Mondelez Seeks Fast Appeal of Class Status in BelVita Sugar Suit

Mondelez International Inc. asked the Ninth Circuit for permission to appeal a ruling that granted class status to consumers alleging its belVita breakfast biscuits are deceptively portrayed as healthful despite a high sugar content, arguing lower courts are divided over how to handle such suits.

The suit is one of six “high sugar” suits brought against six different food companies and assigned to six different judges, Mondelez said. Some have been dismissed while others ended “in eight-figure class settlements,” Mondelez said, citing recent deals by Post and Kellogg over the sugar in cereals.

The “wildly varying fates” stem from district ...