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Pinkberry Settles Lawsuit Over Misrepresentation
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 14, 2008
Modified Apr 15, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 14, 2008
Modified Apr 15, 2008
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Beloved and trendy frozen treat purveyor Pinkberry has agreed to a settlement in the lawsuit where the chain was accused of misrepresenting its product as "frozen yogurt" and as "all-natural." Pinkberry isn't admitting any wrongdoing but is, the NY Times reports, giving $750,000 to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, a food collection agency, and Para Los Niños, a nonprofit family service organization, plus paying legals fees of "plaintiff, Lisa Sutton, who said she suffered injuries and undue loss of money spent on Pinkberry product." Cue The Non-Fat Yogurt Seinfeld references (video above)!
What's interesting is that California law requires frozen yogurt products to fit certain requirements, like having a certain level of bacteria, which Pinkberry didn't, and listing ingredients clearly (those details have recently appeared on the website). This kind of controversy hasn't swept the East Coast; the most trouble Pinkberry has had in NYC would be how much rodents like it.
If you look at Pinkberry's nutritional info, you'll see that a small container includes 1.4 servings (a medium has 2.2, a large 3.6). Four years ago, frozen dessert CremaLita could no longer call itself low-calorie or low-fat when it turned out it didn't qualify for low-fat classification. And Sutton is also getting $5,000 for bringing the suit forward, which works out to be like one medium original dessert (with toppings) every day for three years.
Tagged
dessert
frozen treat
frozen yogurt
lawsuit
Pinkberry
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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