed Tuesday in Manhattan Federal Court by Brooklyn woman Payton McClure, state that the company’s claims are false and misleading to the consumers, including children, since the snacks are made with partially hydrogenated oil.
Partially hydrogenated oil does pose some health risks long-term. Incomplete hydrogenation, which is trans fat and found in many processed foods that are not-so good for us, has been implicated in circulatory diseases including heart disease.
The $5 million lawsuit claims that the oils contained in the snacks are “dangerous” and “unhealthy”, which is true. But is this a $5 million case that McClure can possibly win? I think that a company the size of General Mills will most likely settle out of court, but at the moment the company has stated that they have not yet been served with the lawsuit and declined any further comment. McClure could not be reached for comment and the law firm representing the plaintiff hasn’t returned calls asking for further comment.
I can’t remember the last time I had a rollup… probably back in primary school sometime.
Kids snacks are pretty unhealthy, and I can remember how much sugar some of them contained. If the lawsuit helps kids be healthier.
Come on people. Did you really think that a highly processed food was going to be healthy!