Lawsuits Over Cheerios Cholesterol-Lowering Claims Consolidated

Federal lawsuits filed by consumers challenging longstanding claims by the makers of Cheerios that the cereal can lower cholesterol will be consolidated into a multidistrict litigation in a New Jersey District Court, a federal court panel has ruled.

The United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation announced that one case filed in each of the Central and Eastern districts of California and three more cases now pending in the Central District of California, the District of New Jersey, and the Eastern District of New York are involved in the centralization.

In cases where similar federal lawsuits are filed in courts across the United States, officials may consolidate the cases and transfer them to a single courtroom for pre-trial hearings and rulings on motions, discovery, and other matters. If the cases cannot be resolved at the MDL proceedings, they are returned to the district courts where they were originally filed for trial.

The federal court panel determined that consolidating the five cases in New Jersey federal court would “serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation.”

The cases will be assigned to the Honorable Judge Peter G. Sheridan, the panel said.

Cholesterol-Lowering Claims at Issue in Lawsuits

The five lawsuits all involve similar allegations against General Mills regarding health claims made about Cheerios. The plaintiffs accuse the company of making false claims about the cereal’s ability to lower cholesterol in the package labeling and advertising. The plaintiffs claim they ate Cheerios thinking they were lowering their cholesterol based on General Mills’ claims, but that was not the case.

In May 2009, the Food and Drug Administration warned General Mills about the Cheerios health claims. The FDA allows food companies to advertise the link between eating fibers from whole grain oats and a reduced risk of heart disease. However, boxes of Cheerios have for years contained claims that eating the cereal can “lower your cholesterol 4 percent in six weeks,” which violates the FDA rules against claiming a specific degree of risk reduction, the agency said.

At the time, General Mills responded by saying clinic research supported its claims that Cheerios can significantly lower cholesterol.

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