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Old 05-01-2021, 09:37 AM   #1
The Deadman
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Woman Sues Bagel Bites for Use of 'Deceptive and Misleading' Ingredients

https://www.newsweek.com/woman-sues-...dients-1586907

Snacktime favorite of 90s kids everywhere, Bagel Bites, is currently facing a lawsuit over two key ingredients: mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce.

According to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a Wisconsin woman believes the frozen pizza bagels' packaging is so misleading that it "amounts to fraud." Kaitlyn Huber has reportedly sued Kraft Heinz over the issue in a federal lawsuit.

Specifically, Huber took issue with the use of the term "mozzarella cheese" to describe the cheese featured on Bagel Bites, which is technically a "cheese blend" that contains additional ingredients.

Huber is from Wisconsin, a state which, as her lawsuit mentions, is known as "America's Dairyland." Cheese is culturally and economically important to the state, and mozzarella specifically contributes to a third of all cheese produced there.

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According to the suit, "Wisconsin consumers want real mozzarella cheese in pizza because they value (1) its soft, moist texture, (2) its milky, yet tangy taste and (3) its high protein and relatively low calories and sodium compared to other cheeses."

However, the cheese blend included in the Bagel Bites reportedly only includes a percentage of part-skim mozzarella cheese, in addition to filler ingredients like "modified food starch." According to Huber, the inclusion of these ingredients means that calling it "mozzarella" is misleading, especially considering the brand's Real Dairy seal.

"'Cheese Blend' is a deceptive name for this ingredient, because no 'blend' of cheese, especially 'REAL' mozzarella cheese, contains added starch," reads the lawsuit.

Because of the added starch, argues the lawsuit, Kraft Heinz should be calling their cheese "imitation mozzarella cheese" instead of labeling it as the real deal.

Huber's suit also claims that the label "tomato sauce" fraudulently misrepresents the ingredient actually used in Bagel Bites.

"Consumers expect a product claiming to contain 'Tomato Sauce' will contain tomatoes in a puree or paste form, and seasonings," reads the lawsuit. "However, the front label representation of 'Tomato Sauce' is false, deceptive and misleading because this ingredient contains non-tomato extenders and thickeners." As the suit notes, "the fourth and sixth most predominant ingredients are 'Modified Corn Starch' and 'Methylcellulose.'"

As of Monday, a spokesperson for Kraft Heinz said the company had no comment regarding the lawsuit, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

A similar suit was reportedly filed in New York earlier this year but was withdrawn. Huber's attorney believes that setting the case in Wisconsin will be advantageous, due to the dairy industry's significance in the state.

The suit is seeking "class-action status on behalf of anyone who bought the bites in Wisconsin." If successful, Kraft Heinz will be forced to change Bagel Bites' packaging and pay damages.
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Old 05-01-2021, 10:49 AM   #2
IndigoErth
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Clearly some people are very, very bored. And opportunistic. And way too serious about the dairy history of their state, to the point of twisting it into something that sounds like an offending religious transgression...but with cheese.

People who do this stuff are like the minor boss level version of the nosy nitpicking neighbor who actively looks for something "wrong" and makes catty comments about other people in the neighborhood, but instead this variant sit at home and read their product ingredients label, scouring it for a "problem" they can make a bigger stink about.

If an ingredient label isn't fully truthful then sure, call them on it, because they are supposed to be, but suing over it is ridiculous. That's like "my child was allergic to filler and died because you didn't disclose it in your ingredients" level of reaction.

She aught to have reacted to it by creating a similar but better recipe that was awesome and more pure in its ingredients in comparison to Bagel Bites. Would have been less of a hassle.
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Old 05-01-2021, 02:15 PM   #3
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I mean this is actually a viable lawsuit given the advertised product, but the real question is "who sits around and considers this nonsense, or what lawyer would take it up as a class action lawsuit?" Has anyone been damaged by Bagel Bites fake-cheeze? I can picture a judge determining that the product does not meet the advertised spec, but I can't imagine anyone being awarded for this lawsuit.

Instead a judge would hear this and maybe say both seriously and comedically:

"to the defendant you are ordered to adjust your labeling to satisfactorily meet the description of the actual product you are delivering to consumers. To the plaintiff, you have been stalwart for consumers in your study and evaluation of the bagel bites offerings, but given that you also have an unrestricted option to buy or not buy Bagel Bites, and furthermore an opportunity to go and make your own home-made bagel bites from the ingredients of your choice, this court will not award a payout on behalf of this lawsuit. Have a good day to both of you".

I mean.... are those things even tasty, like pop tarts or something?
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