General Mills to Change Fruit Roll-Up Labels Due to Lawsuit

On Dec. 21, The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) said in press release that because of a class action lawsuit, General Mills will have to rethink the labeling of their strawberry fruit roll-ups.

In a complaint filed last fall, California resident Annie Lam said that General Mills misled consumers about “the nutritional and health qualities of its fruit snacks.” The complaint also said that General Mills “made misleading statements that its products were nutritious, healthful to consume, and better than similar fruit snacks.”

According to the CSPI statement, General Mills’ Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups are made from pears from concentrate, corn syrup, dried corn syrup, sugar, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, citric acid, acetylated monoglycerides, fruit pectin, dextrose, malic acid, Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), unspecified “natural flavor,” and Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Blue 1.

Even though strawberries are pictured on some of the flavored fruit roll-ups boxes, the product does not contain strawberries.

Beginning in 2014, due to the lawsuit, new fruit roll-up labels will not depict images of strawberries and if the snacks claim to be made with fruit,  an actual percentage of fruit in the product will have to be listed.

In an article published by the Star Tribune, General Mills said "we disagree with CSPI on the merit and substance of the case, but we both agreed to resolve the matter to avoid further litigation."