Kellogg Consumers Want Protein False-Ad Suits Revived on Appeal

Consumers of Kellogg’ Co.'s Kashi-brand cereal, and Morningstar Farms veggie burgers asked the Ninth Circuit to reinstate proposed class-wide false-advertising suits, asserting a district court wrongly held that federal law preempts their claims that the companies deceptively overstated the foods’ protein content.

The consumers, in a brief filed Tuesday with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, said the trial court erred in concluding that representations on the front of the package couldn’t be misleading if they’re the same as the federally-mandated representations on the back.

Kellogg and its Kashi unit advertise their products with front-label representations touting ...