Chobani Greek Yogurt Lawsuit: Complaint Says The Yogurt Isn’t Greek And The Health Benefits Aren't Proven
Many companies use the words, “all natural”, “whole”, “low fat” and other health buzzwords to market to their health-conscious customers. However, according to a new lawsuit, Chobani Greek Yogurt isn't as nutritious as it seems. The yogurt allegedly has the same nutritional value as fudge ice cream bar, the New York Daily News reported.
“There is nothing ‘Greek’ about the products,” the lawsuit states, “The name of the brand itself is not Greek... None of the products sold in the U.S. are made in Greece or made by Greek nationals.”
The yogurt giant is also being accused of deceiving customers about the yogurt's supposed health benefits. The yogurt has 16 grams of sugar — that’s more than half of the daily recommended amount set by the World Health Organization. They also allegedly create confusion to their customers by writing “0%” on the labels “without providing any context as to what the 0% represents,” the complaint writes. The two plaintiffs, Barry Stoltz and Allan Chang, are suing for an unspecified monetary amount because they claim that they were tricked into thinking that zero percent meant no calories of sugar, when it actually means non-fat. They also believe that the company is a farce.
“With deceptive packaging and marketing, consumers are deceived into thinking that junk food can be a healthy alternative,” said lawyer C.K. Lee of Manhattan, who filed the suit.
The company responded to the claim in a statement. “Much like English muffins and French fries, our fans understand Greek yogurt to be a product description about how we authentically make our yogurt and not about where we make our yogurt in upstate New York and Idaho,” Chobani wrote.
This isn’t the first time that Chobani has come under fire. Last year, Whole Foods dropped the brand claiming that it wanted to sell more non-genetically modified foods. Chobani also had a number or recalls from yogurt that went sour because of mold contamination.
However, despite this bad news and news of this lawsuit, Chobani and Upstate Niagara Cooperative Inc. recently won a bid to supply school lunches in seven states operated under the federal school lunch program. The pilot program is being administered to students in Arizona, California, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, New York, and Mississippi during the first month of the school year, New York Business Journal reported.