Have you ever thought to yourself: “wow, I need to up my fruit intake. I should go get a Krispy Kreme donut”?

No?

Well, that’s probably for the best. It turns out that many of Krispy Kreme’s donuts don’t actually contain real fruit. 

via GIPHY

If you’re shocked, you’re not alone. A California man named Jason Saidian filed a $5 million class action lawsuit against Krispy Kreme, accusing the food chain of false advertising and fraud for misrepresenting some of its donut flavors. The pastries that he specifically has an issue with are the Chocolate Iced Raspberry Filled, Glazed Raspberry Filled, and Glazed Blueberry Cake donuts, as well as the Glazed Blueberry Cake donut holes because they don’t contain any real raspberries or blueberries. He’s also upset with the Maple Iced Glazed donuts, because they don’t contain real maple syrup. Instead, the donut fillings are made with artificial flavorings and food coloring.

Saidian’s lawsuit contrasts those imposter pastries with Krispy Kreme products that actually are made with fruit, like some of its strawberry, apple, and lemon-themed offerings. That’s fair, and the lawsuit also rightly points out that Krispy Kreme isn’t great about explaining what ingredients are in its donuts, stating:

The donuts sold in-store by [Krispy Kreme] are displayed in a tray behind a glass counter, along with a small placard in front of each tray that provides the name of the donut variety. No ingredients list is provided or available to customers in-store.

But, the lawsuit doesn’t stop there. Instead, it laments the health concerns that could arise from eating fake-fruit donuts, for example blueberries “have the potential to limit the development and severity of certain cancers and vascular diseases…and neurodegenerative diseases of aging.” That seems a bit far-fetched–the little good that could be done by eating blueberries seem like it would be negated by eating a Krispy Kreme donut in the first place. Saidan’s lawyers told Buzzfeed that’s not the point though:

This lawsuit, on behalf of consumers, concerns Krispy Kreme misleading consumers that its products contain premium ingredients such as blueberry, raspberry and maple syrup. This lawsuit is not about whether the [donuts] are healthy or not.

But honestly, I’m more surprised that some of the donuts actually have any fruit components in them in the first place. It’s clearly time for more donuts.

via GIPHY

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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