Santa Barbara, Ventura counties file lawsuit against Kroger
The Ventura County and Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s offices announced May 31 that they have filed a civil case against The Kroger Co. in Santa Barbara County Superior Court alleging violations of California’s false advertising and unfair competition laws.
Kroger operates numerous grocery stores in California under names such as Ralph’s, Food 4 Less and Foods Co.
In the complaint, the two district attorney’s offices allege that from about November 2018 to at least June 2022, Kroger falsely advertised the calorie content of its “Carbmaster” bread.
During that time, Kroger advertised that both its “Carbmaster Wheat” and “Carbmaster White” breads had 30 calories per slice, when they allegedly had 50 or more.
The complaint also alleges that prior to June 2022, Kroger was falsely advertising the Carbmaster calorie counts on both the front packaging and the back FDA nutrition label, and that it continues to advertise false information on some of its websites to date.
“Consumers rely on nutritional information to make important decisions about their personal health and well-being,” Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said in a press release. “For some consumers, these decisions are based upon medical necessity. False advertising of calories can mislead, or even endanger consumers, and it provides an unfair advantage over competitors who are advertising in compliance with FDA guidelines.”
