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VENTURA, Calif. – The Ventura County and Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Offices announced today that they have filed a civil case against The Kroger Co. in Santa Barbara Superior Court alleging violations of California’s false advertising and unfair competition laws. Kroger operates numerous grocery stores in the State of California under familiar names such as Ralph’s, Food 4 Less, and Foods Co.
The complaint alleges that Kroger falsely advertised the calorie content of its store-brand “Carbmaster” bread products from approximately November 2018 to at least June 2022. During that time, Kroger prominently advertised on the front-packaging of its “Carbmaster Wheat” and “Carbmaster White” breads that they contained 30 calories per slice, when in fact they are alleged to have contained 50 calories or more.
In addition, the complaint alleges that at an unknown date prior to June 2022, Kroger was falsely advertising the Carbmaster calorie counts on both the front packaging and the back FDA nutrition label. The complaint also alleged that Kroger continues to falsely advertise the incorrect, lower calorie count on some of its websites today.
“Consumers rely on nutritional information to make important decisions about their personal health and well-being,” Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said. “For some consumers, these decisions are based upon medical necessity. False advertising of calories can mislead, or even endanger consumers, and it provides an unfair advantage over competitors who are advertising in compliance with FDA guidelines.”
“Consumers are entitled to accurate information on products, especially caloric information on food items,” said Santa Barbara District Attorney John Savrnoch. “My office is committed to protectingthe public by enforcing the False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law, and we are grateful to jointly prosecute this case with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.”
This case was investigated jointly by the Consumer Protection divisions of the Ventura County and Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Offices.