{"id":37343,"date":"2022-06-05T06:25:06","date_gmt":"2022-06-05T06:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/his-pop-tarts-lawsuit-failed-but-this-lawyer-keeps-suing-over-snack-food-ingredients\/"},"modified":"2022-06-05T06:25:06","modified_gmt":"2022-06-05T06:25:06","slug":"his-pop-tarts-lawsuit-failed-but-this-lawyer-keeps-suing-over-snack-food-ingredients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/his-pop-tarts-lawsuit-failed-but-this-lawyer-keeps-suing-over-snack-food-ingredients\/","title":{"rendered":"His Pop-Tarts lawsuit failed. But this lawyer keeps suing over snack food ingredients"},"content":{"rendered":"
Spencer Sheehan has become the go-to lawyer for folks who aren’t convinced their fudge sundae contains any actual fudge, or who detect a distinct lack of fruit in their fruit filling.<\/p>\n
The New York-based lawyer makes a living launching class-action lawsuits against companies that he claims are dishonest in their packaging and advertising – and he has a particular penchant for snacks and beverages.<\/p>\n
According to an NPR profile last year,<\/u> he’s filed hundreds of these cases, more than 120 centring on vanilla – or, more specifically, a lack thereof. <\/p>\n
Most recently, he made headlines for a lawsuit that alleged Kellogg Co., defrauded consumers about the content of its Frosted Chocolate Fudge Pop-Tarts. The plaintiff in the case said the toaster pastries contained no milk and butter, or milkfat, which she called “essential to fudge.”<\/p>\n
Lawyers for Kellogg argued that milk and butter are not the “defining ingredients” of fudge. They also said “fudge” referred to the Pop-Tarts’ flavor, and that a reasonable consumer “would interpret it to mean that the product tastes like chocolate (which it does).”<\/p>\n
The judge agreed, and dismissed the proposed class action.<\/p>\n
This wasn’t Sheehan’s first time facing up against Kellogg over its famous breakfast snack. In the last year alone, at least three US federal judges have dismissed lawsuits filed by Sheehan claiming that Kellogg did not use enough strawberries in its Strawberry Pop-Tarts.<\/p>\n
Sheehan spoke to As It Happens<\/em> guest host Tom Harrington about why he does this kind of work. Here is part of their conversation. <\/p>\n How does a case like that even come to you to begin with?<\/strong><\/p>\n In instances like these fudge cases, they start from people contacting me about it. <\/p>\n Then I will take a look into the issue. And [I take it on] if it is something that I believe could be viable – or even if it is likely not to be viable or maybe it may not succeed, [but] still raises significant and important questions that should be addressed.<\/p>\n How often do you win a settlement in these cases?<\/strong><\/p>\n Using terms like “winning” and “settlements,” they have a lot of different meanings. What most people want to know about is how often are these cases resulting in what’s called a class settlement. That’s what most people understand about class actions – a situation where the general public is able to submit claims through a third-party website and receive some monetary or other benefit as a result of purchasing their product.<\/p>\n Now, those types of settlements are very hard to come by. That’s our goal in every case, to have that. However, because of a lot of technical reasons and the legal landscape in this country, that’s something that’s very difficult.<\/p>\n However, we have certified classes over the past few years related to vanilla products. And we’re hoping to do more – not just about vanilla, but about other products as well. Not just food and beverages.<\/p>\n