Food/Groceries

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Starbucks Sued Over Misleading Sugar-Free Claims

At the beginning of October, three consumers sued Starbucks (see complaint) alleging that many of the beverages sold by the company and advertised as “sugar-free” in fact contain substantial amounts of sugar.

For example, their Caramel Protein Matcha is promoted as sugar-free:

Caramel Protein Matcha

However, when more detail is presented, Starbucks changed the claim from “sugar-free” to “no added sugar” and disclosed that this size drink actually contains 16 grams of sugar which is four teaspoons.

*MOUSE PRINT:

"no added sugar"

The sugar here is natural sugar (lactose) from the added milk which is a major ingredient.

Matcha ingredients

Under federal law, “sugar-free” is a defined term meaning the food can contain no more than half a gram of sugar.

Consumers may reasonably be expected to regard terms that represent that the food contains no sugars or sweeteners e.g., “sugar free,” or “no sugar,” as indicating a product which is low in calories or significantly reduced in calories.

The term “no added sugar” is different. It means no amount of sugar or its equivalent has been added to the product as a sweetener other than in an ingredient that naturally contains sugar.

The lawyers in this case are suing the company for violations of various state consumer protection laws prohibiting deceptive practices, and they are also seeking a court order to stop the company from calling beverages “sugar free” when that is not the case.

For its part, Starbucks told the Associated Press:

“We believe these claims have no merit. Starbucks has consistently and clearly provided information about its protein beverages, sugar-free options, customization choices and nutritional content across product announcements, menus, marketing materials, Starbucks.com and the Starbucks app, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves in this matter.”

Incidentally, lawyers are investigating other products making “no added sugar” and “sugar free” claims.

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Here We Skimp Again: Protein

When manufacturers want to save money, they can make the package smaller (shrinkflation) or reformulate the product using cheaper ingredients (skimpflation). This time, two companies chose the latter, and are cutting back on the amount of protein in their products.

Healthy Choice Protein Bowls

Sometime in the past several months Healthy Choice decided to come out with a new name and new recipe for the Power Bowls. They renamed them “Protein Bowls” and kept the size the same – 9.75 ounces. But ironically, they reduced the protein in each package by 15% from 26 grams down to 22 grams.

*MOUSE PRINT:
Healthy Choice bowls comparison

Best we can tell the amount of chicken stayed the same because both products have the same amount of saturated fat. But it looks like they reduced the amount of pinto beans and added more leafy greens.

Healthy Choice ingredients

Kellogg’s Special K Protein

A while back Rob S. told us about Special K Protein cereal that reduced the amount of protein in their product from 15 grams per serving to just 10 — a one-third reduction. They removed wheat gluten from the reformulated product – a source of protein.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Special K Protein

Kellogg's Special K ingredients

Apparently this was a very popular cereal with many consumers buying it by the case. And then they noticed the protein reduction. From the Kellogg’s website, their fury boiled over in dozens of one-star reviews.

  • I have been eating this cereal EVERY SINGLE MORNING FOR YEARS. So imagine my surprise when I recently stumbled upon this page to find the reviews pointing out that Kellogg’s dramatically lowered the amount of protein in it. I understand it’s not like they’re going to slap a banner across the box that says, “Now with much less protein!” But, come on, this was sneaky and underhanded. It has made me lose all faith in Kellogg’s.

  • I thought I was losing it!! Nice, thanks for ripping us off. My husband just bought me a huge box. It will be the last one. Boo! Hiss!

  • Shame on you for trying to trick customers with labeling. You know exactly what you have done with lowing the amount of protein in your product and charging same high price. You have successfully lost another customer!!

    • If you find a product that was reformulated or watered down with cheaper ingredients, please send the details to Edgar (at symbol) MousePrint.org. Thanks.

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    Surprises Hidden in Credit Card Fine Print

    Fidelity Signature VisaRecently, MrConsumer benefited from a bargain he wouldn’t have known about had he not checked the benefit fine print of his credit card’s website.

    He has an upcoming trip to Washington, DC and was getting worried about all the airport horror stories of long lines and delays. He knew that TSA PreCheck is a means to get through airport security quicker but wasn’t about to pay close to $80 for a once-in-a-blue-moon plane trip.

    It turns out, however, that some credit cards offer TSA PreCheck as a free benefit. But, only a couple of credit cards with no annual fee cover that cost. One is the U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Signature Visa, and the other is the Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature card.

    MrConsumer coincidentally has that Fidelity card but never uses it — until now. Double checking the fine print, sure enough that is one of the few extra benefits still offered by this card. And the benefit is available every four years. (TSA PreCheck is a five-year membership for $79.95.)

    *MOUSE PRINT:

    Fidelity PreCheck benefit

    While reading the Fidelity Guide to Benefits, however, MrConsumer found two nasty surprises.

    *MOUSE PRINT:

    Fidelity Visa lost benefits

    Purchase security, which protects goods buyers if what they bought is lost or stolen within 90 days of purchase, has been a mainstay of credit card benefits for decades. Lost luggage protection is less common, but a nice, valuable benefit to have had for years.

    This move by Fidelity follows an industry trend of dropping costly credit card benefits, as it did back in 2021 when it discontinued their very valuable “extended warranty” and “collision damage waiver” coverages (see our story back then). After receiving complaints, collision damage waiver was subsequently reinstated.

    So keep an eye on your credit card’s benefit list — there may be some valuable goodies there you didn’t know about or news of other benefits soon to disappear.