Fudge-Covered Oreo Deception Lawsuit Ends in Win for Mondelēz

The labeling of Fudge Covered Mint Crème Oreos wouldn’t mislead consumers into thinking the cookies necessarily contain milkfat or butter, a federal judge said Wednesday in a win for Mondelēz Global LLC.

Christopher Leonard sued Mondelēz in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, saying the Oreos—despite their name and label art showing a chocolate-coated cookie—lack the iconic confection’s dairy-based ingredients and instead are made with palm oils.

Dictionaries, historic recipes, and a confectionery science textbook confirm that dairy fat is indispensable in fudge, he said in the suit.

But Judge Paul A. Crotty ...