Krommenhock

ORDER ON MOTION TO DISMISS

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs Debbie Krommenhock and Stephen Hadley bring this putative class action on behalf of a class of California consumers who purchased “high-sugar” cereal products manufactured by defendant Post Foods, LLC (“Post”). According to plaintiffs, those products’ labels contain health and wellness claims that are- false and misleading due to the cereals’ high added sugar content. Under plaintiffs’ sprawling theories, Post’s labels violate various California consumer protection statutes because the cereal labels’ falsely and misleadingly suggest the cereals’are healthy but they are not because consumption of excessive amounts of added sugar can cause adverse health conditions. Post moves to dismiss, arguing that plaintiffs’ claims are preempted by federal law, none of the challenged labeling claims are illegal, no reasonable consumer could be misled by the alleged health and wellness claims, and plaintiffs lack standing to pursue many of their legal theories. Preemption does not apply to most of plaintiffs’ claims. Post’s motion is granted in part and denied in part as outlined below.

BACKGROUND

I. REGULATORY SCHEME

A. Food Product…