CATrends: Made with Real Cheese

This article highlights a trend in class-action litigation as identified by our Class-Action Tracker. In other words, CATrends.

Labeling claims that certain foods are “made with real cheese” are grating on some consumers who say real cheese isn’t the predominate ingredient in the products according to the ingredients list. Now, they are taking these food companies to court.

“‘Made With Real Cheese’ is misleading and a ‘half-truth,’” alleged the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against Kraft Heinz over claims that its Velveeta Shells & Cheese macaroni contains “real cheese.”

[E]ven though the cheese sauce contains some real cheese, its predominant ingredients are lower quality cheese substitutes, whey and canola oil.

Whey is a cheese byproduct that lacks milk fat, the most important ingredient in real cheese, while canola oil is a highly processed vegetable oil, the lawsuit stated.

By replacing real cheese with whey and canola oil, the cheese sauce lacks the quality, nutritional, and savory attributes that consumers expect from [a product] promoted as “Made with Real Cheese.”

Combos Cheddar Cheese Stuffed Snacks, another product whose packaging states that it is “made with real cheese,” contain even less real cheese than Velveeta, according to a lawsuit filed against Mars Wrigley Confectionery, the maker of the bite-sized pretzels.

The lawsuit alleged that the filling contains less than two percent of “real cheese,” in the form of a “cheese blend” consisting of four different types of cheese, including cheddar. The main filling ingredient, according to the lawsuit, is palm oil, another highly processed vegetable oil.

Another lawsuit filed against Mondelez similarly alleged that the company markets the filling in its Ritz Bits Cracker Sandwiches as “made with real cheese” when the crackers contain more of other ingredients, including whey and sugar, than real cheese, and the cheese ingredient is actually cheddar cheese powder.

The lawsuits were filed in either January or February of this year and cited violations of state consumer protection laws. The Velveeta and Ritz Bits cases are pending, while the Combos lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed earlier this month.

What can you do?

If real cheese is an important ingredient to you, check the ingredients list on the back of packaging for fillers like whey, canola oil and palm oil.

Find more of our coverage on cheese here.