Bagel Bites Not Made With 'Real Cheese': Wisconsin Lawsuit

WISCONSIN— A Wisconsin resident, filed a federal court suit on April 25, claiming Kraft Heinz is misleading consumers with a seal indicating "real dairy" on it.

Kaitlyn Huber, a Juneau County resident, filed the suit claiming reasonable Wisconsin consumers expect a product claiming to contain mozzarella cheese and “Made With Real Cheese” will contain mozzarella cheese, instead of a cheese blend with food starch, according to the suit documents.

Kraft Heinz Foods Company manufactures, markets and sells pizza bagels, represented as containing real mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce under the Bagel Bites brand.
Consumers understand pizza refers to a combination of mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce and wheat crust, the documents said.

The suit said consumers are deceived by the representations because the product does not contain “real” mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, as these foods are understood and expected by consumers.

The suit documents said the mozzarella cheese is made "chiefly from dairy ingredients with a small amount of permitted optional ingredients" which include additional milk or cream, clotting enzymes, vinegar, coloring and salt.

"The reason the optional ingredients are restricted is to prevent addition of lower quality ingredients in place of high-quality dairy ingredients," the documents said.

The documents said the addition of modified food starch causes the cheese blend to have less nutritional value than if only mozzarella cheese – made only with dairy ingredients – was used.

Consumers are misled "because the front label fails to disclose – as required by law –
that the purported mozzarella cheese is technically considered an imitation because “it [the cheese blend] is a substitute for and resembles another food [mozzarella cheese] but is nutritionally inferior to that food," the documents said.

The suit also said the product does not contain tomato sauce. Consumers expect a product claiming to contain tomato sauce will contain tomatoes in a puree or paste form, and seasonings, the documents said. However, "the front label representation of tomato sauce is false, deceptive and misleading because this ingredient contains non-tomato extenders and thickeners," the documents said.

The documents said that cornstarch and methylcellulose are added to the tomato sauce in order to "reduce the amount of tomatoes used by thirty-five percent."

According to a Today Food article, a Kraft Heinz spokesperson denied the claims and shared the “Bagel Bites, the perfect bite-sized pizza snack, are made with delicious, high-quality ingredients that our fans know and love. We proudly stand by the food we make, and are focused on bringing great products to market. The lawsuit lacks any merit, and we will strongly defend our brand.”

Huber purchased the Bagel Bites Mini Bagels With Mozzarella Cheese and Tomato Sauce on multiple occasions within the statutes of limitations for each cause of action, including between January and April 2021, the documents said.

"She bought the product because she wanted a food which contained mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce and would not have purchased the Product in the absence of Defendant’s misrepresentations and omissions," the documents said.

The class will consist of all purchasers of the Product who reside in Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Ohio during the applicable statutes of limitations. Huber seeks class-wide injunctive relief and
monetary relief class, the documents said.