Krispy Kreme’s Fruit-Filled and Maple-Glazed Donuts

“Blueberrylicious” or blueberry-less? A class-action lawsuit alleges that several Krispy Kreme fruit-filled and maple-glazed donuts are missing the star ingredient.

For example, the suit claims that the blue pellets in the “Glazed Blueberry Cake” donut (as pictured on the Krispy Kreme website above) are not real blueberries but rather “imitation blueberries” that the company refers to as “blueberry gumbits,” which are not to be confused with the chewing gum for horses (we hope).

According to the suit, which references Krispy Kreme’s Nutritional Data & Ingredients sheet, there’s also no raspberry in the North Carolina-based chain’s “Chocolate Iced Raspberry Filled” and “Glazed Raspberry Filled” donuts, nor any maple in its “Maple Iced Glazed” and “Maple Bar” donuts. It states:

To the contrary, the products contain inferior ingredients such as sugar and corn syrup, along with gums and artificial food coloring used to mimic the texture, shape, and color of the premium ingredients (blueberry, raspberry and maple), and induce consumers into believing that the products actually contain the premium ingredients.

The suit, which seeks more than $5 million in alleged damages, notes that other Krispy Kreme donuts with fruits in their names — “Glazed Lemon Filled” and “Cinnamon Apple Filled” — actually contain those ingredients, so the company is not only capable of injecting real fruit and maple into the donuts but also aware of the likelihood that the names would deceive consumers.

It also argues that the exclusion of these fruit and maple ingredients deprives customers of several cancer-fighting vitamins and antioxidants (though, remember, we’re talking about donuts here).

A spokesperson for Krispy Kreme said the company does not comment on ongoing or pending litigation.

Find more of our coverage on missing star ingredients here.