Krispy Kreme Is Being Sued for Falsely Advertising Doughnut Ingredients

Krispy Kreme doughnuts aren’t what they’re chalked up to be, a lawsuit filed in LA on Wednesday claims. According to the Washington Times, the Krispy Kreme lawsuit states that the company misleads customers by saying that products like its Glazed Raspberry Filled, Glazed Blueberry Cake, and Maple Iced Glazed doughnuts contain natural ingredients, when they are in fact made from sugar, corn syrup, gums, and artificial food coloring. The law firm Faruqi & Faruqi filed the suit on behalf of customer Jason Saidian, who says he wouldn’t have bought doughnuts from Krispy Kreme or would have paid “significantly less” for them if the company hadn’t engaged in “false and misleading business practices.” The lawsuit calls for Krispy Kreme to stop these “deceptive practices” and pay more than $5 million in damages.

“Unbeknownst to Plaintiff and other consumers, the Raspberry Products do not contain actual raspberries, the Maple Products do not contain actual maple syrup or maple sugar, and the Blueberry Products do not contain actual blueberries,” the lawsuit states.

The snozzberry products, presumably, also don’t contain actual snozzberries. This has also been an issue in the maple syrup industry, where insiders have long opposed companies falsely labeling foods as having maple.

This isn’t the first time Faruqi & Faruqi has been on Krispy Kreme’s case. This July, the law firm filed another class action lawsuit against Krispy Kreme on behalf of shareholders after the company announced its proposed sale to JAB Holding Co., the European investment firm that, as I reported last month, is in the process of taking over American breakfast. According to The Street, the Krispy Kreme class action lawsuit claimed that the company's board of directors “violated fiduciary duties in arriving at what some investor plaintiffs deem an unfair takeover value.”