Dollar General Corporation sells a product it calls Fudge Mint Cookies, under its Clover Valley brand. The complaint alleges that this designation is deceptive and misleading, because the cookies are not made with fudge but rather with lower-quality ingredients that include vegetable oil shortening instead of the milkfat required to create fudge, and because they are not flavored with mint leaves.
Two classes have been proposed for this action:
- The Illinois Class is all persons in Illinois who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
- The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Class is all persons in North Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Nebraska, South Carolina, Kansas, and Wyoming who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
The complaint quotes both dictionary definitions and recipes to claim that fudge contains butter and milk or cream. The complaint alleges that these are necessary to fudge: “The small droplets of milkfat from dairy ingredients are dispersed throughout the fudge mass, providing lubricity, and imparting desirable flavor release.”
The first page of the complaint shows an image of the product box, which shows a cookie and a half against a green background, with the words, “Fudge Mint Cookies” and a square of fudge with two mint leaves.
According to the complaint, the dairy or milkfat ingredients give fudge “a creamy, rich taste” that cannot be duplicated by substitutes like vegetable oils. “Milkfat melts at mouth temperature[,]” the complaint alleges, while vegetable oils do not and “leave a waxy mouthfeel.”
Page 5 of the complaint reproduces the ingredient panel for the product. The list does not show any ingredients made from milk or containing milkfat. Instead, it shows the third ingredient (after flour and sugar) as “Vegetable Oil Shortening (Palm and Palm Kernel Oils).”
The complaint alleges, “Reasonable consumers are misled by the statement ‘Fudge Mint Cookies’ and the picture of the cookies coated with what appears to be fudge, because they expect fudge to contain at least some dairy ingredients.”
In addition, the complaint alleges that the green packaging, the word “Mint,” the image of two mint leaves on the box, and the lack of any qualifying terms (such as “Mint Flavored” or Artificial Mint Flavored”) are also misleading, because they lead consumers to believe that the product contains mint. However, the ingredient panel shows no mint. Instead, it lists “Natural and Artificial Flavor.”
The complaint alleges that this is “a synthesized blend of compounds extracted in a laboratory from natural and artificial sources, with no connection to mint ingredients.”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Clover Valley “Fudge Mint” Cookies Contain No Fudge or Mint Complaint
June 19, 2022
Dollar General Corporation sells a product it calls Fudge Mint Cookies, under its Clover Valley brand. The complaint alleges that this designation is deceptive and misleading, because the cookies are not made with fudge but rather with lower-quality ingredients that include vegetable oil shortening instead of the milkfat required to create fudge, and because they are not flavored with mint leaves.
Clover Valley “Fudge Mint” Cookies Contain No Fudge or Mint ComplaintCase Event History
Clover Valley “Fudge Mint” Cookies Contain No Fudge or Mint Complaint
June 19, 2022
Dollar General Corporation sells a product it calls Fudge Mint Cookies, under its Clover Valley brand. The complaint alleges that this designation is deceptive and misleading, because the cookies are not made with fudge but rather with lower-quality ingredients that include vegetable oil shortening instead of the milkfat required to create fudge, and because they are not flavored with mint leaves.
Clover Valley “Fudge Mint” Cookies Contain No Fudge or Mint Complaint