The Real Reason Kellogg's Is Suing The UK Government
Kellogg's constantly finds itself on both sides of lawsuits. A New York judge recently threw out a case where a plaintiff accused the food brand of overstating how many strawberries actually found their way into the company's Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts, per Reuters. Others took up similar action against Kellogg's over its Whole Grain Frosted Strawberry and Frosted Chocolate Fudge Pop-Tarts. Not every filed case involving the company feels as lighthearted. According to CNBC, the company sued one of its unions based out of Omaha, Nebraska back in 2021 over alleged complaints that the union blocked entrances to its production plant and intimidated workers brought in to replace the striking employees.
Recently, the U.K. government passed a law that placed new restrictions on foods with high concentrations of fat, salt, and sugar, per Taylor Wessing. Local lawmakers believe that this new ordinance should encourage people to eat healthier and specifically targets snack foods, ice cream, breakfast cereals, pastries, pizza, yogurt with added sugar, and much more. Stores that sell these products can no longer offer special promotional sales on the items, offer free refills, promote the items on their website's homepage, and much more. With all of these strict measures in place, Kellogg's decided to take action to defend its brand abroad.
It's about the milk
According to Eater, Kellogg's now plans to sue the U.K. over the new legislation. The food company believes they should be exempt from the new law becuase the language of the law coincides with the junk food getting consumed dry. Since most people eat cereal with milk, Kellogg's feels like it should be exempt from the new law. By adding milk, Kellogg's claims that the nutritional balance of a bowl of cereal drastically changes and falls outside of the range stipulated in the law, per Bakery and Snacks. It is uncertain whether Kellogg's fight against the government will succeed, and at the end of the day, the cereal giant may get lumped in with soda manufacturers and candy makers when it comes to how their products get sold in the U.K.
Many locals don't support Kellogg's legal actions. The Guardian reports that public health advocates stand with the government when it comes to limiting how much of the brand's cereals find their way home to shoppers and one representative from the Obesity Health Alliance called Kellogg's lawsuit an unabashed way for a large corporation to escape a very important law. It looks like the only way Kellogg's might escape this legislation is if they cut down on the sugar, but until that day comes, the brand might need to plan accordingly.