Whole Foods sued over sugar content in yogurt

A Marlton law firm has filed a consumer lawsuit against Whole Food Market, alleging the grocery chain understates the amount of sugar in its store-brand Greek yogurt.

The proposed class-action suit was filed in Superior Court on behalf of Mark Bilder, identified only as an Atlantic County man who bought the yogurt at Whole Foods' Marlton store. The chain also has a store in Cherry Hill.

The DeNittis Osefchen law firm filed the suit and a similar one in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia last week.

The suits seek to represent consumers who bought the yogurt from August 2008 to the present at 13 Whole Foods stores in New Jersey and 10 in Pennsylvania. They allege the sugar content in "Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value Plain Greek Yogurt" is more than five times higher than the amount listed on its nutritional label.

The label lists sugar content at two grams per 170 gram serving, but testing has shown 11.4 grams of sugar, according to the suit.

"This written, uniform statement of fact on each such "Nutrition Facts" label is false," the lawsuit claims.

Whole Foods declined to comment on the lawsuits.

The Texas-based company said its yogurt was tested "by a reputable third party lab using FDA-approved testing methodology to determine the labeling. We recognize that Consumer Reports is a trusted publication and are looking into why their test results differ from ours."

Consumer Reports tested six samples of the yogurt and found an average sugar content of more than 11 grams per serving, according to the lawsuit.

"A lot of people are watching their sugar content these days," said attorney Stephen DeNittis. "Diabetics and others with health concerns are particularly vulnerable to misstatements about sugar content."

"Customers cannot test the contents of a food product themselves to make sure what's really inside matches what it says on the label. They have to be able to depend on the accuracy of the nutrition label."

Whole Foods' website says registered dietitians review its product labels for accuracy.

DeNittis Osefchen also has filed other class action lawsuits for consumers, including one against Subway over the length of the "Footlong" sandwich and another over red light camera traffic tickets issued in Cherry Hill and Stratford.