Overview
A class action filed Tuesday alleges that Dannon’s “Activia” yogurt is falsely held out to be yogurt:
Yogurt is created by fermenting milk with food-grade bacteria. During fermentation, the milk thickens and acidifies, giving yogurt its texture and tart flavor. It takes one gallon of milk to produce a gallon of regular yogurt. One cup of yogurt is one cup of fermented milk. But Activia is different, because it is not made the way yogurt is supposed to be made. Unlike other brands, Dannon adds water and fillers to Activia in order to make a cheaper product. These filler materials include food starch, corn starch, acacia gum, xanthan gum, gelatin, inulin, and MPCs. The result is a product that appears to be yogurt, but in fact is not yogurt at all.The complaint cites FDA regulations that it claims prohibit the use of these additives in any product identified as “yogurt.” The plaintiff “purchased vanilla-flavored Activia once or twice per year from a Waldbaums supermarket in Long Beach and at various Stop & Shop stores on Long Island,” and claims she would not have purchased Activia if she knew what she was purchasing was not yogurt. The case is before Judge Briccetti.
