Consumer sues food company over fake guacamole

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Consumer sues food company over " fake " guacamole

Monday, December 04, 2006 by: Jessica Fraser

 

 

(NewsTarget) A Los Angeles woman sued Kraft Foods Inc. for fraud and

deceptive labeling last week, claiming that that its Kraft Dips

Guacamole dip -- which contains less than 2 percent avocado -- is

misleading consumers.

 

The plaintiff, Brenda Lifsey, said she discovered the miniscule amount

of avocado in Kraft's guacamole last year when she made a three-layer

dip. " It just didn't taste avocadoey, " Lifsey said. " I looked at the

ingredients and found there was almost no avocado in it. "

 

Lifsey's suit asks the Los Angeles County Superior Court to halt

Kraft's marketing of the guacamole dip as guacamole -- which

traditionally contains mostly avocado, along with smaller amounts of

other ingredients such as tomato and onion. She is also seeking

attorneys' fees and unspecified punitive damages.

 

Kraft's guacamole -- one of the best-selling avocado dips in the

country -- contains mostly starch, large quantities of partially

hydrogenated coconut and soybean oils, and blue and yellow food

coloring to give it a green color.

 

According to Claire Regan, vice president of Kraft Foods corporate

affairs, the company is in the process of re-labeling its guacamole

dip to make it more clear to consumers that the dip is merely

guacamole-flavored dip. Regan said the change was not associated with

Lifsey's lawsuit.

 

" We think consumers understand that [the dip] isn't made from

avocado, " Regan said. " All of the ingredients are listed on the label

for consumers to reference. "

 

The FDA has no regulation in place for requiring guacamole to contain

a minimum amount of avocado. However, the agency does regulate other

foods, such as peanut butter, which must contain 90 percent peanuts by

law. FDA spokesman Michael Herndon said the agency would need to find

Kraft's label misleading in order for the guacamole dip to be

considered misbranded.

 

Consumer advocate Mike Adams, author of " Grocery Warning, " said

guacamole is one of several grocery store foods that are packaged,

positioned and marketed deceptively.

 

" Food manufacturers use artificial colors, hydrogenated oils, flavor

additives and dangerous cancer-causing chemicals like sodium nitrite

to alter the cosmetics, texture and taste of foods, essentially

fooling our eyes and taste buds, " Adams said.

 

" The practice is highly unethical but widespread, and unless more

consumers start suing food companies to reverse this trend, the

deceptions will continue, " he said. " Government regulators, for

example, are doing nothing to prevent this kind of deceptive labeling. "

 

Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the

Public Interest, called on the FDA to set standards requiring Kraft

and other manufacturers to disclose the amount of avocado in their

guacamole dips. Jacobson said Kraft's labeling is " deceptive

marketing " and said companies with such labels are " begging to be sued. "

 

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