Food Lion Hit With Cereal Bar ‘Naturally Flavored’ False-Ad Suit

The packaging of Food Lion LLC’s Fruit and Grain Cereal Bars misleads buyers into thinking they don’t contain artificial ingredients even though they contain a synthetic form of malic acid, a proposed consumer class action alleged.

The products’ packaging states they are “Naturally Flavored” and “Made With Real Fruit Filling,” but DL-malic acid is used as a flavoring agent, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Under federal regulations, food manufacturers who use DL-malic acid to flavor their products must state that the products are artificially flavored, the complaint ...